Found a guy who is cutting cedar trees off his place and is wanting to sell the posts. They are 8-10 inches in diameter cleaned and fresh cut. I'm thinking I could make these work for a corral system but didn't know about the aging process for the posts.. Do they need to have a drying period before I use them? Will they warp very much in the process? Just as a reference what would you guys expect to pay for posts in this category that are 8-9 ft long? Thanks for the help in advance

I can probably take you to 10-15 sets of pens that are made from cedar post and stays that have been in place for over 40 years.

Needless to say, the cedar will be just fine.

Myers cedar yard in Lampasas might be a good place to start for comparable prices.

They don't need to dry at all. In fact, you will cuss every bent nail or steeple if you do let them 'cure' and get hard.

Are these 'mountain' cedar from hill country? If so, posts that size would be at least $10, I'd guess. If eastern red, its anybody's guess how much they're worth.

It actually depends on where the cedar post come from. Hill Country/Central Texas Cedars are much denser and stronger then cedars from gulf coast or east texas.

We have a ranch in Columbus and the cedars we cut for post on the property only last 2-3 years whereas the cedar post we get from the CoOp from Central Texas are heavier and last much longer. Just FYI...

Also whenever we used cedars for brace/corner/gate hinge post my grandpa always made us strip the bark off them so they would last longer. we didnt do it for line posts. Just old timer knowledge being passed down, take it for what its worth...

I know I'm getting old because most of the fences I ever built are old enough to start needing new posts. They did get a good twenty years of use, though.

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It actually depends on where the cedar post come from. Hill Country/Central Texas Cedars are much denser and stronger then cedars from gulf coast or east texas.

We have a ranch in Columbus and the cedars we cut for post on the property only last 2-3 years whereas the cedar post we get from the CoOp from Central Texas are heavier and last much longer. Just FYI...

Also whenever we used cedars for brace/corner/gate hinge post my grandpa always made us strip the bark off them so they would last longer. we didnt do it for line posts. Just old timer knowledge being passed down, take it for what its worth...

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You're talking about two totally different species here. The Edwards Plateau "mountain cedar" is Ash
JUNIPER. The stuff to the east in sandy ground is Eastern Red CEDAR. It's not good for posts, but will make a fine cedar chest.

We have a cattle pen on our ranch made entirely of ash juniper that is over 100 years old.