In article ,
Ook Ook Don't send me any freakin' spam at zootal dot com delete the Don't send me any freakin' spam wrote:
I know I'm beating a dead dog here, but I find myself unclear about the
pros/cons of setting fence posts in dirt, gravel, or concrete. More
specifically, I'm undecided about which way to go. I need some input from
those who have done this. I'm mostly interested in what is strong and what
will last the longest. I don't want to have to dig them all out 10 years
from now and be stuck with these big concrete chunks.
...snipped...

Different types of soil and climate may produce different results.
That said, my experience in the Baltimore Md area, is that a CCA PT
4X4 will last AT LEADT 20 years directly in the ground, and in fact at
this age they appear to have plenty of life left. (I recently pulled
some up that were about 20 years old; I needed to set new, deeper
posts because I was replacing a 4 ft fence with a 6 foot fence.)

In fact, the posts will outlast 2 or 3 sets of cedar pickets. The soil
that these posts were set in is soft for the first 8 inches or so,
then becomes pretty hard, hitting clay at about 2 feet down. I put a
few inches of gravel in the bottom of each hole. YMMV. I've seen lots
of recommendations to avoid setting posts in concrete, claiming they
would rot faster than when set directly in soil. Whethere that's true
or not, I don't know, but with the life of a typical PT post set
directly in the ground, it certainly is not necessary.




--

Larry Wasserman Baltimore, Maryland