A new treatment option for posts solves common disposal issues and brings a slew of environmental benefits.
For the viticulture and agriculture sectors, posts represent a major expense – one that doesn’t stop at purchase for the three most popular types currently on the market. Now a new post product from Roundwood Solutions offers all the durability of its competitors, with improved characteristics.
In recent decades, CCA, HTC and steel products have represented almost the entire market. HTC (high temperature creosote) has the advantage of providing high levels of protection, but that’s balanced by a messy and smelly product that has irritation concerns for treaters and installers. CCA is a more stable product with less risk to people, but can’t be burned, so broken posts are hard to dispose of, and fire-damaged posts require careful removal. Steel is chemically stable, but expensive and bends under the weight of laden vines – as well as representing a significant carbon cost.
The new post product – Tanapost – has improved handling and is easier to dispose of than CCA, while very competitive on cost across its circular lifespan.
It represents years of research from Lonza Wood Products and a strong commercial partnership with SA’s Roundwood Solutions. Roundwood has married Lonza’s Tanalith K wood preservative formulation with sustainably grown Australian plantation pine posts. “It’s a world-first,” says Roundwood’s Stephen Telford. “It’s all-new patented technology we’re using – the treatment is water-based and it is taken up fully by the pine, providing a full-cell H4-H5 treatment all the way through the post. It stays there through the life of the product, protecting your posts even if they’re cracked. The full cell treatment ensures improved penetration and the emulsion technology helps protect against checking and weathering.”
As part of Telford’s investment in the new product, he’s installed a new boiler to convert broken posts to energy. “Unlike CCA and HTC posts, Tanaposts are perfectly safe to burn,” he says. “We’re currently negotiating with the EPA so that buyers will be able to return the product at end of life to an approved registered boiler for conversion to energy and be allowed to burn it.”
Tanaposts can be installed just as easily as CCA posts and have an attractive natural timber appearance. Because the treatment is metal-free, the posts are more fire-resistant and have no ‘afterglow’ effect if a bushfire comes through. For more, visit www.roundwoodsolutions.com.au. To read more on Tanapost and other round wood products, click for our feature story.
