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Switched from wood to metal posts on my last job and I'm not going back
I used to think wood posts looked more natural and were easier to work with. But after setting 30 metal posts on a 200-foot run near Springfield last week, the time saved on digging and leveling convinced me. Has anyone else found a specific type of metal post that holds up better in wet clay soil?
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victor_jones995mo ago
Hold on now, let me push back a little (respectfully of course). Wood posts might take a bit more effort up front, but they're way easier to fix or replace down the line if something goes wrong. Metal posts can bend or get bent out of shape in that wet clay you mentioned, especially if the ground shifts during freeze/thaw cycles. Plus, wood actually looks like it belongs in a rural setting (which is what most of us around here are dealing with), whereas shiny metal sticks out like a sore thumb until they rust up. I'd rather spend an extra hour digging and get something that blends in and flexes with the ground instead of fighting it.
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juliashah5mo ago
Hey now, don't talk too much sense or you'll put all the metal post salesmen out of business @victor_jones99! I drove past a place last week where someone's metal fence looked like a pretzel after a hard freeze... guess the ground wasn't too impressed with that "easy install." Meanwhile my wood posts from five years ago are still standing straight, just got a little character from the weather. I'll take the extra sweat equity over replacing bent metal any day of the week.
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mark_price5mo ago
Yeah, @victor_jones99 you might be onto something here. I used to be all about metal posts for the easy install, but after seeing a few of my neighbors' fences go crooked from frost heave, I'm starting to rethink it. Wood's natural give in wet ground actually makes a lot of sense for the freeze/thaw cycles we get around here.
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