Landscape timbers for electric fence?

[mkane09]

I'm getting ready to build about 1500 feet of fence for my horse pasture. There will initially be two strands of 1 1/2" electric tape on the posts. Eventually, there may also be 4.25" Ramm fence, alternating Ramm-tape-Ramm-tape-Ramm. The Ramm fencing is reinforced (3 12.5 guage steel wires) plastic fencing, which looks like board fence when installed. I plan to use large posts, probably 6x6 at the corners and gates, but I want your opinions on using the treated landscape timbers as posts in between. Home Depot has the posts and told me they were rated for ground contact. I would set them with a few inches of gravel as base, a bag of concrete per hole, then finished with dirt. I can get the landscape timbers cheap, $1.97 each. Will they last 20 years?

TIA...

mkane09

 

[whistlepig]

I'm getting ready to build about 1500 feet of fence for my horse pasture. There will initially be two strands of 1 1/2" electric tape on the posts. Eventually, there may also be 4.25" Ramm fence, alternating Ramm-tape-Ramm-tape-Ramm. The Ramm fencing is reinforced (3 12.5 guage steel wires) plastic fencing, which looks like board fence when installed. I plan to use large posts, probably 6x6 at the corners and gates, but I want your opinions on using the treated landscape timbers as posts in between. Home Depot has the posts and told me they were rated for ground contact. I would set them with a few inches of gravel as base, a bag of concrete per hole, then finished with dirt. I can get the landscape timbers cheap, $1.97 each. Will they last 20 years?

TIA...

mkane09

I have no experience using landscape timbers for fence posts. With them only costing $1.97 each and treated fence posts going for around $9.00 each (4"x8') I would be suspect of the difference. A lot of work if they rot out quickly. I have pressure treated fence poles set in concrete that have been there 25 years now with no sign of rotting. You will like the Ramm fencing. Well worth the extra money Ramm charges for it.

 

[zzvyb6]

I've used landscape timbers for board and wire fence posts ever since they first appeared at a local Builder's Square 25 years ago. (They've been out of business for a long time). Now I buy them at the local Lowes for $1.97. Oddly, they are $3.50 at Home Depot down the street. They make great posts, last a long time, easy to pound or set in drilled holes, hold staples well, can be inverted when you change your fence layout and last a lot longer time than cedar or treated or even steel posts that they have been replacing. The only caveat is to make the wide side face the pasture. Only casualties on my 25 double fenced acres have been from mower strikes, deer collisions, and trees falling in a section of fence. Plus, if you need to change one out, the stump pulls nicely and a new post slides right back down into the old hole. Mind you, horses don't care for the taste of yellow pine like they do cedar, so they need diet supplements.

Those who think they know better ought to try them before they form the wrong opinion. I use them spaced at 8' in the pasture connection lanes and 10' spacing in the driveway and non-corral areas. They work well for brace posts, too.

H'mm lets see, at 10' spacing, those 1501 posts (you need one at the end), will cost $3,000 + tax vs. $15,000 + tax for those nice light weight milled 6" cedar posts. Even if they were only to last 6 years, your accountant would favor the prior. But go ahead, spend the money, its a slow economy. Remember that to make a million dollars in the horse business, start out with 2 million. The cedar posts will get you a great head start.

 

[deepNdirt]

personally I wouldn't use them, I did at one time and only last about 4 years,
they call them PT although just enough to preserve them laying 1 side contact on the ground, not intended for down in the soil, the part of the timber being used is usually the heart ( center ) not much else can be done with the heart it drys out and become brittle very susceptible to cracking and breaking, the bottom line is they just don't pressure treat the landscape timbers as they would for building materials, I would stick with using pre-cut PT pasture fence post, I've set many of them to last 10 -15 years... have some here I put in 13 years ago and still standing solid,

 

[Redneck in training]

I've used landscape timbers for board and wire fence posts ever since they first appeared at a local Builder's Square 25 years ago. (They've been out of business for a long time). Now I buy them at the local Lowes for $1.97. Oddly, they are $3.50 at Home Depot down the street. They make great posts, last a long time, easy to pound or set in drilled holes, hold staples well, can be inverted when you change your fence layout and last a lot longer time than cedar or treated or even steel posts that they have been replacing. The only caveat is to make the wide side face the pasture. Only casualties on my 25 double fenced acres have been from mower strikes, deer collisions, and trees falling in a section of fence. Plus, if you need to change one out, the stump pulls nicely and a new post slides right back down into the old hole. Mind you, horses don't care for the taste of yellow pine like they do cedar, so they need diet supplements.

Those who think they know better ought to try them before they form the wrong opinion. I use them spaced at 8' in the pasture connection lanes and 10' spacing in the driveway and non-corral areas. They work well for brace posts, too.

H'mm lets see, at 10' spacing, those 1501 posts (you need one at the end), will cost $3,000 + tax vs. $15,000 + tax for those nice light weight milled 6" cedar posts. Even if they were only to last 6 years, your accountant would favor the prior. But go ahead, spend the money, its a slow economy. Remember that to make a million dollars in the horse business, start out with 2 million. The cedar posts will get you a great head start.

1500 ft takes only somewhat more than 150 post (accounting for braces) therefore the cost will be little more than $300 versus $1500. I would guess they would last but it perhaps depends on the soil and/or climate.

 

[Trails2004]

I have been told landscape timbers ( rounded sides with milled flat surfaces) are made of cottonwood.

If this is so- I would not use them as a post below grade. I do not beleive they are treated- they are stained.

 

[bp fick]

I have been told landscape timbers ( rounded sides with milled flat surfaces) are made of cottonwood.

If this is so- I would not use them as a post below grade. I do not beleive they are treated- they are stained.

I do not believe either statement is factual. I use them with great success. Some of this depends on which timber you actually buy and soil types do vary.

 

[mkane09]

Could they be treated....say, with a water sealant such as Thompson's? My soil is broken shale and clay...

mkane09

 

[RobA]

I don't think Thompson's would do much. I'm sure something copper based would do a better job.

 

[QRTRHRS]

My experiance with landscape timbers is that they do not last. Years ago, I worked for a wholesale/retail fencing company that had a franchise to treat and sell lumber. The company refused to deal with landscape timbers for fear of their reputation. You could take a knive and cut into the wood about a half an inch or so and hit untreated wood.

I thought that the wood was just pine not dried enough but it could be just a softwood.

Pretty much you get what you pay for. Having used the tensile wire reinforced plastic fence mkane09 spoke about in the post, I will offer this. I do not know about the Ramm brand but the Centaur that I used years ago depended on stable posts and a lot of tension or the warrenty would be violated.

By the way, that type of fence is at the top of my list for being horse safe and low maint. Centaur sells a version that will carry a charge same has their "White Lightning" coated tensile. Wish my current budget would allow it.