Fence Post Too Heavy?

[Rossua]

I purchased 4 wooden fence posts, 2.4m x 75mm x 75mm, and noticed one of the posts in incredibly heavy, it must be about twice the weight of the other ones, though it looks the same.

I have enquired around and have learned that wood can vary very greatly in density depending on the whether the tree grew slowly or quickly, depending on what conditions it was in, the wood being lighter for the faster growing tree.

Question is is this post maybe too heavy to use as a fence post, as in the strong wind it would create more force on the concrete base causing it to loosen over time?

 

[jj4091]

The weight will be transferred vertically and the wind won't make any difference, so won't be a problem.

 

[Koolpc]

Would make for a superior post I would say...

 

[Rossua]

That's great. I note that concrete posts are used for fences also and they would be much heavier still. I have 2.4m posts, so for 1.8m height above ground that would be 60cm of the post underground, would that be reasonable (the ground is fairly standard garden earth)?

 

[StephenStephen]

The weight makes no difference to the wind force (they don't make sails out of concrete!)

 

[Koolpc]

A concrete post is much better at tackling wind than a light wooden post.

 

[foxhole]

That's great. I note that concrete posts are used for fences also and they would be much heavier still. I have 2.4m posts, so for 1.8m height above ground that would be 60cm of the post underground, would that be reasonable (the ground is fairly standard garden earth)?

Yes

 

[simplesteve]

Could it be the post is heavy due to it being wet ?

 

[StephenOak]

Wood can hold a lot of water. I bought a batch of boards and even though I picked the least wet ones, they were still wet.

I spread them out somewhere dry but shaded to dry and they went from 20kg to 10.5kg, however that took 55 days. After a while (15 days maybe) they felt pretty dry on the surface and they were close to the final weight (11.5kg) after 21 days, but there must still have been some water inside.

 

[Tigercubrider]

If you get a load of timber delivered, it’s amazing how much denser an individual post can be compared to the previous/next.