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Stock fencing prices with contractor and chestnut orsoftwood

 
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Henbant



Joined: 04 Oct 2014
Posts: 8

PostPosted: Mon Oct 19, 15 8:35 am    Post subject: Stock fencing prices with contractor and chestnut orsoftwood Reply with quote
    

Hi All,

We need a lot of fencing (perhaps a few thousand metres ) but probably done in affordable chunks over years.. However we were thinking of doing about 1000m ASAP so we can really separate our sheep etc..

Two bits of advice needed;

One is, how much should I pay for a contractor (we are in North West Wales (Penygroes/Clynnogfawr), does anybody know one?) and

Secondly, I seem to be able to buy cleft chestnut fence posts from the other side of the country for only a few pennies more than I can buy locally tantalised softwood ones.. they must last longer, right? and if so why are all the posts I can see round here tanalised ones?

Thanks all or any

 
Bodger



Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

PostPosted: Mon Oct 19, 15 9:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

You'll need to chop both your arm and your leg off. You're living in the wrong area for chestnut paling, there's got to be something else surely!

 
Tavascarow



Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall
PostPosted: Mon Oct 19, 15 10:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Chestnut is becoming popular again because the chemicals used now aren't much better than green colouring IMHO.
Tanalised posts I put in here thirty years ago are still sound above & below ground.
Recent ones I put in five years ago have already rotted away where they meet the ground.
Chestnut untreated is supposed to be good for 15 years so I'm told, & if you can soak the bottoms in creosote for a week or two they will probably last longer.
So IMHO if you can get chestnut posts delivered for a few pennies more per post I would get them.

 
tahir



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45674
Location: Essex
PostPosted: Mon Oct 19, 15 10:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Tavascarow wrote:
So IMHO if you can get chestnut posts delivered for a few pennies more per post I would get them.


Agree, the new stuff rots quite readily

 
Rob R



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York
PostPosted: Mon Oct 19, 15 8:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Yay for chemicals!


We put in fences here 10 years ago. Some posts started to go by 5 years, meanwhile the posts we took down from one section were reused & are still going strong, despite being 25 years if they're a day. Not everything 'green' is good.

 
dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46235
Location: yes
PostPosted: Mon Oct 19, 15 11:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

i wonder if it is "greener"to replace every few years or to have a few inches of "death zone" around a post?

i suspect the latter especially as good hard core chems are intended to stay in the wood.

lindane ,tri butyl tin and the other thing that escapes my memory@ needed good ppe when doing application but once soaked in and surface dry they are safe(ish) unless chewed,burnt or put in a river/sea .they did get rid of woody bugs and assorted nasty fungi for ever .

that said my modern pre treated floor joist deep raised bed in the yard is 6 yrs old and has no visible rot even though it has soil one side and dog wee the other.

@ i just remembered pentachlorophenol is the other thing in the old cocktail

creosote is another long term effective and off the approved list preservative which works

if it preserves timber it kills stuff,that is why it preserves timber .

 
Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15985

PostPosted: Tue Oct 20, 15 6:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

The modern tantalised posts aren't much good these days, although there are some that are supposed to have a 10 year guarantee. Don't think they have been going 10 years yet though, so no proof. The old tantalising contained copper, chrome and arsenic, but the modern one only contains copper, and just isn't generally man enough for the job. The suggestions others have made about extending the life might work, but most of the compounds used might be tricky to get hold of these days.

Unfortunately for you the choice is possibly local softwood or chestnut from a long distance. The chestnut should last really well, but difficult to decide about the transport. We are fortunate in that we can get chestnut posts from just down the road, as the chestnut grows within 5 miles of us just over the border in Sussex.

Don't know what sort of fence you are thinking of putting up, but be aware that a solid fence will be hit harder by the wind than one that the wind can blow though. If it is post and wire, no problem of course.

 
Ty Gwyn



Joined: 22 Sep 2010
Posts: 4613
Location: Lampeter
PostPosted: Tue Oct 20, 15 8:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Noticed recently there is a supplier here in West Wales not far from me that stocks Chestnut stakes,not phoned for price as yet,as i have a load of soft woods soaking in waste oil and diesel,as tanalised alone are rubbish these days.

 
gregotyn



Joined: 24 Jun 2010
Posts: 2201
Location: Llanfyllin area
PostPosted: Tue Oct 20, 15 2:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I think you will find that creosote is allowed now. and is thought to be less noxious than the tanilith-which is now a waste of money. My friend does his creosoting using a 45 gall drum puts the post in one wat for 3 days turns them over and does the other end then drains for a week and uses them when he needs. I will check with him on his security method to ensure no leakage into water courses and report back!

 
Ty Gwyn



Joined: 22 Sep 2010
Posts: 4613
Location: Lampeter
PostPosted: Tue Oct 20, 15 9:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Missed this earlier,

One is, how much should I pay for a contractor (we are in North West Wales (Penygroes/Clynnogfawr), does anybody know one?) and

Here in West Wales roughly �1 per metre erection for a straight forward fence,to many turns and corners,steep land were hand digging is needed would be extra.

 
gregotyn



Joined: 24 Jun 2010
Posts: 2201
Location: Llanfyllin area
PostPosted: Thu Oct 22, 15 2:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I've done a bit of homework, well asked the friend who just happened to have a delivery of creosote when I was there. His method of treating posts is to do it all under cover in a south facing open fronted barn. He allows the posts to dry, he sometimes buys them 3-4 months before he wants to fence, then, after a month he gets an empty 200ltr drum and puts the posts to be treated in-all the same way up, (tops exposed and points in the tub). He then fills the drum with creosote the level of creosote goes down as they take it in and the treatment rises up the posts well above the creosote level, as the posts suck the stuff up. After 2 weeks he takes the posts out of the drum and puts them in an old bath where they drain off for 2-3 days; then he restacks them into the drum pointy end up and repeats the process, fill creosote and leave for a couple of weeks or more if he is not in a hurry. He then uses the posts, after a couple of months draining and drying.
You have to be a farmer-trading as a registered holding, to be eligible I am told by my local dealer, who had just made a delivery to my friends, but I have never had problems with buying the stuff. My friend's father always did his posts like this and son is carrying on the same way. The longest they have lasted he says is 20 years. The most important thing is to get the posts as dry as you can and not to skimp the job. The 'lad' said that he likes to buy the posts in summer and to have them ready for winter fencing. My initial post was incorrect when I said such a short time in the drum and drying. His theory is that fencing starts about 6 months before you start putting in posts! He also says the initial drying out period is important which is why he buys way ahead of the fencing to get the posts dry and to allow a long drying out time after treating.
They has been doing this for a long time and it works for them.

 
Nick



Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford
PostPosted: Thu Oct 22, 15 3:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

You have to be a 'professional' to buy creosote. This is enforced, locally, by the ag merchant asking, are you a professional, and me saying yes.

 
dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46235
Location: yes
PostPosted: Thu Oct 22, 15 6:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    



the french system is alive and well in herefordshire

 
Nick



Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford
PostPosted: Thu Oct 22, 15 6:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Bien sur, tidy.

 
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