I picked up ten CCA posts with a retention of .4 yesterday at a treatment place in North Minnesota yesterday. I know it will take many years to learn if they are good. We will put them in, and try to remember them.

Any ideas on the CCA treatment?

How fresh were they? Were they still really wet?

Something I have learned to do is cut about 4" off of one end and take a look at how deep the solution penetrated. I have not only found shallow penetration, but discovered that some posts were actually starting to decay before they were treated. I could sort the posts by just feeling the weight of each post as I loaded and unloaded them.

I only buy from suppliers that kiln dry the posts before they are treated so they will absorb more of the treatment.

Al that said, a lot depends on the soil conditions you put them in. Sandy, well drained soil will allow for a much longer lasting post than will clay that holds a lot of moisture or stays damp.

I've gotten over ten years now out of some posts and they are still holding strong, versus two years out of the ones I discovered that were either already decaying or had minimal absorption, probably because they were still green and wet.

Ed

The fencing spec for NRCS calls for either pressure treated CCA or rot resistant wood (locust or cedar). Life span is expected to be 20 years.

With treated posts, you need to make sure they are pressure treated, not just treated to refusal. It makes a big difference in how far into the wood the chemicals penetrate.

Dale

Lots of termites in our country. We still use railroad ties for building corners.

this might not be feasible for you, but what i do for any cca post that is getting buried (that i care about) is i coat the underground portion with roofing tar. its another step and adds a day but not much money.