Does Maple make good posts?

[Rebeldad1]

Might be rebuilding my gate.
Was going to use two railroad ties as posts.
We had a 12" diameter maple tree blow over during a storm ad was wondering if that would make a good gate post?

 

[RNeumann]

While maple is hard it’s not generally known as rot resistant. So ground contact isn’t it’s strength. The other disadvantage over the railroad tie is the near full thickness treatment that has been applied to the tie.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Might be rebuilding my gate.
Was going to use two railroad ties as posts.
We had a 12" diameter maple tree blow over during a storm ad was wondering if that would make a good gate post?

Use the Maple if you want to do it all over again in a year or so if not go with the railroad tie or a treated post.

 

[Rebeldad1]

Thats what im looking for. The lifespan of the maple post doesnt sound great.

 

[Diggin It]

If this is about the other issue, I'd go ahead a pop for treated 6x6 square posts or treated 8" round posts.

 

[EddieWalker]

I wouldn't use maple for a post.

I wouldn't use a railroad tie either. You do not know what species of wood the tie was made out of since they buy any and all hardwoods that are big enough to cut into railroad ties. The railroad relies on them resting on gravel so water drains off of them quickly. They where not made for ground contact, and when used as posts, or retaining walls, or garden borders, the bugs get into them and hollow them out. For years, they look normal, but if you hit them just wrong, they crumble.

Spend the money for a ground contact treated post. Mix concrete and pour it around the post, and then add more so that it slopes up out of the ground, and around the post. The goal is to make sure that water runs away from the post and that water NEVER EVER sits at the base of the post. For line posts, you are fine dumping concrete into the hole dry and letting it cure on it's own, or even packing dirt, but for a gate post, you want the maximum strength possible, and that's achieved by mixing it with water. Mixing makes a significant difference in strength, as does not using too much water. The stiffer the better!!!

 

[Sawyer Rob]

We never cement a post, including a treated post all the way to the bottom... A cemented in post in time, the post always shrinks away from the cement and then moisture sits in the crack against the post causing it to rot.

SR

 

[LouNY]

Plus in many areas that concrete is just something for the frost to get to and heave.

 

[Diggin It]

Something I've done once or twice (not regularly) is set a 4x4 post through the void in a concrete block set flush to or just below the surface, then packed with dirt. Nothing to base it on, but the thinking is the block will provide some additional stability in softer ground without some of the issues mentioned above.

 

[tcreeley]

I've had some rail road ties (oak) in the ground for 30 years now - still solid. The frost moves them around, even though they are dug in 4' here in central Maine. The ground is standing water a foot below the surface every spring. The rail road ties were bought used - from rail road beds they are taking out. - Just make sure the rail road tie is a solid one- before you stick it into the ground!

I never liked pouring cement around a wood post. In time the post rots out leaving behind a cement doughnut.

- Telephone poles would also be useful for gate posts.