treated...

[hopm]

In need of some shed space. I hate to pay the price of treated timber with a mill and log pile right in front of me. Is there a way to treat post yourself. Yellow pine...6x6...2' in ground....is it practical or do I need to budget for 50 bucks a post.

Thanks for your help!!

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Roofing tar.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Everyone repeats old remedies to treat wood, BUT the truth is, if you live where 99% of us do, none of those remedies will last for long. IF your time means much of anything to you, buy the PT lumber for ground contact!

I'm building a permanent deer blind right now, I don't want to have to build it again, so I went down and bought 4 treated post....it's worth the price of the treated post, to not have to deal with having to replace them on down the road!

SR

 

[Timberframed]

Isn't Black Locust good for that?

 

[chuckwood]

In need of some shed space. I hate to pay the price of treated timber with a mill and log pile right in front of me. Is there a way to treat post yourself. Yellow pine...6x6...2' in ground....is it practical or do I need to budget for 50 bucks a post.

Thanks for your help!!

If you can find some eastern red cedar trees, mill those into 6x6's. Those will last a lot longer than treated wood. I've got a few cedar fence posts here that were put in the ground over a half century ago, and they are still doing their job with no obvious decay setting in yet. The other option is locust, they last about the same.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

If you can find some eastern red cedar trees, mill those into 6x6's. Those will last a lot longer than treated wood. I've got a few cedar fence posts here that were put in the ground over a half century ago, and they are still doing their job with no obvious decay setting in yet. The other option is locust, they last about the same.

I'm not sure I'd agree with you, as my dad put in some heavy cedar post when I was a kid. Yes, they lasted a long time, but after a time they lost their strength, even though they were still standing. I don't think they will out last a .60 or better treated PT post for strength...

Really, it all depends on where you live and what soil the post are in, as to how long any post will last...

SR

 

[chads]

Maybe a few piers or cinder blocks would get it up off ground enough to avoid ground contact.
Chad

 

[chuckwood]

Everyone repeats old remedies to treat wood, BUT the truth is, if you live where 99% of us do, none of those remedies will last for long. IF your time means much of anything to you, buy the PT lumber for ground contact!

I'm building a permanent deer blind right now, I don't want to have to build it again, so I went down and bought 4 treated post....it's worth the price of the treated post, to not have to deal with having to replace them on down the road!

SR

Well, one of my home remedies is soaking the bottoms of home made wood fence posts (oak) in used motor oil for around a year or so before use. I've got a two foot deep tub and I let the posts just sit in the old oil in the shed for a very long time. So far, they've lasted around 10 years in the ground with no obvious problems. It was just an experiment, but it seems to have been working so far. PT wood is good for at least thirty, I doubt if I'll get that......

 

[Franny K]

What I see only 4x4 and 6x6 are tagged ground contact now. A 6x6x8feet long is much less than $50. The guys at the lumber selling place claim the salesman says all of that lumber is treated the same way and doesn't know why it is tagged different. The treatment has changed over time. Phone poles/electric poles and rail road ties I think are treated better. The utility companies hire folks to go around and drill small holes in them diagonally down and pump in chemical. It didn't take long after welding of steel became practical to make pressure vessels to treat lumber. If one was to make an environmental disaster to save from buying treated material that would be a poor choice. My issue with the buy stuff in dimension lumber is that it is not graded and just by the looks of where and size of knots are good chance un gradable stuff is used to start with. There are treated fence posts at ag supply places. The smaller ones seem not to do to good with the sun but the ones for the fence corners and gates seem better.

If you are making a pole barn I would buy utility poles. They come in a massive amount of sizes if the yard that supplies the utility company will sell to you. I see pole barns going up with laminated 2x8 or 2x10 going into the ground and wonder.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

ALL PT lumber is NOT treated the same. Ground contact is what you want and the "laminated" poles are made with "ground contact" flat lumber.

As for grade, I hand pick the lumber myself, I'm the grader...

My neighbor "treated" his poles himself, he used, used motor oil in a bbl... It was a shed over his sawmill, and he then poured all his old oil around the post as he had it. All looked good, until several years later, we had some straight line winds, and his shed came down! The 8x8 poles had weakened and broke off just below grade... My old pole barn is MUCH older and it's still standing just fine. It's built with 4x6 PT poles.

As for treat, farmers can order poles treated the old way...but I bet it's not cheap though.

SR

 

[Marshy]

Locust is the best natural wood for use in contact with ground. I believe it out lasts PT lumber.

 

[Trx250r180]

I use this stuff on cedar fence posts ,and poles for buildings ,i just spread it on with a paint mixing stick ,and use the stick to smooth it thin ,drys like a rubberized undercoating overnight so you can touch it without getting all tarred up ,i go about 6 ,it inches above the ground level with it , costs about 25 bucks for a gallon and i can do about 8 posts 3 feet coverage on 6x6 poles