Evnin, our old cedar barn is still standing & doesn't look any different than it did in 1951 when I was born. When we put in a cement floor we had to take out cedar floor. It was cedar poles standing on end (about fire wood length) when they came out they were only soft & degraded for about 2 inches, the rest of it was like the day my grand father put them in. We hosed them down, & my job was to split them into kindling. If the owners of it now decide to tear the barn down I want a nice log to make a table, they came off the farm when they cleared the land & ya can't get your arms around them. Bill out. 👣🐾🇨🇦
......................... John would not take any money, I need to get a package of prime steaks to him.
Yes sir.
I've got a lot of posts in the ground that came from used fence that an old friend of my father's wanted taken down. He died this past year.....lot of good memories tied to him and the posts give me lots of opportunities to remember him.
Wayne, you have of course, squared those posts, can you set them bark, and all?
I squared several posts to be used in a couple of pasture corrals where used road guard rails will be attached with lag screws. It helps in the application and looks better. You can set them without debarking, preferably after drying for at least a year. If you set them wet in some soils they have a tendency to sprout.
How long do you typically expect black locust to last in a fence?
I don't have an average lifespan, but there are posts in a fence my Grandad and Dad put in during the early 1960s that are good and solid. The terrain was hilly well drained soil. Some posts have been replaced and the common theme there was the posts had less than 5"-6" of heartwood. My Dad and I put in a section of fence with 11 T posts spaced then a locust post, then 11 T posts, etc., and locust was used for corner and brace posts. That was 37 years ago and not one locust post has been replaced.
There are scattered groves of black locust trees here, and a lot of people use them for posts. I have plenty of honey locusts, the ones with thorns, and I'd gladly trade for black locusts. I do have a bunch of cedar, and that's what I use. The more red in them, the longer they last. It's said that the best cedar posts come from the poorest soil.
I don't know what 20 inchers cost, but 20 foot, 5 rail, 4' high are $130. and 14 foot gates are $125. We had a fence guy build a little set of pens on the south place, and an alley and sorting pen at the home place outta them. He used drill pipe for driven line posts and 5 inch pipe posts in concrete for the corners and gate posts. they turned out nice.... I'll do the north place with the extra panels and gates we bought.
the south pens
you can see the pile of old wood from the dilapidated wood corrals I tore out this last winter to the right thru the gate.... I'll burn the pile next winter when we get some snow cover.