Milling oak for fence posts

[Stereo]

I'm getting sick of replacing these stupid softwood posts you get these days. Last 5 years then snap clean off. Rubbish. I've got plenty of decent oaks in the wood and am thinking of felling one to mill into stakes. We've still got oak posts on the farm which grandad put in just after WW2.

 

Whats the best way to approach this? Fell and mill it green or season first. One milled, do you use them straight off or should they be seasoned prior to use?

 

I'm hoping the posts and the lack of having to replace them for many years will more than pay for a decent alaskan set up which I've been trying to justify for ages!

 

I've also got some bigger SC's in there, maybe 3' dia. Would that be suitable / better?

[garth mc garth]

im in the same boat. Doing plenty of jobs requiring sawn oak posts and bollards and have stacks of oak butts in the yard so looking to convert them rather than buying from the sawmill.

 

We was recently talking about sawing sweet chestnut and dont know how it would behave?

[agg221]

I would mill straight away - it won't season at all quickly in the round or with the bark on (could be decades). You want to remove all the sapwood as it doesn't last. It could be quite a wide band as in several inches, no need to remove it by hand or anything, just reckon on milling it off when you're working out your sizes. The alternative if you're not in a rush is to fell the tree and leave it lying on the ground where it falls for a year or two, after which the sapwood will have rotted away.

 

Use them straight away or dry them for a bit - your choice. They will move around a bit as they dry, but this isn't precision stuff. Just watch whether the grain spirals as if it does they will twist with it, which could be a pain on close fitting gates.

 

You could use the sweet chestnut, but at that size there's a risk of ring shake, so you may get nothing out of it. Sweet chestnut has the advantage of only about 3mm of sapwood and fairly thin bark so very little waste. It's about equally durable.

 

Alec

[Matthew Storrs]

I agree- these softwood stakes are total crap- I don't find the size makes any difference either- a strainer is just as likely to snap off as a 2-3 inch- i guess cos the preservative only goes in so far (sometimes millimeters!) regardless how thick the post is, I did a big job with split sweet chestnut stakes last year which is what natural england required for all boggy ground, but supply is always difficult especially in the south west where we don't get a great deal of chesnut coppices- so if you have a supply of oak/chesnut either would work well, splitting it my hand is pretty time consuming though!

[garth mc garth]

I agree- these softwood stakes are total crap- I don't find the size makes any difference either- a strainer is just as likely to snap off as a 2-3 inch- i guess cos the preservative only goes in so far (sometimes millimeters!) regardless how thick the post is, I did a big job with split sweet chestnut stakes last year which is what natural england required for all boggy ground, but supply is always difficult especially in the south west where we don't get a great deal of chesnut coppices- so if you have a supply of oak/chesnut either would work well, splitting it my hand is pretty time consuming though!

 

If your after sweet chestnut fencing materials give me a email with what your after and i'll see if i can help you out. Haulage might kill it but if you bulk order or can share a load it might work out another option to pressure treated crap thats for sale at moment.

[Matthew Storrs]

ah- nice one- thanks for that, I don't have a specific job in mind at the mo but come spring when i do more fencing Im bound to need some, Do you tend to be able get hold of it pretty easily in general?

[agg221]

I agree- these softwood stakes are total crap- I don't find the size makes any difference either- a strainer is just as likely to snap off as a 2-3 inch- i guess cos the preservative only goes in so far (sometimes millimeters!) regardless how thick the post is

 

Penetration depends a lot on species. In some species you do get full penetration - usually the ones which would last least well if untreated (which is obvious if you think about it, since where the penetrant can go, so can the water/fungi).

 

The main problem is that Copper Chrome Arsenate (CCA) which was the highly effective preservative was banned a few years back. Commercially treated timber is still sometimes done with copper salts, but they aren't as well chemically fixed and tend to leach. Others are now using organic (as opposed to inorganic) chemicals which really don't last well at all.

 

Alec

[Matthew Storrs]

what about stuff like jakcure from jacksons fencing etc, they offer 25 year guarantee i think- what do they treat that with?

[likeitorlumpit]

I was thinking use Jacksons softwood posts- they last ages especially the big stuff. I've put in posts that are 30 years old now and still fine.

[garth mc garth]

ah- nice one- thanks for that, I don't have a specific job in mind at the mo but come spring when i do more fencing Im bound to need some, Do you tend to be able get hold of it pretty easily in general?

 

Got 30 acres of coppice to cut over the next few years so will have plenty of posts, rails and strainers etc