Wood Fence Post Choices

[ultrarunner]

Looking to put in 600' of rail fencing for nieces pony...

Here are the prices I'm getting for 8' pressure treated posts (brown in color) in the San Francisco Bay Area.

4x4 $9.97

4x6 $17.67

6x6 $24

Is there any longevity benefit selecting larger posts? I imagine the fence will have at least one hot wire on the inside to keep animals from leaning on the fence.

 

[QRTRHRS]

Looking to put in 600' of rail fencing for nieces pony...

Here are the prices I'm getting for 8' pressure treated posts (brown in color) in the San Francisco Bay Area.

4x4 $9.97

4x6 $17.67

6x6 $24

Is there any longevity benefit selecting larger posts? I imagine the fence will have at least one hot wire on the inside to keep animals from leaning on the fence.

By rail fencing, do you mean something on the order of 1x6x12 foot boards?

If so, 6x6 will look the best. As for longevity, 6x6 would last longer than 4x4 but more important than size is the method of treatment.

That is, the rate of retention of the treating medium which goes back to the dryness of the wood. CCA used to be pretty common and in that medium, .40 was barely ground contact while .60 was for below ground, ie; fencing, decking, etc.

For domestic use, ACQ is what is most commonly available. I admit, I do not know squat about ACQ ratings. What I do know is that ACQ "eats" hardware that is not rated to withstand it.

I do not know about California but I am under the impression that for fencing and utility use, CCA treated posts are still available. Usually in round form but I have a treatment facility that I can purchase square CCA posts from albeit more expensively.

Find out the process and manufacturer of those posts and what the ratings are. You may want to dig further than what the people at your source advise you if it is a big box store.

 

[clemsonfor]

Looking to put in 600' of rail fencing for nieces pony...

Here are the prices I'm getting for 8' pressure treated posts (brown in color) in the San Francisco Bay Area.

4x4 $9.97

4x6 $17.67

6x6 $24

Is there any longevity benefit selecting larger posts? I imagine the fence will have at least one hot wire on the inside to keep animals from leaning on the fence.

Ouch im glad i dont live in your area! Is that a 4x4x8 or a 4x4x10, or 4x4x12? I know its for fence posts but i was thinking for best economy you might be buying 10 or 12 footers and cutting them in half before use. A 4x4 that is 8 feet long that is southern yellow pine , pressuretreated for ground contact is around here is $6.97 (at Lowes). I just looked its not any cheaper here to get a longer one and cut it in 2, due to our tree size areound here like most places a peremium is placed on larger timbers. A 10 footer is twice the price of an 8 footer and a 12 footer is more than twice the price, so its really cheaper to buy all 8 footers and whack them off at the correct height after.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Is there any longevity benefit selecting larger posts?

Not really, as long as they are treated equally. There's an OLD fence line on my farm where an oak tree has grown around a treated post that is only about 3 X 3, but it still looks like new. It has to be well over 50 years old

I'd think 6 ft posts would work for most of the line posts, and 8 ft posts for the corners and gates, assuming it's going to be a 4 ft fence

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I'd think 6 ft posts would work for most of the line posts, and 8 ft posts for the corners and gates, assuming it's going to be a 4 ft fence

That's my thought. Other than corners and gates, the fence isn't really supporting a ton of weight, especially if there's a hot wire to keep the critters off of it.

Why a pole fence?

 

[EddieWalker]

Looking to put in 600' of rail fencing for nieces pony...

Here are the prices I'm getting for 8' pressure treated posts (brown in color) in the San Francisco Bay Area.

4x4 $9.97

4x6 $17.67

6x6 $24

Is there any longevity benefit selecting larger posts? I imagine the fence will have at least one hot wire on the inside to keep animals from leaning on the fence.

I checked online at McCoy's Building Supply | Building Supplies to see what their prices are. My price is lower due to my contractor discount, but it is interesting the difference they list online compared to what you listed.

4X Treated Timbers | Treated Dimension Lumber

PT 4x4x8 $6.99

PT 4x6x8 $13.99

PT 6x6x8 $20.99

While a larger post will last longer, another consideration is that the smaller posts will twist on you faster and easier then the large posts. If this is something that you want long term, spend the extra money now for the large posts. I don't know if you need 6x6's for all your posts, but for sure in the corners and maybe every so often on your run.

The main reason posts fail is that water settles at the base of the post. I think that most of the time it's because the ground around the post settles after it's been there awhile, and you end up with a low area that just holds the water. The other reason is that the concrete doesn't come up and above grade, so the same thing happens, but with concrete at the bottom of the low spot to hold the water even longer.

You have to raise the soil or concrete above gradea and have it sloped to shed water away from the post. If the post stays dry and doesn't have standing water around it's base, it will outlast all of us. In every fence repair job that I've done, it's always rotten right at the surface. The post in the ground and above the ground still has lots of life left in it.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[ultrarunner]

The project is almost all hillside and the prices are from the local HomeDepot lumber sale promo...

8' lengths for all sizes listed... Doug Fir, ACQ treated...

I've put in a fair amount of CCA 4x4x8 posts in the late 80's early 90's for neighborhood fences and not a single one has gone bad.

I've never built any type of fencing for horses... some of the Park District fences are 4x6 posts with a finished rail fence height of 54" They look like creosote?

Looks like the 4x4's would snap like a match stick if a horse was so inclined... originally thinking of post 6.5' on center to use 20' rails efficiently.

It's a job I only want to do once....

I see material prices in other parts of the country are significantly less than here in CA.

 

[clemsonfor]

I see material prices in other parts of the country are significantly less than here in CA.

I think most things are, thankfully!

Eddie, while i know some bulding supply places are cheaper with contractor discounts than lowes, i would think your lumber prices would be similar to mine at lowes, so that "builder" price seems like retail to me.

Edit: i just checked Lowes in Tyler, they are the same as my area on 4x4x8.

You do have them beat on 4x6 there $16.97
and 6x6 @ $22.97

 

[204saskman]

Why not use round posts? You can get a #1 5-6"x8' post for under $9 each. Thats what we used for our horse fence. Then we use plained 2x6x14' lumber as they were reasonabley priced compared to other sizes and it made up for the longer distance. Rails are nice, but i find that round rails are more of a pita than i wanted to deal with.

 

[two_bit_score]

Why not use round posts? You can get a #1 5-6"x8' post for under $9 each. Thats what we used for our horse fence. Then we use plained 2x6x14' lumber as they were reasonabley priced compared to other sizes and it made up for the longer distance. Rails are nice, but i find that round rails are more of a pita than i wanted to deal with.

a 4X4 post will be more likely to twist or warp than a 4" round post also.