black locust fence posts

   / black locust fence posts #1  

Eric_Phillips

Platinum Member
Joined
May 16, 2005
Messages
706
Location
Rochester, NY
Tractor
FarmTrac 270DTC
From some suggestions of people here I found some black locust fence posts. After talking with the guy he said you cannot drive a nail into these posts. He suggests drilling and screwing. Is this typical of black locust? I am hanging a fence that uses a 1" wide staple. Can I at least drill a small hole and still get the staple in?
 
   / black locust fence posts #3  
Depends on how long they've been seasoned.

I posted in the "shop tips" thread to use bee's wax on nails and screws to make them drive easier. Try it on the steeples. Toilet bowl seal rings are bee's wax, and are cheap... Just stick the steeple into the wax just on the tapered end of the steeple. It doesn't take much.

May be a little time consuming, but should be quicker than drilling...
 
   / black locust fence posts #5  
I've driven thousands of fence staple in locust posts anywhere from 1 month old to 50 years old. No need to drill, but a 1" wide staple may tend to bend on you if you're not careful.
 
   / black locust fence posts #6  
I have used a trick of running the screws through a bar of soap too, any cheap bar seems to help them slide in faster. its messy something i am not allowed to do inside anymore :)
 
   / black locust fence posts #7  
I've also driven staples into locust posts without any trouble. Long nails would be difficult without predrilling.
 
   / black locust fence posts #8  
Driven many nails into BL, I will say it is not the easiest thing to do, but can be done. Try the bees wax it works.
 
   / black locust fence posts #9  
Never had a problem driving staples into locust.
 
 
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