From Tree to Fence Post - Part 1

Yesterday, I took my Scout out to visit a woman who has lived alone here for over 30 years.  45 minutes of dirt road and 4 wheel drive crossing water and driving on some icy hairpin turns.  She has amazing skills and inspired me to prepare and set cedar trees for fencing. The weather finally got a bit warmer today and I was able to get outside and start a big project.  I'm preparing my garden fence and need to have it completed by Spring for planting.  My garden will be 80' X 50' and that's a lot of work and I'll need 12 corner posts - 3 for each corner.  T-posts will be run down the sides and I'll have a tractor gate and also man gate.

Garden spot

The 30 acres I'm on has 12 acres of pasture and the rest is wooded with a lot of pine, cedar, walnut, oak and more.  Wherever you have pine, you'll likely have cedar and they make great fence posts.  The resins in the "heart" prevent the wood from rotting and the posts should last for many years as long as the bark is removed before being set.  So, today I set out to make my first fence post from one of my cedar trees.

 While visiting yesterday, my friend also told me I needed a draw knife.  I couldn't believe it when today after church my pastor gave me a box of "old sh*t" as Miranda Lambert would call it (and which I LOVE) and there was a vintage draw knife looking up at me.  I was like a kid at Christmas.  I cleaned it up and sharpened it and its purpose was ready to be actualized again after what has probably been a long time.

Draw knife before cleaning and sharpening

So, I came right back home, and after digging a 3 foot post hole I gathered what I needed and went to find my first cedar tree.

Dug a 3' post hole.  Recent rains and snow helped

Cedar flagged

The chainsaw gave me some trouble and I broke a blood vessel in my right middle finger pulling so much, but after switching hands and then using a shop rag to wrap around the handle, I got it going till I shut it off and then it would give me trouble again but each time my persistence paid off.  May be time for a new spark plug.  The tree was about 9" in diameter at the base where I cut it and about 20-something feet tall.  Beautiful tree and the heart is amazing.

After I got it down, I cut off some limbs, cut it in two (I'll go back and use the top portion for something else... I have some ideas) and then pulled it out with my tractor.  Once in a clearing, I put the log in the bucket and took it back to the garden spot where I removed the bark with the draw knife.  The bark will rot in the ground so that's why it has to be removed but the rest of the wood won't.  This tree is perfect for the post because it has a huge red heart and the red is full of the resins which will prevent rot.  Once I got the bark removed, the base was about 8" in diameter and that's perfect for the post.

My New Holland 40HP Diesel - Couldn't do much around here w/out it

Draw knife working well

Bark removed & limbs cut very close to the trunk

A fantastic heart w/ a base diameter of about 8"

My next step is to cut the post to length, drop it and key it.  I'll have another blog post on that.  One down and 11 to go!  A lot of work to do, but it's rewarding beyond belief.