Todd Fatheree wrote:
Ron

My father uses osage orange (or hedge, as he calls it) for just this
purpose. He uses some sort of spar varnish over it (I think).

todd

Dang. Beat me to it. Farmers here in the midwest used it for fence
posts, and one guy said that one hedge apple post will wear out two
holes. Also, that stuff is haaaaard. Cutting with a chainsaw will
throw sparks. I've done it. I currently have all of my contacts in
the arborist business on the lookout for trees.

-Phil Crow