Rail road ties for fence posts?

[DanD78]

Has anyone ever used rail road ties for fence posts. I have heard they will not last but I thought they were treated with the same stuff used on telephone and power poles. I already have a bunch of good as new ties but don't want to re-do the posts in 5 years or less.

Dan

 

[beenthere]

Don't know what you are hearing, or from who. Different treatments for poles than ties.

RR ties treated with creosote last a long time. For sure, more than 5 years.

Then again, ties pulled out of a track have been determined to not have much life left in them. So using old ties is a risk for life expectancy.

 

[adjusterr]

Don't waste your time with ties for fence posts. Railroad ties last a long time because they are laid on a heavy gravel bed which causes water to drain away allowing the tie to dry. Ties on end in the ground soak up water and rot from the center out. I personally used ties to surround my garden, made the mistake of placing them directly on the ground, three years, rotten. You would do much better using locust, it will outlast you.

 

[schmism]

I know many corner posts are set with ties. Fresh ties, not old ones that were pulled out.

the only issue can be they can be on the short side for corner posts set 3'ish deep.

 

[beenthere]

I've two ties set in the ground in 1965 for a line fence and as near as I can tell, they are as good as the day they were "planted". They were nearly new, and were in pretty good condition.
A lot of variables enter in here. Treatment retention, species, soil conditions, etc.

 

[MossRoad]

My father built retaining walls out of RR ties. They rotted from the backside out. You couldn't tell they were weak until the day they failed. They are not made for ground contact. As mentioned, they are made to be set on ballast (rocks) for drainage.

Two weeks ago I helped a friend remove a retaining wall and garden beds made from railroad ties. Again, they rotted from the dirt side out. Looked good on the outside.

With that said, I have seen RR tie corner posts in the same place my entire life. Don't know how sturdy they are.

 

[forgeblast]

Same happened to rrties that the previous owner had placed down as a raised bed. The entire back was rotted. I moved them to one spot and then had to move them again. What i didnt realize was there was a nest of bees now in the rotted out timber. Had to get out of there fast. Waited until spring when they were frozed to try and move it again.

 

[Chuck52]

A RR tie retaining wall at my old house was full of termites when I moved part of it.

Chuck

 

[beppington]

I made a ~3' tall retaining wall out of used RR ties in 1992. Most are rotting now & need to be replaced, but I'm satisfied with how long they lasted.

That said, it sure seems like every instance where I've seen RR ties used as fence posts/ corners, they're always on their last leg ... or worse. Like splintering/ disintegrating, generally falling apart. It does seem like they don't do well vertically for some reason.

 

[JESSE1]

Used railroad ties are usually rotted when removed, otherwise the RR wouldn't remove them. I've used and replaced plenty of them over the years until I found a source for new ones. I use new ties for corner posts. Biggest drawback is they are very heavy.

 

[s78wingrider]

My experience is some old ties last forever and some not so good, may be kind of wood or how they were processed?

 

[MossRoad]

My experience is some old ties last forever and some not so good, may be kind of wood or how they were processed?

Yeah... back then they could impregnate them with all kinds of crazy chemicals that would prevent rot, insects, etc... most of those are now banned.

 

[jbooth]

I have set many railroad ties as fence posts. Was disappointed with longevity, but very happy with how straight you could make a corral or fence line as oppossed to "not always straight" osage orange post option.

 

[Elcid76]

My Kansas experience is that RR ties don't withstand the rigors of pasture burning.... Nothing like being a mile from the hose and watching that "strong-corner" flaming.... Lessons learned the hard way last forever. Hedge is the way to go on corner posts.

 

[Redgoatea]

I have several fence posts made of ties and all the corners of my pastures are made from them. They've been there for fifteen years and are still in excellent condition. I live in Oregon where it rains almost constantly 9 months a year and they hold up great.

That said there are a few around that were laid down and used for retaining walls those have started to rot but once again it's been 15 years. We don't freeze very often or snow here. Maybe the freeze thaw cycle has something to do with early breakdown?

 

[txdon]

I put a corral fence with RR ties about 15 years ago. 1/3 are showing signs of rot, and 2 out of 30 have been replaced.

 

[turnkey4099]

I built a 300' long retaining wall rangin from 1 tie to 5' tall back in the 80s and also rimmed my 1 acre pasture with RR posts every 8'. This far I have just one that has rotted to the point of failure. The rest of the posts still "look/feel" good but who knows . Of course I got my ties when they were abandoning a RR line and thus had a good choice of them from #1 to #4s. #1s went for posts, all others to the horizontal ones. Yes, ones I used for borders (garden, drive, paths, etc) have al pretty much rotted away by now.

Harry K

 

[tallyho8]

The former owners built a one mile long barbed wire fence on my property with used ties in 1935. The railroad gave them the ties for free because they were considered to be worn out.

I had to remove many of them that were finally rotting and falling down in 2004 but I still have a few dozen in place that are much stronger than 4x4 posts.

These ties are probably over 100 years old and I would gladly put down new creosote ties if I could get them and i would expect them to last well over 30 to 50 years.

There are many old pole barns in our area built with used ties as the poles. You can get switch ties up to 16' long.

 

[two_bit_score]

Has anyone ever used rail road ties for fence posts. I have heard they will not last but I thought they were treated with the same stuff used on telephone and power poles. I already have a bunch of good as new ties but don't want to re-do the posts in 5 years or less.

Dan

Depends on the condition of the 'ties' used. New ties are better than old ties.

I think it's easier to tamp a round post that a square tie.