We are considering building an outdoor gym between the six birches and rowans we have in our garden this summer. Today I stumbled upon an ad for a bunch of telephone poles, which I'm wondering if we could use.
Examples I'm thinking of (hope you understand what I mean):
- As beams between the trees, one of which can be equipped with monkey bars. These beams are never in physical contact (it's possible to construct the monkey bars so you can't touch the pole with your hands).
- Serve as the frame for a bench/leg press (i.e., what goes from the beam between the trees down to the bar you hold onto). In this example, you will likely come into contact with the poles, even if they are not what you hold onto.
Unfortunately, the seller now says the poles are "dark brown," so I assume they are old creosote-treated poles. The seller has just moved to the property where the poles are located and does not know how old they are or what they are treated with.
I KNOW that creosote is toxic, and I've read threads where it's mentioned that the only place it's reasonable to have wood treated with this substance is at the dump. But considering that in this case, it might be possible to use the poles hanging in the air without coming into contact with them (though the trees of course will touch them...), I wonder:
Examples I'm thinking of (hope you understand what I mean):
- As beams between the trees, one of which can be equipped with monkey bars. These beams are never in physical contact (it's possible to construct the monkey bars so you can't touch the pole with your hands).
- Serve as the frame for a bench/leg press (i.e., what goes from the beam between the trees down to the bar you hold onto). In this example, you will likely come into contact with the poles, even if they are not what you hold onto.
Unfortunately, the seller now says the poles are "dark brown," so I assume they are old creosote-treated poles. The seller has just moved to the property where the poles are located and does not know how old they are or what they are treated with.
I KNOW that creosote is toxic, and I've read threads where it's mentioned that the only place it's reasonable to have wood treated with this substance is at the dump. But considering that in this case, it might be possible to use the poles hanging in the air without coming into contact with them (though the trees of course will touch them...), I wonder:
- Do you see it as excluded to use the poles for anything at all, not even as beams between the trees that you never come into physical contact with?
- Is it possible to paint the poles with something to "seal in" the toxin and thereby use them?
- I'm unsure of the diameter of telephone poles, but I imagine we can get help to cut them lengthwise at a nearby sawmill if they're too large/heavy to hang up as they are. Is it something you advise against, cutting in creosote-treated wood? If it's even ok to use them at all, I mean...
Best answer
There are brown-black poles that smell really bad in the sun and sweat preservative, and there are those that are dry and odorless. Impossible to say anything about without looking at them. But if they are not extremely weak poles, you'll likely notice that they are very heavy.
I don't think anyone who cares about their saw would want to split an old telephone pole. If it has both been erected and taken down, it has accumulated a lot of stones and debris in the cracks.
How long do you intend for the outdoor gym to last? If you take down pines of suitable dimensions, debark them, and treat them with a mixture of wood tar, linseed oil, and a bit of balsam turpentine, they will stay fresh for at least 10 years.
I don't think anyone who cares about their saw would want to split an old telephone pole. If it has both been erected and taken down, it has accumulated a lot of stones and debris in the cracks.
How long do you intend for the outdoor gym to last? If you take down pines of suitable dimensions, debark them, and treat them with a mixture of wood tar, linseed oil, and a bit of balsam turpentine, they will stay fresh for at least 10 years.
A very dumb idea for someone who claims to be health-conscious.
Buy regular untreated pine studs. They will last longer than your interest in torturing yourself in the garden.
Buy regular untreated pine studs. They will last longer than your interest in torturing yourself in the garden.
What you say about dirt in the cracks had not even crossed my mind. Thanks for the thought.PNO said:
Thanks also for the tip on the treatment to use. What proportions would you recommend for the mixture, to use on regular pine beams?
What he's talking about is whole logs, not beams. But regardless, if you're going to use regular beams, don't bother treating them. If they have no ground contact, they will last at least 10 years, completely untreated.V vetgirig_ said:
Otherwise, you can buy regular pressure-treated beams. They are usually treated as NTR A. They last at least 25 years, without ground contact, considerably longer. They are treated with poison, but relatively harmless and safe compared to creosote (yes, it's called creosote, not kreosol).
I know what he's talking about is entire logs. I was talking about splitting them lengthwise to make them manageable (a bit heavy to get a whole log up between the trees), what PNO pointed out then was that there might be gunk in the post and that you could ruin the saw.V vectrex said:
Funny that I know it's called creosote, but consistently write kreosol...
