at last, someone who knows what he's talking about. Fantastic

Finally a guy with trial and error... in the long run you save because of your video! Thanks for taking the time to share the information👍

Granddad did the same basic techniques on his farm fences with the added action of drilling a hole at an angle to the center of the post about 3" or so above the ground and making a wood plug. He would then fill the the whole with the oil mixture and then refilling every year or so. He also typically buried his post almost as deep as they were tall with no concrete. He put the first posts in over 100 years ago... we have never had to replace a post.

Awesome video. My dad told me about asphalt, and how it protects wood from moisture. I had never heard of that, but like you said, old timers had been doing it for a long time, and their knowledge is gold.

Thanks for posting. I’m a Hawaiian living on one of the smaller islands, and the old-timers here would use Kiawe (Algoroba) tree fenceposts and would leave the cut posts in sea water for a week or so before setting them in the ground. A lot of those posts still exist after 75-100 yrs. in the ground. This is obviously a faster method and makes sense to me. Kinda like all the old creosote utility poles you see all around the U.S.

I had problems with 4" round posts (treated and sold as fencing) rotting off at grade after 1 year, so I went to my dad's way of treating them. Fill a couple of 55 gallon drums quarter to half full of diesel and add old motor oil as you get it. Stick the new posts into the mixture and let them soak until you need them. I have had posts treated this way in the fence line for over 20 years now and no sign of rot. If your barrels get water in them use a scoop to get as much out as you can or take a brush and make sure to apply the oil/diesel mixture above the barrel rim level on the post so any standing water doesn't start rotting the post.

I've been researching how to prevent my 4x4 posts from rotting, and this is the method I'm using. It's available, it's not expensive and it seems hard to mess up. Thank you for this video!

We were always told to put a rock at the bottom of the hole. This way water could seep out of the post. The bottom of the post would not be touching the ground.

Thanks for sharing this information! really helpful. I never knew that about the concrete. The old knowledge is lost or no longer past down the generations which is a pity but thanks to you for finding this information and putting it up online for anyone who wants to know how to protect their fence posts! Great job!

I set my posts upright in a bucket of diesel/oil mix for several days. Just brushing the ends won't get enough up into the wood fibers. Let the wood dry as long as you can before doing it. Great video Pete. Thanks for posting.

4:55 My grandpa was telling me back in the 30s that they would drill a diagonal hole half way in the pole, 3 inches above the ground line, every 3 years they would take an oil can filled turpentine and linseed oil, go to each one of the poles and give it for 5 squirts, then they would plug the hole with wooden plug, this will keep the bugs and water rot from the base of the the pole support

I used railroad ties for my gate post at the front of the property set in gravel. 25 years later they are still standing strong. Gotta love those RR ties.

I agree! I also think a lot of the lumber used 100 years ago was slow growth virgin cut timber with tight grain, much of today's lumber is grown fast and has looser grain, its not as strong or rot resistant.

Worth watching every second... Badass 👍

This is EXACTLY what i needed! Thank you!!!!!!!

They still do this old method in old Mexico and it works they really use it for every thing they don't let nothing to waist.

Oil is also great for rustproofing your car, especially in areas that get road salt in the winter. Generally i use bar and chain, because it holds to the metal a little better. My 1994 F150 has its share of wear and tear, but the frame is solid!

Great information. Now I know why my grandparents use to do this. Their homesteads have fences that are still there because of this method. I learned it as a child, but I couldn't remember what she used. I'm almost 54 and they had started it in the1930's. Family is still there, just no longer homesteading. It's the younger generation living the with a bunch of dogs. I don't homestead in a big way, I'm collecting supplies to store in my garage for starting a homestead. Tools, poultry fencing, imperfect cuts of barnwood and even tin and wood from torn down sheds. I had a beautiful garden this spring and summer, then I fell about 5ft from a loft bed with the studio area underneath. My dream bed got me in one heck of a predicament. My left leg decided it wasn't going to work when in starting down the first rungs on the ladder and basically held on as i was sliding down the corner pole and couldn't hold on any more an learned on my side, on top of my sewing machine carry case. It required 911 to come get me. It wasn't funny then, but I wish I had caught it on my camera. I tell people, " my life is a KZfaq series. Lol I'd go viral and be making $$$$ lol. I might just do that. Anyways, my disc between lumbar 4 and 5 exploded and I am down for 6 months. my garden suffered mid ways thru the summer because the pain was to bad after emergency surgery due to a blood clot. They were able to medicate with blood thinners. Hopefully next year will be better. We got about 50 cucumbers . 200 jalapenos, 10 beefsteak tomatoes were huge. A couple hundred cherry tomatoes, and about 25 yellow crook neck squash. Our watermelon was about 1/4 grown, when someone stole it right out of my garden. I'm thinking meter readers. They are the only ones with access. Well I hope it was bitter and made them have a bit of a tummy ache and what that all entails. Lol I have to grow it in a cage next year. And be filming, a day in the life of homestead dreamer. Hence the name DREAMERS HOMESTEAD. MAYBE NEXT YEAR MY DREAM WILL HAPPEN. TAKE CARE AND GOD BLESS DEB

Great video.. You are very correct in your thinking.. Using the method you showed, a post will last a very long time...

Me and my brother in law are replacing his fence this spring and i am gonna try that to weatherproof them ! Next video please :D

I had ranchers and farmers, basically my customers, come in and collect old diesel eng oil when they were putting in posts. From what i remember, they soaked the whole post for days ? Weeks ? Anyway, they said it worked best for them. Thry would know.

Great post prep!! When setting the post dig your hole 3-4” deeper than you need. Tamp in at least 3” of gravel for drainage. If using concrete do not pour it in wet. Put it in dry. Tamp it down until post is solid. The moisture in the ground will cure the concrete. The post will last for a long time!!

Great video. Much appreciation for the practical, tried and true methods. I'm repairing, repainting a white wooden picket fence. I'm going to add a third railing, (2 by 4), at ground level to align and stabilize the pickets and I think your technique applied to the added railing would serve nicely.The railing will be in contact with the ground, maybe even eventually beneath it. I'm thinking that I'll follow your technique to the letter, except in my case I'm uncertain and undecided about whether or not I should go ahead and coat all sides of the railing with asphalt, making it virtually impermeable, since I don't have to worry about forming any pockets or water traps.Thanks for your help.

Thanks,Great information will use it on my next project.

"Of course, check your local laws." Then go ahead and do what you want anyway :D

This guy knows what he’s talking about. We just put tar around the bottom, not on the bottom. This will make the post last a long time.

Just goes to show how smart the old folks are. Great vlog

Great Video Bud!

I've got a couple of sheds that I built back in the 80's and I used white oak posts on both. When I change oil in my truck or my wife's car or my tractor I place the old oil filter upside down beside a post and let it drain. All the posts are still solid.

I will be doing this rather than throwing my old oil away. Thanks!

Just saw your video. Thanks for sharing. Great knowledge. Be blessed.

Thank you for sharing, very good info.

And I was just about to turn in some old motor oil. Thanks!!!

Found this while lookong to preserve my workbench.

Appsolutly correct about oil, diesel, grease turning into fertilizer. Have a certain place where I pressure wash fifthy, greasy, oily equipment. I'm always amazed how the grass flourishes in that spot!

Thanks for the info, I'm going to keep all this in mind when I make my first fence in a couple days

Thank you I was telling my coworkers about this method and no one believed me

Great use for used engine oil. I rustproof all my cars with it, about once a year. So, it drips a bit on the road, but like you say, asphalt is petroleum-based.

Love this video!!!! I have also been told to use an oil base paint on the bottom part of the post the goes into the ground. I know wooden power lines and telephone poles have creosote on the bottom portion.

Thank you Pete! Very helpful for me!

If doing this in California, they'll immediately repel down from helicopters, taze you, then send you to prison for 30 years.

20 years ago I put up a privacy fence around our pool, used treated poles, I added a foot of gravel, then concrete followed up with dirt from the hole, still nice and strong and standing.

So far from everything I've seen your way is the best. I only tarred mine and it lasted for years but your way with coating them first is even better. Only thing I would add is used DIESEL oil is even better but might show darker. I also think you CAN coat the bottom with tar. At least I did and after 10 years they were fine when I had to dig a few up. Great video.

Thanks for sharing 💪 I agree about the concrete way to set the post

I wouldn't recommend pouring diesel / motor oil on the ground, but brushed into the posts and left to dry before installation doesn't seem too bad, especially if the part that contacts the ground is coated with the asphalt sealant, and likely encased in concrete. Still, there's always that one neighbor who'd call Code Enforcement or the EPA on you, so discretion is called for, as in, work in the backyard, not the driveway.

I treat my existing fence and pole building posts (old telephone poles) with my old engine oil. I use a piece of metal to sort of act like a funnel around a post, and pour in some oil/diesel mix, to soak down into and around the area to kill anything causing rot. Also re-apply to the top of posts too. Should be noted, most rot begins very close to the surface, so that's the focused location for treatment.

Thank you for this very helpful video.

Great video. Thanks, learned a ton.

Henry's 208 roof patch works well too. Just smear it on with a stick.

One last comment go to your local oil change place and they'll probably sale you a barrel for about ten bucks and fill it is about 20 25 gallons of free oil, used of course that came from vehicles and then just cut the top out with a grinder, air chisel, or simply with a hatchet and a hammer. Take your boards, post or whatever you want to treat and just stand them on their end in the barrel and fill the barrel up and the oil will rise from halfway up to the three quarter mark or even close to full and let them stand for a few days or week or month as long as you like until you need to use them. And I should like you for a very long long time!

Thanks for sharing! Good info. Can use the motor oil and fuel for concrete forms also. I even use to seal my outdoors wooden workbenches... just the oil on those though. I like some of the comment'ers ideas also with soaking in barrels or PVC pipes also. The PVC pipe is a great idea for longer posts. Thinking might work like a wick though and maybe trying with just a 5 gallon bucket to see how performs.

Thanks brother I'm redoing our barbed wire fence bcuz it was all wonky deff using this technique.

Use gravel the first 3 inches to promote drainage, dirt tend to soak up water and cases rot...

This method good for untreated wood as well? Great video, thanks!

Found out even ground contact pressure-treated lumber will rot. I'm going to do the oil diesel treatment to my landscape timbers. Thanks for the information.

I’m glad I just watched your video Pete. I've already dug my holes and put concrete in the bottom of them, I will be putting about an inch of bluemetal around the posts before I concrete them in place! I put concrete in the bottom of the holes so the posts had something solid and level to sit on, I never would have thought that the moisture would still get into the wood and rot it. I have some bitumen paint to treat the ends that will be buried, but like you have mentioned I won't be painting the ends. Thanks for your video 👍

Charring is much easier. My question is, does it work and for how long?. I always put gravel in the bottom of the hole before the post goes in whether I use concrete or gravel to support it. This allows for drainage.

Here in the UK we were forced to stop using traditional creosote.. it was banned a few years ago. So I was doing what the government wanted me to do and let my fences and sheds rot away by coating them in a wax based paint that is as good as wrapping timber in clingfilm .. basically its crap and rotting fences leads to more trees to cut down etc.. So I made a batch of 60% old engine oil all mixed together with 30% red diesel and the rest was around 10% Bitumen paint.. it soaks into the timber exceptionally good and water just beads up and rolls off ! .. You can throw a bit of red oil based gloss paint into the mix and it makes it a nice chestnut or dark mahogany colour and I once read somewhere that coal dust, salt and chimney soot makes an excellent ingredient to throw into the mix .. its cheap enough to make too..

Great! thanks for the tips!

thanks - weve been tarring but wondered about coating the bottom ends! 2-3 inches of stone gravel or play sand before back filling / pouring concrete makes a big difference in bottom drainage

Long time ago we used linseed oil and petroleum for lamps, 50:50, on that way linseed oil will penetrate deep into wood and petroleum will evaporate.

I always wondered if a wrap of tarpaper would help. At least in terms of a couple more years

Thanks Pete a million, Will let you know when Finished maybe in a couple of weeks, Have to let Timbers dry First and then do The OLD TIMERS WAY !! Thanks again Pete !

Remember a old Buddy had done a pine 2x4 picknick table look great after 20 years out in Ohio weather year round. Thanks it works

you could mention that the old timers had old grown western cedar or redwood.. these were naturally rot resistant, tight grained perfect wood. They cut it all, most of it was wasted or used for crappy products at the time... it's gone now. maybe 0.5 % of it is left in parks and if some had their way they would cut all that.

Making wood last longer is better for the environment, fewer trees are cut down. Win for the environment and property owner.

Great video. Thanks.

your right ! i learned. thru the experience !! great video !

I still burn my posts and then engine oil above. Works like a charm and quicker

If the soil you put the post in has allot in it,Moisture will destroy the post no matter what you do. The soil will be wet for long periods and the post will wick that moisture. After replacing a fence in my yard twice in 7 years I started soaking the bottom of the posts in a 50/50 mix of linseed oil and turpentine after driveing in a few nails along the bottom and then pulling them out. The mix soaks in easier threw the nail holes. I put 6" plastic pipe in the hole and then the post and poured concrete in and around both. The plastic slows the migration of ground water and allows the drainage to go into the ground. The new fence is 10 years old and as strong as when I built it. Allot of work but seems to have done the job.

Todd. Used a 8 inch piece of plastic pipe about 3 foot long plugged on one end. Stand it up. Put in post then pour in diesel and old oil. Leave for a couple days. The only problem is this takes a lot of time. Your method is way faster. . Thank you for a great vid.

Tore out a bridge and replaced it with concrete. Now I have a pickup truck loaded with 1x6 deck boards and 2x6's. Starting today, will pull the thousands of nails, power wash and do the treatment you suggest. I can't imagine number of raised beds I'll get from this reclaimed, treated lumber. With lumber prices 180% higher than it was a year ago, cant fathom what this huge load would cost today. Great video my friend! Keep'em coming.

Pollution is a function of degree; dumping gallons of oil where it can penetrate into streams or ground water is bad, but as the amount of oil is small, already soaking into the wood, and not being actively washed off, this is simply not a real problem of contamination. Doubling the rate of post replacements nationwide due to early rot seems more of an issue with lumber supplies.

I put this same mix on my trailer deck. A pump up sprayer is a lot easier and quicker. Also, I never could figure how you could contaminate the ground with what came out of the ground.

Good stuff! Thank you!

This is an awesome 👍 fence post treatment process for any DYI. For certain, fence companies will not do this, and if they do offer this process, you will pay for it.

we put them in a fifty five gallon drum and put creosote and diesel and crankcase oil let soak for a week

Before they had treated lumber, my grandfather used to mop the floor of his cattle trailer with used oil. It’s never rotted. Even after sitting out in the field unused for 40 years

Good video, will be using this method this year with a few Cattle Panel Greenhouses going up. Thank you... (From: Michigan)

This is how I do my post too, no concrete, concrete is used when you want the friction to keep the post from sinking in loose material. My posts last just as long as any store bought treated posts. Oil comes from the ground so it won’t harm anything. You are absolutely correct the microbe’s will clean it up over time.

How's it going to contaminate the ground when it came from the ground?

When I set a wooden post I use about 4 inches of gravel first. That's the best way for water to drain out.

Excellent instruction.

As a informative video it did the job many thanks.

That oil came out of the ground to start with.

Do this to your wooded trailer floors. It is better to do this on a warm sunny day, the oil soaks up in the wood floor better.

Good video!

Perfect info.. thanks.

I coat the buried part of my posts with roof tar before I put them in the ground to about 2" above the ground. You note to not coat the bottom of the post but I coat the bottom of the post otherwise the end grain can wick water up from the ground constantly. The old stick a celery stick in colored water trick they teach you in elementary has application here. You say you would make a cup that holds water, but not really as water will work its way up the post and dry out. Also, the roof tar shouldn't allow water behind it in any case.

Why scrutinize his grammar, when the point is treating the wood?

Thank very much sir i will be using your technique

After the oil soaks into the wood and dries, it becomes inert. Like resin boat hulls. That goes for splatters on the ground to. Grass always grows back through an oil patch on the lawn. Thanks for the video. I will be treating new posts this way.

Is ashfault the same thing as asphalt?

My granddad put his posts in a bucket of creosote, soaked for a day. Seemed to work.

Did this all the time in the 70's as a kid on the property. Thought about that today, as I went to the recycler with the oil that I changed in the Subaru today. Time, and practices march onwards..

Thanks Pete.

To all these environmentalists wannabes, here is a thought. 1 post treated to last 100 years vs 1 untreated post that lasts 10 years. Do the math 🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳 at least 9x more lumber harvested for the same job. Soooooo who's causing more deforestation and pollution in the big picture?

Tar is safer for the environment than coating with processed KFC.

Thank you very much . I will do that the old way

Thank you!