Gate posts and footings

[do-it-dog]

I need to put a small access gate in a post and wire fence at the back of our property.
Is casuarina timber suitable for the gate posts? We've got tons of it.
And is it possible to put the gate posts in the holes without using concrete footings?

[weisyboy]

casurina is not ok in the ground!

here is a list of what is good for fence posts.

ironbark (red and grey)
grey gum
blue gum
red gum
bloodwood
tallowwood
gum top box
stringybark
treated pine.

there are others but these are the ones i use.

the post dose not have to be concreated infact most wire fence posts are not. however you will have to stay teh posts to stop tehm falling over under the strain of the wire.

installing a round post
you need a round post, fencing bar and shovel.
the hole needs to be about 100mm wider than the post (50mm all teh way round) a 300mm hole is about right.
Put teh post in the hole and fill the hole 1/3 of teh way up. take the round end of teh bar and ram teh soil down hard (untill it stops compacting).
now fill the hole to the top and ram again. and fill teh hole once more and ram.
fill the top with lose soil and compress with foot leavign it mounding up around the post make sure you get the top and bottom nice and hard.

installing a stay
you wil need a 450mm steel stake, stay (4x2, split post, spaling),chainsaw and crowbar.
cut a mortise in the post with the chainsaw making sure the hole points along teh fence line. cut as below.
http://www.woodworkforums.com.au/attachment.php?attachmentid=100009&stc=1&d=1237681022
should be about 5" long and 2" wide, cut 6 should lope up to the base of cut 5
nock the peices out with the point of the crow bar.
cut the end of the stay to look like the pic below and not more than 2" wide.
http://www.woodworkforums.com.au/attachment.php?attachmentid=100008&d=1237681019
slip teh end of the stay in teh hole and mark teh spot on teh ground where it tutches. dig a shalow hole here so teh end of the stay is under teh ground.
drive teh small stake in at the end of teh stay.
tention wires

[do-it-dog]

Thanks Weisyboy. That pretty much tells me all I need to know. I'll be doing it next weekend. I guess the same method will apply to gate posts as well.
Guess I'll have to use the casuarina wood for something else.

[weisyboy]

yep same thing for gates only u have a stay only on one side instead of 2.

[artme]

Would suggest that you soak end being buried with creosote for extra protection. I always put posts 1200mm into the ground.

[weisyboy]

4 foot in the ground:o they aint never going noware.

how do you even shovel them out.

[artme]

Spot on Carl! the reason I put them a long way down Is so they won't Shift.

A 150mm post 1200mm in the ground takes twice the strain of the same post 900mm in. Must admit it's a PITA to dig and clean the hole but worth it.

Another good strainer assembly is the parallelogram of forces. Admittedly you need two posts and a rail but it is very effective - and you only have to sink the posts to 900.:D

[weisyboy]

i personaly dont like teh box stay setup i have seen to many fail.

there are many things when building a fence that people dont think of that make a big diferance to how long it lasts.

[InterTD6]

there are many things when building a fence that people dont think of that make a big diferance to how long it lasts.

Not using blue gum is one of them (no good in the ground)
Regards inter

[weisyboy]

maby we aint talking about the same kinda blue gum?

[InterTD6]

southern or sydney
regards inter

[WillBrook]

We use grey box around here. It apparently has the same resistance to termites as treated pine does (read it somewhere).
And if there's a gate hung on it it's worth concreting the post and stay.

[weisyboy]

im talking qld.

the closest thing u have down there is forest red.


We use grey box around here. It apparently has the same resistance to termites as treated pine does

but it rots mighty quick.

[InterTD6]

I had a look at some QLD timber names & what you call locally as blue gum is commonly known in the industry as forest red gum
regards inter

[weisyboy]

it is verry close to forest red gum but its not the same.
just like our flooded gum is pretty mutch sydney blue gum but slightly diferent.

but as my father says "near enough for a sheep station"

[WillBrook]

im talking qld.

the closest thing u have down there is forest red.



but it rots mighty quick.

Don't what timber you're thinking of Carl, there are greybox post that we've replaced on my FIL's farm recently that are over 80 years in the ground. Hardly "rotting quickly".

Check this out
http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/cps/rde/dpi/hs.xsl/26_5382_ENA_HTML.htm

and

http://www.fwpa.com.au/Resources/RD/Reports/PN04.1004.pdf?c=2

[weisyboy]

yes gum top box is good in the ground.

what i know as grey box however is not. you may know it as yellow box or white box.

[WillBrook]

yes gum top box is good in the ground.

what i know as grey box however is not. you may know it as yellow box or white box.

Grey box is Eucalyptus moluccana

Yellow box is Eucalyptus melliodora.

What you know as grey box is, in fact, yellow box:doh:

[InterTD6]

A lot of bastardisation of timber names happen in places, the real test comes when you go to sell the timber out of your area & nobody knows what your on about & they wont buy it, it pays to know your stuff.
regards inter

[weisyboy]

yer i know what you sothoners call them but i have no trouble selling qld bluegum as qld bluegum to qlders cos we all know what it is. same with flooded gum. we all know what flooded gum is. but if i was talkign to a southener id use the names they know.

[InterTD6]

If you look in the AS 1684.2 there is a section on timber species & properties with trade names for timber species, some of the names you have called your timber dont exist in there & you have already confused 2 readers with it..... might be a message in this somewhere for you.
regards inter

[gpigeon]

I know it is "nice" to continue using "local" names for our timbers but it is all really very confusing. Just have a look at the number of posts where discussion / confusion over species is dominant. IMHO, the sooner we get to using the scientific name (or part thereof) the better. If we wait for it to be done officially it will never happen. So...........it is places like this forum where the members have to start the ball rolling.

Carl, I'm not far from you, just South of the border, so I would have thought that our "blue gums" were the same. ie E. saligna. This timber is not suitable for in ground use. Durability class 3 whereas a good in ground timber will be class 1. (ref. Wood in Australia - Bootle)
Regards.
Bill W.