Question about steel pipe for fencing

   / Question about steel pipe for fencing #1  

jeffgreef

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Jul 20, 2009
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Plumas County, California
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Farmall, Gibson, Windolph, Simar, Bear Cat, Vaughan, Howard
Hi folks

Need a bit of country wisdom. I plan to build a large deer fence, and I'm not going to use wood fence posts, cause I don't want to replace them (ever). I just bought 7- 4" schedule 40 galvanized pipes at 14 feet long for the corner and gate posts, used on craigslist, for $280. I plan to look for used 2 inch pipe for the remaining 65 posts, looking in craigslist.

Question is this- will ungalvanized pipe (like "oilfield pipe") hold up for a long time in concrete (or dirt...) as a fence post? I guess there is a good reason why they galvanize it. But often you'll see 2 or 2-1/2" steel pipe up for sale at prices lower than wood posts, so I wonder if it's a deal, or if I should hold out for the galvanized.

Thanks

JG
 
   / Question about steel pipe for fencing #2  
Down here we use oil field tubing & pipe for fences, round pens, etc all the time. I just finished a new hay shed using drill stem for the poles. Keep it painted and it'll outlast you...don't paint it, and it'll probably still out last you...but not by as much.
 
   / Question about steel pipe for fencing #3  
I,ve got some of the old oil feild pipe thats been in the ground for years, I cant see any signs of weakening & its not even painted .

I also have about 2000 foot of it I,m trying to sell , I was told by a fence builder Mine isn,t worth as much to some , because it is Lined with some type of plastic inside & makes it difficult to cut with anything other then a cut off saw, But still hard to weld . So You might keep that in mind when Buying some pipe off of CL .

I,m only going off of what this one Guy said though as I had never heard that before . Hopefully someone that knows for sure will jump in. Best of luck. Bob
 
   / Question about steel pipe for fencing #4  
I have an arena and pens made from old oilfield pipe. Been up about 5 years and holding up very well.
 
   / Question about steel pipe for fencing #5  
Might depend on the condition of the used pipe and your soil conditions.:D
 
   / Question about steel pipe for fencing #6  
We built an arena with used oil field pipe pounded down into dirt 39 years ago. We have had to replace a couple of rusted out gate posts but the vast majority are still solid. :)

Some of the powder coated livestock panels I bought 4 years ago are rusting badly now. :(
 
   / Question about steel pipe for fencing #7  
I can't comment on longevity of the pipe, but will tell you what my wifes uncle told me. He's a welder and fence builder here in East Texas. We have red soil, high humidity and get about 4 ft of rain per year. He refuses to use any oilfild pipe because you never know what you get, or how thin it is. He told me that it is all wore away on the inside to some degree, and even in each pipe, it's worse in some areas then others. Until you cut it, or weld it, you don't have a clue to how bad it is. Because of him, I won't buy any used oilfild pipe. To me, it's not worth having to do it again, or having it fail on my ten years from now.

Eddie
 
   / Question about steel pipe for fencing #8  
I have used it an other steel fence post in the past and not sure it made a difference but I dipped them in roofing tar to help seal them. It may of been a waist of time and money but it made me think it was at least prolonging the rust and chances are the pipe with the rust it will continue but the time I used some square tubing it was new and I am sure it helped prolong it from rusting. I will use it for at least fence post.

My 2 cents worth. which may not be worth that.
 
   / Question about steel pipe for fencing #10  
I didn't mention that there is a possible radiation hazard with used oilfield pipe. 19890126 Potential Health Hazards Associated with Handling Pipe used in Oil and Gas Production

I've said for many years now that some day it's going to be brought out that all that nasty stuff in and around the used drill pipe will be the source of health issues in families with lots of it in their fencing. Back in the day I worked lead as a cable splicer for the telephone company. We didn't know back then but the stuff I was handling was bad for me. What's even worse is the lead is really really bad for kids.

When they told us that we weren't allowed to mess with it without self protection we thought they thought they were treating us like wussies. We were wrong. We were real men doing something really dangerous for our families and thought it was about manliness.

The same thing with silica dust. We used it to dry out manholes and splices. I've been in a fog of dust many times trying to get a manhole dry enough for us to safely open up a splice. Years later they came up with bags of large granules to do the same job because the dust is bad for our lungs. I get xrays every year of my lungs because silicosis is like abestosis in that it comes in thirty to forty years later and ruins a perfectly good life.

Go with the galvanized pipe or find a source for new reject drill stem that's never been used.

In the late eighties and early nineties good drill stem was being sold for scrap because the oil industry was upside down. As the industry has recovered even the marginal pipe is being used now. So the stuff that's been available for some years now to the public is too bad to hold pressure and so it's being sold off to people who believe they're getting the same stuff they got back when the good stuff was available.
 
 
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