Creosote or concrete?

[EddieWalker]

I can't say what's used for railroad ties in Louisiana, but here in East Texas, they use any hardwood that meats their size requirements. It's probably the only thing you can sell sweet gums for. The railroad sets them on gravel so there is a lot of drainage under them, which helps a lot for rot. When put in the ground, or even laid on top of the dirt for landscaping, they rot out quickly. You can't tell they are rotten by looking at them for a very long time, but the bugs get past the outer layer and eat up the interior portion. Then one day, you touch it and it crumbles.

From reading what others post around the country, I believe it's either that better wood is used in other areas, or you have less acidic soil, or the bugs are not as bad as they are here in the South. I wouldn't use railroad ties for anything even if they where free.

 

[newbury]

At my Fathers house in Vermont he got aggravated with the school bus turning around in our drive and knocking over the mailbox. So about 1965 he took two 55 gallon steel drums w/ bottoms cut out so he could stack them. He then filled them with concrete and decent sized (size of his hands and bigger) rocks from different areas on the lot. Some were flat slate others rounded river worn. No sandstone. He inserted the mailbox in one. I think he would put in a layer of rocks, then pour concrete, repeat. He probably put in a LOT of rebar.
He poured it somehow so he was able to slip (or cut) the drums off and we ended up with two pillars about 6 foot high that looked great and proved stronger than the schoolbus.

 

[goeduck]

I like the steel posts that are filled with cement.

In 2012 I mounted a 16 foot tube gate on a galvanized steel pipe that I poured concrete around. If I recall correctly, I used 14 sacks at 90 lbs each. I went about 4 feet deep with concrete all the way to the bottom and at the top I expanded the hole AWAY from the directions the gate would normally sit (open and closed) so the concrete would be a counterweight. The tube gate is not a cheaply, it is heavy and has not budged an inch since I set it. I used barb wire hoop rings as I went up with the concrete and rebar vertically. Little red neck but it is sturdy. The gate is at central station on one of my properties and needed to be solid.

 

[FTG-05]

You can buy concrete filled pipes at the lumber yard, they are called lolli columns. Just weld on some pins for hinges.

Lally column - Wikipedia

 

[bdog]

All good ideas but what is wrong with just steel pipe? I used 8” 1/4” wall pipe for my gate post and I expect it to be there after I am dead. A lot less work too.