Cedar post

[CKRICHARD]

Cedar fence post question. Big end up or big end in the hole and why? Bark on or bark striped off and why? Coworker ask me the other day at work, i told him to ask someone older then me.

 

[kcm.MN]

I've always put the heavy end in the hole. It's thicker, and will therefore be stronger and will normally take longer to rot.

Normally, the bark makes a great hiding place for bugs and is good for holding moisture, but don't know if it makes a difference with cedar. Never fenced in cedar country.

 

[Janicholson]

big end down and bark off worked in Ohio. Jim

 

[Russ from MN]

We have a lot of white cedar on our property, my father used to sell a semi load of posts most springs. We always peeled them by hand, with a spud, and put the big end down, I think the frost would have less tendency to push them out. Last spring I cut 3 trees and peeled the poles to do some warranty work on a building I built 45 years ago.

 

[mtf]

We cut and use about 100 cedar posts every year. Big end is down, because the heart wood is thicker. Never go to the trouble of stripping bark. The sapwood below ground will rot rather quickly. If the posts don't have much red to begin with, don't waste your time them. Find some with lots of red, or heartwood.(they grew slower)

If you have a sawmill local, have them squared. By doing this and sawing off the sapwood I have had posts last 20 years. Nathan

 

[T.R.K.]

Not to chase rabbits or anything, but the cedars that grow here in NC are totally different from what the lumber yards call 'Western Cedar'.
So does it matter what kind if cedar?

Also, I notice that the local Cedars that grow in the forest grow tall quick and pretty straight, with only branches near the top. Cedars that grow in the open have branches all the way to the ground and tend to sort of branch into multiple 'trunks'.

 

[Stephen Newell]

If the bark is loose then certainly peal it off. Otherwise it doesn't matter unless you are back filling with concrete. Concrete would bond better to the post without the bark. I don't think it matters which end goes in the hole. It would probably look better with the big end in the hole.

 

[TomA in CA]

Out here in CA cedar posts are split from large trees 4"x5", all heartwood. We have some 75 years in the ground and still solid. At the coast posts were split from old growth redwood and lasted 100 years, second growth no time at all. Now we use pipe.

 

[ed will]

Hi, when I was young we split old telephone poles to make fence posts. Thick end down in the hole. We treated the area at ground level with wood preserver about 8"above and below. Also cut the top at a slight angle and chamfer the edges. They last a long time. Always 5 wires.
the slope on top was to shed rain. We had bottom land and soil was usually damp . Ed Will Oliver BC