How to straighten a leaning PT post.

[TBone]

I'm sure most of you have had pt lumber to twist and warp, especially the Home Depot stuff. I built a little grape vine trellis for some muscadines and really didn't want to rebuild this end since my vines had just started growing and spreading out.

I wish I had taken a picture of the post before I started the straightening process. It had a rainbow bend to the left so bad the top horizontal support was 4 inches lower on the left side than on the right. It looked like crap and was just getting worse every day.

I knew that some moisture would be a big help in getting it back where it needed to be so I just kept some warm water in a little garden sprayer to keep the wood hydrated. It has been dry with temps in the upper Nineties here for weeks so the pt pine had been shocked into reverting back to when it was a tree.

I rigged up a chain blocked on the top and bottom and used a bottle jack to put some serious pressure where the bend was located. After about 5 days of watering and jacking I have it just a hair in the opposite direction when I let the pressure off the jack. I'm gonna leave it like that for a few more days to hopefully erase its memory.

Thanks to MossRoad for help with posting the pictures.

 

[Aquamoose]

Were the post(s) from the center of a tree?

 

[oosik]

I have lots & lots of PT 4x4 posts here. NEVER had one warp. I think my PT posts are pine also. Must be different wx conditions. Summer is dry as a popcorn fart here. Posts get a chance to dry in their stack in the lumber yard. I just don't choose any that are cracked or warped.

 

[TBone]

Were the post(s) from the center of a tree?

I don't know. Didn't look at the rings, just picked some straight ones. I bought 6 of them and this is the only one that bent after it dried.

 

[TBone]

I have lots & lots of PT 4x4 posts here. NEVER had one warp. I think my PT posts are pine also. Must be different wx conditions. Summer is dry as a popcorn fart here. Posts get a chance to dry in their stack in the lumber yard. I just don't choose any that are cracked or warped.

I read where some lumber yards buy treated posts that have been kiln dried after the treating process. I'm pretty sure these weren't. As usual, you get what you pay for.

 

[MossRoad]

I like that trellis.:thumbsup:

 

[hawkeye08]

One of my SILs put in fence at their old house with a couple of posts taller to support a carport. Within a week, the taller posts has twisted so the top was 45degrees twisted from the top of the fence... he ended up cutting them off before they sold the house.. they were unusable..

 

[TBone]

I like that trellis.:thumbsup:

Thanks MossRoad. It's made out of all pt lumber with a 4' x 16' cattle panel on top. Should be around a while. I just planted the muscadine vines back in May and it's got a few on it now. Should have a good crop next year.

 

[fried1765]

I'm sure most of you have had pt lumber to twist and warp, especially the Home Depot stuff. I built a little grape vine trellis for some muscadines and really didn't want to rebuild this end since my vines had just started growing and spreading out.

I wish I had taken a picture of the post before I started the straightening process. It had a rainbow bend to the left so bad the top horizontal support was 4 inches lower on the left side than on the right. It looked like crap and was just getting worse every day.

I knew that some moisture would be a big help in getting it back where it needed to be so I just kept some warm water in a little garden sprayer to keep the wood hydrated. It has been dry with temps in the upper Nineties here for weeks so the pt pine had been shocked into reverting back to when it was a tree.

I rigged up a chain blocked on the top and bottom and used a bottle jack to put some serious pressure where the bend was located. After about 5 days of watering and jacking I have it just a hair in the opposite direction when I let the pressure off the jack. I'm gonna leave it like that for a few more days to hopefully erase its memory.

Thanks to MossRoad for help with posting the pictures.

I like your method!

 

[Egon]

Very nice trellis.

Straightening or keeping straight. Just suggestions.

Spreader bar like on a mast. ( just as you straightened the post but using permanent turnbuckles.
A piece of angle iron bolted to the post.