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.

 

[oosik]

No idea about maple. Any maple trees around here will be ornamental yard trees. Homesteaders liked cedar or black locust. I have two remaining cedar fence posts in my fence line. Put in by the original homesteader in 1893. Otherwise, it's big 'ol gooey railroad ties at the gate and T-133 for the remaining 80 acres. The two railroad ties, at the gate, have been in for thirty eight years. On a hot summer day you can still smell them as you drive thru the gate.

 

[Looking4new]

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.

Do you think the telephone company might get a little upset if you use their poles?
Sorry guy, I just had to. I will shut up now and sit in the corner.

 

[D2Cat]

Only telephone pole I would consider using is a new one. You get one that's been removed, it's lost a good part of it's life. I have a property that has power poles used at corners and gates and had the tops cut at about 45 deg. to drain water. They all are at the end of their useful life and need to be replaced. I'm not sure how long they been in the ground or when they were installed. Replacing post in an existing fence is more work than building new fence!

 

[Diggin It]

When utilities remove/replace poles, they usually leave them for the property owner to use if they want them. I see lots of them used as corner and gate posts.

 

[oosik]

I would not reuse the utility poles around here for in-the-ground burial. Only the bottom eight feet or so are treated. This is the part they cut off when the pole is "pulled". It must be some EPA requirement to have the treated portion removed and properly disposed of.

 

[dnw64]

I used Maple for a garden fence about 30 years ago.

2nd year they just started falling over.

Granted, they were only 4-6" diameter, but like an earlier poster said, use Maple if you want something to keep you busy every few years.

White cedar is great. They used to make water pipe out of it by drilling a hole through the center of a post. They are well known to last for 100 or more years buried underground.

 

[MH8675309]

Tcreeley has a good point. I have used utility poles and railroad ties for corner posts for years now with good results. You cant buy a treated post today that will last as well - no doubt the ones that lasted better were bad for the environment or something. That's not to say i don't use modern posts as i have set probably at least 100 new ones in the last few years for anything from a round pen to board fence or barb wire. There are some good posts available. I get mine form an Amish man that lives up state from us. The posts are 8'1" long and average 6 " in diameter with some larger yet. Included is a photo of last falls project down at the new place

 

[mcfarmall]

Do you think the telephone company might get a little upset if you use their poles?
Sorry guy, I just had to. I will shut up now and sit in the corner.

Contact your local AT&T yard. They replace posts that get damaged or are too short, whatever and the old ones end up in a dumpster back at the yard.

A buddy of mine works there and I got some 8'-9' bottom sections of the real creosote treated posts and some green treated ones too.

So here's a question. Can consumers buy good old creosote treated timbers anymore or is all that stuff reserved for government projects like creek trestles and the like?

 

[LouNY]

This may upset a few folks but;
If you or someone you know burns pine and gets a creosote buildup in their stove pipes or even better inside the outdoor boilers.
Scrape it out or off and save it, liquidfy it with some diesel and you have some good working old fashioned wood preservative.

 

[Doofy]

No idea about maple. Any maple trees around here will be ornamental yard trees. Homesteaders liked cedar or black locust. I have two remaining cedar fence posts in my fence line. Put in by the original homesteader in 1893. Otherwise, it's big 'ol gooey railroad ties at the gate and T-133 for the remaining 80 acres. The two railroad ties, at the gate, have been in for thirty eight years. On a hot summer day you can still smell them as you drive thru the gate.

Aaaa, I love the smell of creosote in the morning!