The travails of shopping, even online.
First, Do you know one reason I'll bet they don't sell fence post caps for round posts? They are all different diameters, like the trees they came from. In 30 years, I never noticed that mine were not all the same diameter, but they ranch, at the top, from 4.4 to 5.7 inches, or so.
It turns out after actual counting that I only have 29 posts, Besides the damage to the top center in several of them, one is loose in its hole and when I checked more it was actually broken off at ground level.
How, I can't imagine. Nothing but people go buy, sometimes with a push gas lawnmower. But the path is only 4' wide adn even if the guy came at with all his might and speed, a lawnmower couldn't break a post, I think. Maybe a 300 pound guy fell against the post, but I don't see how even that would do it.
A few years ago, I saw posts for sale at HD or Lowes, so I went to each to buy one. Not in the store. Tried the net. Each one had them, maybe even in two lengths 8 foot and 10 foot, and both have free warehouse to store delivery, but neither would deliver to the store nearest me, and Lowes would display a list of nearby stores, each one with a notation that it wouldn't deliever to it, either. Home Depot otoh expected me to keep entering different zipcodes in order to change what "My Store" was, and every time I picked a new store, it wouldn't dleliver to it. Home Depot you could take a lesson from Lowes.
Last Friday, I went back to Lowes and as the page was coming up, for a split second there was a view of the page I'd seen before, with an end view of the post, but then it switched to another page no end view. But Ithink it was still the post I wanted.
Today I went to find out how much to ship directly to me, and they no longer have round wooden fence posts, except the ones with holes in them already for rails. I can't use that.
I also had called 84 Lumber and they don't have them. He referred me to Fence and Deck Direct, and they don't have any wood fencing at all. National Lumber has no fence materials.
Last week I found Tractor Supply had a store 20 miles from me, where I expect to go visit someone soon, but today the webpage wouldn't find me the store so I can't call to see if they have it.
Finally, Southern States. Closes at 5 but answered the phone at 5:15. Has them coming in tomorrow, 10 of them. 8 feet tall by 5 to 6 in diameter. I want small so it will go easily in the old hole.
And the webpage for Tractor Supply worked finally and they just got in a bundle of 30 or so.
SHOULD I BUY SEVERAL SINCE THEY ARE GETTING SO HARD TO GET. tHEY ARE BIG AND HEAVY, AND i DON'T WANT THEM FILLING MY BASEMENT, which is already full.
Will I be able to make my own? I can probably find a place to cut down trees but I can probably only get 3 or 4 posts out of one tree. I can strip them of their bark, not bother turning them on a lathe, but soaking them in preservative would be really hard to do, and pressure treating -- I have no pressure.
I'm at the end of group, in a bunch of townhouses, and I need the fence or people will take shortcuts across my lawn. I'm 67, I don't want to be 82 or 87 and run out of posts. Darn, I should buy more rails too. They used to have them at Lowes and I think they were gone. darn darn darn. I have about 120 spare pickets, and I use about 5 a year.
Or will farmers keep needing round wooden posts?