Arbtalk.co.uk | Discussion Forum for Arborists

hi all ,on the estate we have started getting our overstood sweetchestnut coppiced some going as firewood and the best poles iam using for fencing and tree stakes and rails,makes a realy good productive wet day job for us and should keep the boss happy with saving a few £.could anyone tell me what would be the best treatment for dipping the ends in and how long to soak and can this be done when wood is green or best to let them dry out a bit first for a few months? any advice would be great thancks

I thought the point of using chestnut was that untreated it last MUCH longer than any other wood when treated.

that is what i would like as can see regulations as to what chemicals can be used in future and come to end of fences life can see people been told they cant burn it because it treated so could cost lots of money to get rid of, my problem is to convince my boss it is worth us using i have to treat it as he dont belive it ok untreated i have had a few old boys tell me that chestnut is much better than treated softwood so i go with what they say

Given the p*ss poor quality of 'tanalised' stakes these days, I'd comfortably expect to get twice the life span out of untreated Sweet Chestnut - just ensure its got plenty of heartwood.

realy good advice thank you

chestnut will last very well even if untreated due to all the tannins just make sure that its not cut with the sap in it during the summer else it will rot out in no time if you want treat them then there far better being partly seasoned guess you could dip them in a tank of wood preservative and leave to soak hop poles use to have the tar boiled into them theres an old tar tank in the wood that i coppice would be cool to get it going one day but doubt you could get the tar now for it

cheers digga good advice,its good more people are seeing the advantages of using chestnut

yes it is indeed trouble is chestnut was getting a bit of a bad name for lasting due to the amount of summer cut timber that is being sold and the customer isnt any the wiser they just think all chestnut doesnt last so they go back to softwood which isnt as good now they had to change the chemicals trouble is most timber has such a quick turn around now that its to wet to take the treatment even though tanalising is put under a vacum it can only push it in as far as the moisture in the timber has come out but i think the british standard for tanalising is only about 6mm penatration anyway

20 year ago we had a chestnut stock fence put up that diddnt last must of been summer felled and also the ground here is shallow flinty soil into chalk so posts cant of been in ground much so that is why my boss been put of using it until now,so looking good for using it in the future nowit a good feeling to use our own wood and with the economics to back it up

i have had to replaces fences that have been summer cut chestnut after 4 to 5 years you tend to find that chestnut grown on stoney ground tends to last longer as its slower growing there for a tighter grain . we use to have a guy that insisted on all his posts being axe sharped as they lasted longer and he was right something to do with not opening the grain up as much as a saw but hey not many guys around now that could point posts with an axe i make all my own chestnut fencing material get pleasure from being able to take it from a standing tree all the way through to a finished fence hope your boss gives you the go ahead