seeking Cheap/Easy raw post - rail fence preservative

[CyberWes]

I have a newly installed double rail fence which needs treating. Here are the details:

 

1. Pine or fir untreated peelers for the rails.

2. Treated posts (quite a bit darker than the rails, but no big deal).

3. Both posts and rails are quite rough.

4. The weather here in Grants Pass, Oregon has extreme swings during the seasons. Hot/dry summer (100+ f), foggy/wet winter… rarely below freezing.

5. Looking for a treatment that is super-easy to apply, requires no sanding (both before and after application and even before reapplication every few years). I’m not at all particular about the look of it (color or finish). I’m only interested in preservation... to pickle the wood so to speak. I’m imagining either a sloppy brush or spray application , then wipe off the excess with rags. I’m leaning towards the brush-on method due to wanting to avoid coating the field fence wire stapled to the posts and rails.

6. The concoction should be cheap.

 

Many years ago, as a carpenter, I worked on a project in Dillon Colorado, where the painters sprayed some fluid on the cedar siding of a HUGE cabin complex. They told me they were using a mixture of: boiled linseed oil, diesel fuel and naphtha. I don’t recall the ratios, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were nearly equal amounts. This meets requirements # 5 & 6, no?

 

What say you?

[wtnhighlander]

A landscaper I once worked for treated timbers with a blend of diesel fuel and Penta brand wood preservative. A co-worker of mine coats his log home with a blend of diesel and transmission fluid.

Any of these will kill the grass anywhere you spill it, and possibly get you in trouble with the EPA.

[wdwerker]

Smelly and possibly polluting. I would look for a better, cleaner solution. I've been doing interior work for so many years that I'm not current on exterior products.

[mat60]

This reminds me when people were using oil to treat a automotive frame against rust.

[wtnhighlander]

When I had a woode-floored flatbed trailer to move my tractor, I "painted" the floor with my waste engine oil as a preservative. Works great for wood that is exposed to weather all the time. But looks like crap.

[Unknown craftsman]

Why does this question come up so often.As if there's  some secret finish that's used outdoors on decks and fences.That will defeat Mother Nature and the Suns Wrath.

Paint it or let it turn gray!

 

Aj

[wdwerker]

Maybe use some deck stain in a bug sprayer ?