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-North Mo | Reckon I'm sounding like a real green horn on this steel pipe for post, but I feel the only thing worse than building fence as a young man is rebuilding the same fence as an old man - so hoping to get all the advice I can.
If I am to use 1/4" X 3.5" pipe for post:
1. is there a particular type of steel recommended? Can I use any'ol 1018 cold rolled welded tubing?
2. do they have to be capped on top
3. anything particular to do to the bottom to help them drive - some of these will be driven into loose limestone, mostly flat stones twice size of you hand and smaller, 1-2" thick
4. is there a paint/treatment I should do to the post to retard rust, or is that a concern
Appreciate all sharing their thoughts/experiences.
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WY, OK | 2-7/8" oil field pipe works just fine here, only time I have used anything close to 3.5" is for gate posts in a corral. We don't cap any of them and don't do anything to the bottom. I have brush painted some with rustoleum, looks nice but is incredibly time consuming. Did it more to cover the welds than anything. Pounding works but if you have a skidsteer get a 3" auger or 4" if you go with the bigger pipe and drill a hole if at all possible, it is 10x faster and add a little quickcrete to make a much better post. There is a lot of cheap oil field pipe in KS and OK, cheap enough I can drive all the way down there and get it and still come out ahead over buying "local". Do have to be careful on the used stuff as some can be rusted very badly, if you can find a pipe testing facility they will have cleaned pipe that just didn't pass test to be used in a well again. Went to pipe for same reasons, never wanted to have to deal with braces, corrals or anywhere else it can be used again. We leased a place that had pipe line posts that were old steam engine boiler rods pushing 100 years old they were finally starting to rot off in spots and were a lot thinner than any pipe I have put in. They actually curled and/or mushroomed at the top where they had been sledge hammered in. |
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South Texas | Lots of metal buildings and cattle pens around here less than 30 years old made from oilfield pipe rotted from the inside out. Then since the stuff was meant to be not welded it'll crack in the heat affected zone next to the weld, or if you don't use 7018 it just falls apart fast. You might as well use sucker rod for runners too so you have another metal that's not meant to be welded so it can have more places to crack. I have replaced trusses on otherwise good looking buildings. I consider myself lucky my oilfield pipe pens haven't rotted out, just have to weld up the cracks every few years. You can get lucky with the oilfield stuff, but too much risk of having to redo all your work if you get bad stuff. I won't mess with the junk, new pipe only.
Not sure what your doing that calls for 3.5" pipe. Far as how long it's going to last think thickness has more to do it. I build pens, fences, such from 2" sch40, 2 3/8" OD. |
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N.E. IL | im guessing your close enough to call "go bob " for you pipe needs |
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Sac & Story county IA | I see guys that haul scrap iron walking on top of the load with a radiation detector. Does old pipe have radiation in it? Isn't most pipe A 500? |
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North Central Texas | We have pens 30, 40 , 50 years old out of oilfield materials. The 3 1/2 or 4 is great especially for fencing on corners. Use them as you verticals and 2 3/8 for you horizontals and drops. As far as pens don't ever go less than 2 7/8. 2 3/8 just won't hold up unless it is true drillstem. Lots of pipe out there but a big difference between drillstem and pipe. Most the stuff that rusts out is a transfer pipe and what we would call dirty pipe. Chances are it will have a seam in it that will split. It is lower quality. A big difference is sourcing your pipe from known areas. If lots of salt is in that region then the pipe won't be as good. As far as welding, it really depends but it sure teaches you a lot about welding especially on sucker rod.
Cap them to keep them from rusting on the inside.
Paint them once with Sherwin Williams industrial paint and forget about them.
Edited by ntexcotton 10/27/2015 17:03
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Steel Pipe for post
