Mainline support posts

[mapleack]

Hi all, I’m putting in a new wet dry system with only 2% grade so I plan on putting a 2x2 post every ten feet to prevent sags. Could anyone share pictures or descriptions of the best ways to attach the hi tensile to the posts?
Thanks!

[darkmachine]

Are you making your own posts or do you have a source? I've been using steel tee posts, it gets expensive, i'd love to see a cheaper alternative.

Jacob

[mapleack]

Are you making your own posts or do you have a source? I've been using steel tee posts, it gets expensive, i'd love to see a cheaper alternative.

Jacob

They’re 2x2 locust that I milled myself.

[JoeJ]

I set up a 2,600' wet dry system in 2013 and posted the piping with maple and hard hack posts every 10'.(posts on top of the ground) That was a big mistake. The maple started to rot quickly and the smaller poles sunk into the ground in wet areas. Over 2 seasons, I replaced almost all of the posts with white cedar that I milled from my woods. (I sharpened the post and pounded them into the ground.) Second big mistake. After three or four seasons, the cedar posts started to rot. Now I am using 1 3/4" x 1 1/2" pressure treated sharpened posts that I ripped out of PT 2/6's (the 2/6's are the most economical). The PT is obviously more expensive that maple posts or the milled cedar, but it will be the last time I have to replace the posts.

I use 20d galvanized nails between the wire and the pipe to hold the pipe in place. When a tree or a large branch falls on the line, the force just bends the nail downward , the wire slips off the nail, and the pipe goes to the ground. Most of the time the pipe in undamaged and the line can be set back into place in a short time after the wood is cut off the line.

Joe

[TapTapTap]

They’re 2x2 locust that I milled myself.

I think the 2x2 locust is an excellent choice. I'm not a fan of driving the posts - I like to kick off the loose stuff down to bare ground and rest the butt directly on the ground. I also prefer to tie-wire the lines to the post rather than use staples. Staples are a PIA to remove if you need to adjust the lines. If the post sinks in - loosen the tie-wire and reattach the lines at the correct elevation.

I tried driven used 2x2 steel sign posts since I had tons (literally) of the material. I even have a gas-powered driver. Theoretically, it should work very well since the square tube has holes making it perfect for attachments that could be adjusted. My problem was that ground was too boney to drive them straight so they looked bad and didn't hold the straight lines I needed. I still use some in special areas like pairs at entrance and exit to culverts (forming an H-shaped bent).

Road culverts are always a problem for me partly since they are almost always set at a slope and alignment for drainage and not for sap lines unless they are installed for that purpose only. The H-shaped bents help to keep the lines at the same pitch throughout the culvert and allows a transition back to the slope beyond. The driven bent can be used as both a support and a hold-down which is necessary when you make an intermittent transition the line slope.


Ken

[bill m]

I also use 2x2 posts to support my mainlines. I attach it to my posts after the wire is tight but before I run the tubing. That way it does not drop down because of the weight of the tubing. I use a wire tie folded in half and fastened with a deck screw. I will try to get a picture later today when I am at the sugar house.

[mapleack]

I also use 2x2 posts to support my mainlines. I attach it to my posts after the wire is tight but before I run the tubing. That way it does not drop down because of the weight of the tubing. I use a wire tie folded in half and fastened with a deck screw. I will try to get a picture later today when I am at the sugar house.

Thanks I thought about doing it that way but figured the wire tie eyelets wound be too weak.

[JoeJ]

The point about wire ties being too weak is important. That is why I use nails that will bend. When I first started with mainline in 2003, I was sold #14 gauge wire to tire back the mainline to trees. It was difficult to use, but durable. Too durable. I have had a number of lines heavily damaged by the #14 wire tiebacks. Using an semi durable method to attach the wire to the post will result in very little actual damage to the plastic line.

Joe

[Greg MacWilliam]

We also use 2x2 posts and I cut a few small notches in the posts ahead of time to hold the wire

[GeneralStark]

I have seen quite a few different techniques used from nails, screws, zipties and wire ties all in "professional" tubing installations. I don't think there is one perfect way to do it. I now generally use wire ties as they are adjustable and easily break or fail when a tree falls on the line. But that is just me in my small scale operation...

As other have pointed out, what method you use will likely depend upon the type of support you use. Any wood will rot when in contact with the ground, even cedar, locust or other rot resistant wood. As the post sinks into the ground, the lines drop and then need to be adjusted to maintain the ideal slope. There is an outfit in Quebec that makes a plastic support for a 2x2 post that acts as a barrier between the end grain of the wood and the soil. I can't find their website at the moment but they are very cheap and I think D+G also sells them.

Any long term solution will be adjustable as the inevitable will occur...