Plastic rail road ties for fence posts ?

[Captfortune]

Does anyone on here know if rubber or plastic rail road ties will make good fence posts ? Im a little concerned they may become brittle from the sun over time.

 

[Gee Ray]

30 years ago, I was able to buy plastic fence posts. They are still upright and straight as can be. If you go to put a new nail in them now however, you got a pre-drill it. But they have held up beautifully.

The only problem is, I haven’t been able to find them again. And everything made out of the recycled plastic has skyrocketed in price.

 

[grsthegreat]

Problem is….there way more expensive than treated 6x6.

 

[oosik]

We must be totally "old country" around here. I've seen wood and precast concrete ties. Never rubber or plastic. I've got the "really gooey" wood RR ties on my gates and as two of my property corner posts. Going on 45 years and they are still sticky - stinky - tough as nails.

 

[grsthegreat]

Plastic are shaped like rr ties, but are for landscape use. Recycled plastic

 

[oosik]

Ah, ha. Thanks grsthegreat. Good info.........

 

[ArlyA]

Plastic rail road ties was new one for me!

 

[ponytug]

Plastic rail road ties was new one for me!View attachment 837337

Those look pretty darn close to concrete to the naked eye...

Google searching matches that image to concrete ties being sold by Repurposed Materials...

USED | Concrete Railroad Ties | repurposedMATERIALS

SAVE 50-75% USED! CHEAP! Concrete Railroad Ties - salvaged. 8.5 feet | Location: Iowa |

www.repurposedmaterialsinc.com

Around here, concrete posts are both expensive and not great quality, at least according to friends who bought them for agricultural uses (kiwi trellises). They ended up importing them from New Zealand... Ihave trouble finding pre-cast concrete items of the sort of quality that I have seen overseas.

We use plastic rods/posts for our electric fence, and they are only good for a few years, but I haven't found a local source for plastic or concrete 6x6s, or equivalent, short of pouring my own

All the best, Peter

 

[ArlyA]

Calling railroad ties "plastic fence posts" is still a mystery to me.

 

[ponytug]

Calling railroad ties "plastic fence posts" is still a mystery to me.

Imagine PVC decking extruded as a 6x6. "Railroad tie", aka 6x6 fencepost alternative... (or 8x10")

Here the corner posts, and some of the large gate posts are creosote, and no signs of decay sixty plus years later.

The solid plastic posts are really heavy in the larger sizes! But then again a creosote railroad tie is pretty darn heavy too.

Gallery – Everwood Posts

6 Ft Recycled Plastic Posts 4" x 6" - Polly Products

4" x 6" - 6' post composed of recycled HDPE doesn't require any special prep work to be installed below grade. Our posts don't contain any fillers or structural additives so they remain fully recyclable. While not rated for structural use, they are perfect for mounting signs, literature boxes...

pollyproducts.com

All the best,

Peter