Trees as Poles (Pole Barn)

Hello all,

Planning a 14x24 pole barn.  I have built other structures using bought lumber, but I have 6 wooded acres and am looking at using my own trees as the poles.

I have found a couple vids and they show people just cutting, debarking, and throwing them on up!

From what I read, the poles will likely fail pretty quick and longevity is an issue.  

I looked at cement footings and poles atop, but between the cement, forms, and fittings, that would add nearly $1k!  A far cry more than just buying 6x6s.

So... what do people do to preserve trees and use as in ground poles?  

Zone 7b, west Arkansas.  Mostly pine, cedar and some oak.  

If you have experience with 6x6 treated lumber being rot resistant in your soil then  maybe build a platform using treated lumber and build a green wood structure on top of that.
Set the posts on threaded rod to resist horizontal movement, use hurricane ties to resist vertical movement.

I don't trust treated wood to not rot below ground, so I would want to drive steel posts, pour a pad around them and and set my round wood posts over them.
Might work great, might be terrible, but I do like to mess around...

I would strive to use concrete or stone footings if possible, redoing footings kind of sucks.

Cost saving thoughts:
Find some beefy scrap steel to cut into fittings instead of the overpriced Simpson stuff. Scrap bits of anything 3/8 thick and up will make nice solid mounts; I like to use vertical bar set into the cement with the post notched around it, bolts or big nails through post and bar.. or if going for fancier, I'll cut a piece of I-beam into an upside down T, using cast in place bolts or a anchors to secure the bottom to the cement, and then the post is notched and secured to the vertical leg with through-bolts.

Smallish pieces of heavy steel can sometimes be had for scrap value from welding shops, or craigslist/marketplace. I've even used scrap I found buried in the ground for anchoring posts. Cut to suit, and ideally derust/paint..

Mixing concrete from sand, sharp gravel, and Portland cement is cheaper than readymix bags..

Junky plywood/lumber makes perfectly fine forms, just takes some time.

If I wanted to save beyond what the above would do, I would do nice footings for the corner posts and half the poles; the alternating poles I would use a nice rock on a hole filled with compacted gravel. Ideally I would set these alternating posts onto a stake made from pipe or rebar to prevent lateral movement.

D Nikolls list of options is excellent, but I'll add one I'd like to try:
We grow really big rocks, really easily. I'd move them and level them, then using a rock bit, drill a hole in them to secure either a homemade or commercial post holder - the type with the rod at the bottom with just the small amount of cement required. So long as they're dropped into a hole and tamp the dirt down thoroughly around the rock, and use enough of them, I can't imagine them being any worse than Sono-tube and concrete!

Jay Angler wrote:D Nikolls list of options is excellent, but I'll add one I'd like to try:
We grow really big rocks, really easily. I'd move them and level them, then using a rock bit, drill a hole in them to secure either a homemade or commercial post holder - the type with the rod at the bottom with just the small amount of cement required. So long as they're dropped into a hole and tamp the dirt down thoroughly around the rock, and use enough of them, I can't imagine them being any worse than Sono-tube and concrete!

Thanks, that's a much better description of what I meant by using a rock.. they could be better than concrete in the right place with the right rock.. cheap, local, low carbon, and potentially more durable.

Gotchas that I can see are:
A) Not as resistant to frost heave vs a concrete pillar with a mushroomed base below the frost depth..
B) Only as durable as the rock you pick; some are excellent and some suck..

If you are drilling a hole in said rock for the post anchor, you might use that same hole for a lifting eye.. a lever and come-along attached to a vehicle can lift a surprisingly big rock..

The heartwood of certain species, cedar and black locust come first to mind, is rot resistant, approaching the performance of pressure treated wood.  You might improve it still more by charring the portion that would be below and near ground level.  
Another wild idea, which I put into practice at a former homestead in Georgia, is using living trees!  I made a shed by attaching a ridge pole between two living pine saplings, using chains and some heavy bolts, and then stretching a heavy truck tarp over this.  Kept stuff dry the whole five years we were there.  I made a goat shelter a similar way by cutting off the tops of four convenient hardwood (oak and sweetgum) saplings and tying more tarp to these, and carpet scraps for the walls.  I would cut back the sprouts from these every couple of years and feed them to the goats.  The only thing is you need saplings growing in the right locations....but the beauty of it is that the "posts" will never rot!

D Nikolls wrote: ... that's a much better description of what I meant by using a rock.. they could be better than concrete in the right place with the right rock.. cheap, local, low carbon, and potentially more durable.

Gotchas that I can see are:
A) Not as resistant to frost heave vs a concrete pillar with a mushroomed base below the frost depth..
B) Only as durable as the rock you pick; some are excellent and some suck..

If you are drilling a hole in said rock for the post anchor, you might use that same hole for a lifting eye.. a lever and come-along attached to a vehicle can lift a surprisingly big rock..

Yes - I'm spoiled as we don't get the kind of freezing weather many people get due this extremely large body of water (the Pacific Ocean and its tendrils) that surround my Island.

I wish I was better at identifying rocks and knowing which were better constructed. That said, if the rock is largely under a building, thus not going through repeated wet/dry cycles, it will last much longer, even if it isn't the strongest choice. The secret to many long lived buildings is a good, well-drained, protected foundation.