Some .gov info on fencing, preserving wood

[andrewj]

http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/resmgmt/publist/300series/307110-1.pdf

The thing that jumped out at me was their finding that slathering used oil on wood actually had very little preservative effect, and that "charring" was much more effective as it made the wood toxic to the little organisms that decay the wood.

 

[firemen122]

Did ya really think a government agency would put in writing that used motor oil works great as a preservative? Dont believe everything ya read...

 

[weedpharma]

Did ya really think a government agency would put in writing that used motor oil works great as a preservative? Dont believe everything ya read...

Fireman, can you provide evidence rather than hearsay to backup your postulation?

Weedpharma

 

[Lloyd_E]

Outdated info. CCA treated wood is banned in Canada and US. Although there is stock still available the manufacturers have moved on to a copper based rather than arsenate.

lloyd

 

[QRTRHRS]

Outdated info. CCA treated wood is banned in Canada and US. Although there is stock still available the manufacturers have moved on to a copper based rather than arsenate.

lloyd

Not true. CCA treated posts are very much still being produced in the US. I have a facility about an hour or so away from me that I purchase directly from.

Perhaps the utility and ag industry have had enough clout to keep CCA on the market for certain applications.

Spend a few minutes searching for articles on ACQ treated lumber. The hazards of working with it and the hardware requirements do not strike me as an improvement.

 

[2manyrocks]

It's news to me that charring wood acts as a preservative. Wonder how much you'd have to char it and how much longer the wood would last?

 

[tallyho8]

I tore down an old garage a while back. Their first garage had burned down and they used many of the old charred boards as rafters under their tin roof. The tin leaked in a lot of places over the years and rotted out most of the wood in the garage so that we had to tear it down.

Unbelievably, almost every old charred board was still in great shape with the ones that were charred the most in the best condition while most of the newer boards were completely rotted out.

 

[rambler]

Charring works, but you do eat away a bit of the wood to get there.

Oil helps for maybe 5 years. The problem is we swipe it on, it doesn't soak in very deep, and comes right back off again. If one were to do multiple applications, every 5 years or so, it can preserve exposed wood ver well. Ignoring the EPA issues, it will preserve, but is too thin & our application methods aren't very good to be a long term preservative.

Myself, I agree the new preservatives are silly.

The older arsinic based product was a better product & I believe long term safer for people than the new stuff, but a few people got a bee in the bonnet about the word 'arsnic' and so things were changed. My opinion. Not fo the better.

--->Paul

 

[Egon]

In another life and a place far away we treated poplar fence posts with bluestone. The posts would be stood uprite in barrel's of bluestone for a sufficient period of time to saturate the bottom of the post. They seemed to last for about 15 to 20 years as I recall being told. Of course the soil and climate in that location were quite dry which may influence the life span of a post.

 

[jimmyj]

What is bluestone Egon? Never heard of it, sounds interesting.

I have heard that if you soak a post in antifreeze it will last a very long time. I don't know if it is true though. The charring info is very interesting, had not heard of it either.