untreated pine as corral boards

[REGULAR GUY]

Howdy all, I'm in So. East Mo. and am fixin  on building a small corral. Although I have  other species of timber that would be better suited for outside use, my SYP is far ,far easier access. If I cut some 2" material for rails, (the posts will not be SYP), about how long could I expect them to last, and what could I treat them with to last ??? years longer?    Thanks in advance, Regular Guy

[Bandmill Bandit]

Depends on what you plan on corralling. Horses will probably eat them.   For cattle I always used pine with spruce as a second choice. I think pine works real good just the way it comes off the sawmill.

I'd use treated 6x6 for. Posts and full 8/4 rails. If you go with 2x6 use 5 rails with just enough space to get the toe of your boot between them or about 4 to 5 inches.

2x8 pretty much the same but with 4 rails. Start about 8 inches off the ground. You will be real happy with pine I am sure.

If you can get decent used Rail road ties they work real well for a posts.

[REGULAR GUY]

Bandmill Bandit, Thanks for your response so quick. It's a small holding corral with shoot for doctoring cows and loading. I  have tons of pine that's real easy to get at so you  give me good news. Thanks again,  Regular Guy

[Southside]

Regular Guy, just my opinion - and you know what that is worth - but you guys are talking about two different types of pine, SYP vs either Red or White is my guess.  I can say from personal experience with cattle that I would either be a bit leery about having pine for the rails or have the posts some close together.  Remember the phrase "horse-high, BULL-STRONG, and pig-tight, exists for a reason.  Two inch looks hefty, until a 1,200 lb cow decides she is not happy her baby is on the other side of the fence.  Most wooden fencing I have seen that has stood the test of time was made from oak.  It will weather longer and have more strength to it.   

[chevytaHOE5674]

My Corral and load out shoot is made of all 1x rough cut hemlock lumber, never had a cow try to break through it but I also won't own a "wild" cow. Also having the proper design with the proper sweep and such really helps as the cows will just naturally funnel through. The trick is to have a setup where once the cattle get into the sweep tub you can move them through into your headgate/squeeze chute without them every having a chance to stop. A cow in forward motion will stay in forward motion if your working pen is setup right, if the cow gets a chance to stop and think at any point then you have to worry about them jumping/bulldozing a fence.

[Magicman]

Use Oak and preferably White or Post Oak.

[Bandmill Bandit]

All opinions valid for sure

But the questions is what do you have readily available?

I have never had acow go through 4 rail  2x8 8/4 pine no matter how determined she was. Had few try to go over but minimum 5.5 feet (I like 6') is a bit too high.

A full grown bull at 2200 plus is a different story. That's where 3x10 with post at 6 foot centres is required. I did posts at 8 foot centres for corral.

Chute 6 foot centres on posts and 5 2x8 rails.

The pine I use here is generally lodge pole pine.

[Magicman]

Rot will be an issue with using SYP. 

[scsmith42]

Howdy all, I'm in So. East Mo. and am fixin  on building a small corral. Although I have  other species of timber that would be better suited for outside use, my SYP is far ,far easier access. If I cut some 2" material for rails, (the posts will not be SYP), about how long could I expect them to last, and what could I treat them with to last ??? years longer?    Thanks in advance, Regular Guy

I would cut them heavy, and treat them with a boric acid solution while green (Timbor), air dry them under cover and then treat them with Copper Napthanate (CuNap) before installing.

You can also use the famous FF Uncle Buck's Walnut stain.  As I recall, the ingredients are as follows:

In a 55 gallon drum, mix 5 gallons of non-fibrous roofing tar, 25 gallons of used motor oil (from diesel engines - not gasoline), and 25 gallons of diesel fuel. 

The diesel smell goes away fairly quickly and it eventually leaves a nice, coffee colored finish.

[mesquite buckeye]

Out here the corrals are either 3" thick pine treated with old oil mixed with diesel or cage built mesquite poles racked between two rows of posts, the whole mess is about a foot thick. Crazy bulls don't go through it. About 5.5-6 ft high  sounds about right. ;D

[luvmexfood]

My 2 cents worth. Few years it will probably be 1.5 cents worth.

Worked around cattle for many years. Here is my golden rule for them. This applies for wire and wooden products unless they are real thick. If a cow can get their head threw it and get a start they are hard to hold.

With that said a lot of people around here are buying used guardrail and attaching to some very strong posts. Even if they can get their head through they will not break. If you use smaller boards consider woven wire behind or infront to keep their heads from going thru. Plus, if you ever purchase a pig etc. it will hold them.

As far as crossties goes they do make excellent fence post but are large, heavy and take a big hole. We built a fence using some for posts about 35 years ago and they are as solid as then. Course some of them were practically new when we got them.

If you want crossties and know someone who works for the RR they can usually score plenty for free if you load them.

[hardtailjohn]

We use mostly 8/4 Lodgepole pine. If they're really determined, they can break a rock, so I'd say use what ya got like Bandmill Bandit said!  I'd love to have oak....but we'd have more money in fence than cows then!  Our chutes and corrals are about 20 years old and starting to show their age.....but there are some Larch split posts on the ranch here that are 75 years old and you still can hardly pound a staple in them!