Thread: Where to get hardwood poles in Canberra area?

Your post says “Hardwood Poles”.

Quick searches show 200 x 200mm square posts starting at $115 per metre so $330 seems a very good price. Now if it’s treated pine (H4), then they go in whole metres ie. 6m then 8m and $330 seems a little high.

I actually got a quote for $200 a pole a few months ago but I can't remember which mill I got that price from, in the process of calling around

I think the poles should be quite a lot cheaper since they are effectively just cut trees, I don't even require the bark to be removed

Originally Posted by catmanjan

Hello, I am building a large trellis and I'm trying to source the wood I need

I am going to be buying 45 poles, 6.5m long and 200mm diameter

I am in the Yass/Canberra area, does anyone know any good local mills?

What sort of wood should I be asking for?

I have called Pinus Sawmill and they said they could do it for $330 a pole, but that seems too high

in terms of what to ask for, 6.5 m long is possibly a special order.
For in (or on) ground use, Radiata will need to be treated -- which I think means removing the bark.
and if 8 m is the next standard length (after 6 m) do you have a way of cutting the poles and potentially treating the cut surface. (Don't burn the off-cuts)

Treated pine is a last resort, but I've messaged these folks for a price, looks like they can get most sizes

http://gtpine.com.au/products/all_timber_products/posts_and_poles<strike></strike>

Originally Posted by catmanjan

I think the poles should be quite a lot cheaper since they are effectively just cut trees, I don't even require the bark to be removed

Yeah, I agree. I mean all you have to do is either buy some land with trees and/or buy some trees off someone elses land. Fill out 4 permits. Get 7 different tickets to operate. Front with your chainsaw and fell the trees. Drag them out the bush with your skidder or dozer. Load them on your truck with your loader or excavator. Then take them home with you.
45 hardwood posts 6.5 x 200 mm top shouldnt weigh much more then 16-18 ton, and shouldnt tie up you and your half million dollars worth of harvesting and transport equipment (we'd be talking 1.2 million if it was new) for more then a day and a half plus delivery time.

I charge $40 a meter +GST + delivery ex ramp for barked HWD poles that size. Bark on I'd knock it back to $30/m so $200 + freight sounds about right.

What sort of trellis needs 45 trees?

Let people know the overall plan and there may be some suggestions on how to achieve it with other materials. Poles 6.5 m long will need 1 m post holes if there is to be any wind loads and you may still need guy wires. If you use guy wires then steel pipe or tube atop stirrups might be a lot cheaper.

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Originally Posted by catmanjan

Treated pine is a last resort,

just be aware that for in or on ground use, "hardwood" is not "decay resistant hardwood"

from http://pfsq.net/wp-content/2010/10/D...d-accacias.pdf
"after 33-36 years of exposure in ground, the best performing timbers were preservative treated. CCA treated Pinus radiata performed best."

you may also want to look at http://www.hyne.com.au/documents/Fea...ance_final.pdf and this https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/as...ernal-Uses.pdf

"Fit for purpose" under various state timber acts means that if the purchaser specifies in ground use HWD has to be either adequately treated or naturally resistant.

Treated - particularly with pine - is going to mean H5. Thats why OP's pine quote will be expensive... standard old H3 just wont do it. CCA or ACQ is determined by useage (ACQ is required if used for things like seating, playground equip etc etc where people might eat it). Bang for your buck CCA is still the best timber treatment around though: safer then anything better, better then anything safer.

FWIW I did quite a bit of research 18 months ago on treated pine for in ground use. It should be H5 and the round logs get better protection from the treatment because they still have the more porous sapwood in place. Normally the sapwood is the easiest to rot but the treatment actually works better on the sapwood because of the porosity - it gets in deeper for better protection.

I'm pretty sure that H5 treatment is never "off the shelf" and will therefore attract a premium. Same deal with the 6.5m length.

In our case the builder that purchased the timber didn't know squat about the various treatments, and purchased H4 (and not round). As a result we took the decision to double coat the in-ground section of posts, and the soil-facing sides of sleepers, with a water based bitumen paint.

There are three things required for rot: water, oxygen, microbes. Take one away and voila, no rot. Hopefully the bitumen will stop any and/or all of those three things from getting to the timber, but we won't know for sure for about 30 years or so.

If you look at a post that has rotted you will generally find that it's the top 200mm that rots, and then it stops. This is because oxygen is required for rot to occur. However, what can then happen, after the top 200mm has rotted away, is that can then allow oxygen to penetrate below the 200mm mark and rot can begin lower down.



Depending on the lifespan you require from this trellis, you may need to rethink the construction materials and technique. Concrete stumps with a stirrup embedded in the top to take a pole? No soil contact that way, and maximum H4 treatment.

You might also like to investigate treated hardwood such as spotted gum. This is used for power poles because of the species thick sapwood that absorbs the treatment. If you have a Koppers Logs establishment near you they may be a useful first port of call. I doubt it would be cheaper than your original quote, but maybe a better product. That is just me not being a big fan of treated pine. In hardwood you may also be able to consider a smaller dimension unless you want the visual effect of a substantial pole.

Regards
Paul

You could also try power supply companies to find a source of second hand poles. They won't sell the sus chemical infused bottom section but there is over 6.5m above that.

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Farmer Geoff

That's not a bad idea providing the poles are used above ground as in FenceFurniture's suggestion. There is a reason they treat the poles in non durable species for use in the ground.

Regards
Paul

Barry Moon from 'Moons Mill' in Cootamundra will be able to help you.