On 06/03/2014 18:30, Emery Davis wrote:
On Thu, 06 Mar 2014 17:24:01 +0000, Nick Maclaren wrote:

We initially used chestnut poles, as used in hop gardens, and they
lasted only 3-4 years before rotting through. I am not sure why they
were so much less durable here than in Kent, but suspect that real hop
gardens used pressure treated poles, and not dipped ones.

Interesting, those I've seen aren't treated at all. Even the thin posts
seem to last really well, we've got tons of old barbed wired on it, the
posts are still mostly reasonably sound after God knows how many years...

In the dim and distant past when I lived outside Hastings we used
chestnut stakes and posts they were normally used untreated though a few
did have a 5 minute dip in creosote, they lasted indefinitely, certainly
over 10 years.
Our only complaint was that if you used old chestnut on an open fire the
wood spat like crazy and ruined a few rugs of ours.
David @ the side of Swansea bay where we have had fog and rain all day.