Just a weird rotted fence post

[drssg]

I finally got around to replacing a fence post that had rotted through at ground level, to the point that the fence was holding up the post, rather than the post holding up the fence.

A little below ground level, this is what the post was showing.

I thought I might get lucky and be able attach a strap to this weird remnant and pull it out with the FEL, without too much digging, but no such luck.

The post was in the ground a good three feet, but only about the bottom foot was still reasonably intact.

These are treated pine posts, and I've never had one rot so deep in the ground before. Just thought I'd share.

 

[jyoutz]

Looks like a branch whorl. The heartwood of the branches is more rot resistant than the sap wood on the outside of the post. Obviously the “treatment” didn’t penetrate very far into the post, so not a good treatment job.

 

[MountainBuck]

Why do the two at the top look like fingers?

 

[oosik]

The thought must have been - the chopped off whorl of branches would hold the post in the ground better. I've seen my share of rotten fence posts - never anything like that though.

 

[2manyrocks]

The reviews of some "treated posts" I saw complained that they rotted in the ground after only a few years. Made me go with metal T posts plus some wooden posts cut from an old telephone pole.

 

[drssg]

Looks like a branch whorl. The heartwood of the branches is more rot resistant than the sap wood on the outside of the post. Obviously the “treatment” didn’t penetrate very far into the post, so not a good treatment job.

That makes sense. The posts are about 20 years old, so I don't feel like I got gypped. Most of them are still solid, but there is definitely some variability.

 

[5030]

Have the same 'rot' issue here with our cedar 3 rail fence around the front yard. Rather than replacing posts, I just drive in a long metal Tee post next to the rotted off cedar post and wire tie the Tee post to the rotted off wooden post. At least 75% of ours are now supported by metal Tee posts which I paint brown so they 'blend in'.

 

[drssg]

Have the same 'rot' issue here with our cedar 3 rail fence around the front yard. Rather than replacing posts, I just drive in a long metal Tee post next to the rotted off cedar post and wire tie the Tee post to the rotted off wooden post. At least 75% of ours are now supported by metal Tee posts which I paint brown so they 'blend in'.

That would certainly be easier. So far, I'm just dealing with a bad post here and there.

 

[Oaktree]

My first thought was that it was a small tree that had been cut off and used as a post and those protrusions were what was left of the roots.