Black locust fence posts?

[dmalbone]

Isn't black locust poisonous to horses or is that just leaves? I have someone selling them near me marketed for pastures and they swear up and down that people use them for horse fences. Any idea?

[mkevent]

I have black locust posts and those suckers are tough!!! I don't think I've ever seen my horses try to nibble on it. I will say the posts last at least 20 years if not more but they are darn near impossible to drive a nail into! I would recommend to pre drill the post before attempting to nail anything into it.

[GoForAGallop]

I haven't ever heard anything against black locust posts, in regards to them being poisonous to horses.

I do know that I'll never fence with anything else. My farm, when a dairy farm back in the 50's, was fenced with black locust posts; just sections of trees that were chopped down, basically. In the 70's, when the cows were sold, the posts were pulled up, and put in one big pile underneath some trees. Forward to early 2000's, when me, as a young teen, decides to bring her horse home. I march myself right over to that pile of fence posts, dust the leaves and mold off them, and plant them right back in the ground. Out of the pile of 200+, I think I found maaayyybbbeee 5 rotten ones. Pretty good for 60 year old untreated lumber!

And yes, they're tough as nails. But I'm 100lbs and I managed, with a nice 18v drill, to put screws into them for my electric fence.

[Mali]

Isn't black locust poisonous to horses or is that just leaves? I have someone selling them near me marketed for pastures and they swear up and down that people use them for horse fences. Any idea?


...maybe you're confused with Black Walnut?

[dmalbone]

Thanks. Do you know what it means that they're "green"? Is that fresh cut wood? Would those be too soft?

[EqTrainer]

Lucky you :)

[1ofEach]

Green means it hasn't been dried and yes it is fresh cut wood. You are fine using green locust posts and with locust, it won't be soft.

[SMF11]

I very intentionally used all locust posts in my fields. I didn't want pressure treated lumber . . . they were hard to find, but cost about the same as pressure treated. My fences have been up for about 8 years and they look fantastic. I highly recommend locust! And I have never heard of them being poisonous to horses.