Building a 40 meter round pen - materials

[Zwarte]

I have been investigating various materials to build a 40 meter round pen (about 412 feet in circumference). Keeping to a low budget matters a lot but so does function, durability and beauty. This round pen will also serve as a paddock.

The cheapest thing I could think of would be wire fence on T-posts. I don't like the look but could live with it.

The next best, maybe, would be having a local guy with a portable sawmill come to my place and mill a bunch of eastern red cedars (Juniperus virginiana) into posts and boards. (I hate those cedars anyway and would love to see them gone. I have many acres of them on land I rarely visit.) I am waiting for the sawmill guy to call me back.

I'm told the local people mostly use locust for fence posts, but I don't have any on my land.

Has anybody every used red cedar like this? I also have plenty of post oak. Should I use that instead for the rails?

[MeghanDACVA]

Yes, you can use cedar for this. Cedar posts last FOREVER!! And easier to nail into than locust. Though locust also lasts forever. For rails, oak is really tough.

If is it to be a round pen, do NOT use wire and t-posts. You are asking for a wreck. Round pens need to be solid, or at least solid appearing. Wire and t-posts aren't.

[shakeytails]

I've heard that you don't want to cut cedar in the summer when the sap is flowing 'cuz they'll rot.