This is tractor related in that I am trying to build a shelter to store my tractors and combine under. Is creosote still avaible for purchase by the general public. If so does anyone know where to purchase it. I am going to use some 8X8 treated post, but I would like to add some additional creosote to them. When I build this shelter I intend for it to last at least 40 years.
- Thread starter JWalker
- Start date
Walt Davies
Well-known Member
NO it's a dangerous material and only certain people like the power people can use it.
Walt
Walt
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
Creosote was banned from most consumer use, about 30 years ago. Anything that works is banned. There it is, in a nutshell, what's wrong with America!
tractormiallis
Member
Don't know if it will work, I think it might, but you could tar the bottom and sides up to dirt level. Just trying to think of something that you can still buy thats not banned.
rustred
Well-known Member
dont need creosote as that stuff is poison. they will last forty yrs. without it. if you want it to last 75 yrs. use laminated 2x8's. its proven that laminated material will outlast one single post. bad enough the rail road uses that junk on their ties.tamping them with the proper stuff also makes a huge diff. on life span.
i havent seen any in a pail in a long time...if theres any oil drilling going on in your area,you mite stop and ask the tool pusher where you can get any "black b!tch" thats oilfield slang for a mastic they use on underground piping...works real good on posts and pilings...you have to drill and set posts tho...driving them in will remove mastic.
omahagreg
Well-known Member
Most post that I set when building a deck are set on concrete above grade. But some posts, like the bottom pair at the end of a flight of stairs I like to have in the ground to help eliminate lateral movement. After the hole is dug, I put 12" of pea gravel in the hole before the post. Insert post, then fill it to within a foot of grade. Cement last bit. Theory is the water has a chance to run away!
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
Creosote certainly works. We had some Amish remove a 50 yr old pole machinery shed and the creosoted poles were in excellent condition. They also removed a 15 year old 3 car garage built with 6X6 treated posts and all were rotted off just below ground level. As was already mentioned, don't go with any solid treated posts; use a composite laminate either 6X6 or 8X8. Also get the older treatment which contains arsenic which is still legal for below ground use. No advice on procuring creosote.
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
I've seen the oldtimers soak posts in a mixture of diesel fuel and used motor oil before putting them in the ground, I know of several barns and fence posts that are 40+ years old with no rot.
Laminated posts are much better these days, boughten wood is all twisty & goofy any more, and the treatment won't soak in all the way on 8x8, and you pay to have the whole thing treated.
Laminated 2x stuff the tretment soaks all the way through, you only need to have the bottom pieces treated tosave some money, and put together 2x material makes a stronger post.
Anyhow, my view of commercially available wood for posts....
Don't think they let the average joe get ahold of creosote any more.
--->Paul
Laminated 2x stuff the tretment soaks all the way through, you only need to have the bottom pieces treated tosave some money, and put together 2x material makes a stronger post.
Anyhow, my view of commercially available wood for posts....
Don't think they let the average joe get ahold of creosote any more.
--->Paul
Stephen Newell
Well-known Member
With so many green squirrels around I doubt if you can buy creosote. It has been labeled a carcinogen. I saw something on net about it being banned to the general public in 2003. Since you probably can't get it I would probably use pressure treated pine to begin with and use a homemade creosote treatment on it. There are many different homemade brews on the internet but to steal a homemade brew that looks good to me is this. "I make up 15 gallons at a time. I have a Vat for dipping posts in, made from an old tank cut in two,8 feet long. Works great. Here’s my recipe. 5 gallons of coal tar roofing or driveway sealer, 5 gallons of Diesel Fuel 5 gallons of used diesel oil,2 lbs of feed salt Stir well with an old shovel.
You can simply dip about 2 feet of your post in a bucket of this formula, or dip the entire post in the vat.Soak for a couple hours. For use on boards, simply get an old pump sprayer, or use a paint roller. Wear long sleeve clothing. On some board fencing, I've poured in a gallon of cheaper oil based black paint in the mixture to help it flow.Lasts for years. In some hot climates it may fade a little quicker."
You can simply dip about 2 feet of your post in a bucket of this formula, or dip the entire post in the vat.Soak for a couple hours. For use on boards, simply get an old pump sprayer, or use a paint roller. Wear long sleeve clothing. On some board fencing, I've poured in a gallon of cheaper oil based black paint in the mixture to help it flow.Lasts for years. In some hot climates it may fade a little quicker."
JUST FYI,the reason creosote was banned ,was it slowly leached out of the pole, from top to bottom.top would rot and bottom still be good. but when you pulled pole you were stuck with theoreticaly toxic waste in the dirt. at least that was the reasoning. i worked building distribution lines right at the time when we were changing to "green" poles. most linemen hated them since we still climbed poles back then.creosote made poles easier to climb since it softened the outside of pole some. also if you got a splinter from one of those green poles it hurt like crazy. one "good" thing about what we called green poles ,the treatment itself was much thinner so it penetrated the poles better,making them last longer (AT least theoretically). The leaching of the creosote into the soil though was the real kicker though.
like i say ,that was one of the problems with creosote,after a while it wound up all in the bottom and leached out.once top was unprotected woodpeckers and rot wasnt far behind. you dont see as many of the newly treated posts with woodpecker holes because the cyanide treatment(at least that what it used to be ) penetrated to center of pole better and it killed insects also which was what woodpeckers were after. of course the poles we put up back in the early seventies are just now coming to the end of their expected service life also,so wheather the new treatment paid off or not is just beginning to be seen. but i havent noticed by just looking the woodpecker damage we saw years ago. the poles ive seen pulled and the ones ive used and picked up and things has a lot less damage it seems to me than the ones we pulled years ago.
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