Concrete or plastic on wetter areas or the sections that are harder to set, repair or replace like turns, junctions, and switches. Use wood on sections that you can replace quickly like straight sections.. Expand concrete and plastic areas when feasible.
As someone who works on a small tram museum in the American mid Atlantic I can confirm that ballast in no way stops vegetation from growing on the track. Stuff just grows right up through it and we end up just spraying weed killer along the RoW
I volunteer at a commercial narrow gauge railway and they are switching to recycled plastic ties/sleepers and that the way you should go if you can afford to.
As someone who lives in a temperate zone in the rain shadow of the Rocky Mountains, which makes it an area that often flirts with becoming a desert, interspaced with monsoon-ish rains, I’m always fascinated by places that rain and plant growth are nearly a plague, they come so easy!
Dear inventor Tim 👍👌👏 2) I guess that in Germany alone ten thousands of old windows are thrown away each year. A lot of the frames are made of relatively rot resistant exotic wood (red meranti for instance). Usually one can get old windows for free. Maybe you know some carpenters, recycling or dump sites who will allow you to "harvest" wood for sleepers. I have to admit, that doing something like this is a lot of effort. 3) Therefore I vote for concrete sleepers. You can easily make a mold for let's say ten sleepers and pour concrete almost every day. By using recycling gravel and sand, it should be way cheaper than with fresh/new material. But of course you will still need fibre material to add to the concrete mix (using rebar is too expensive and too much effort). Thanks a lot for making explaining recording editing uploading and sharing. Best regards, luck and especially health to all of you.
I like the idea that others are echoing to use the plastic/concrete sleepers at junctions and switches which would be very difficult to replace and to use the wood on the straightaways. Given how long the wood for the existing railroad has worked I would bet that some new wooden sections could do quite a bit of work for you before they would have to be replaced meaning that they can at least help pay for their "upgrades/upkeep". Great stuff as always I patiently await future updates, Best of Luck!!!
Where I am in West Wales there is a fair few temperate rainforests I know off, mostly small patchs tucked up in valleys. It seems to me that sometimes the lay of the land funnels fog into certain parts of valleys. You can be on a walk in the woods and make a turn a corner and suddenly everything is blanketed in thick moss and ferns and there is a constant fog, and water dripping down even when its not rain, just from the condensation - transpiration cycle moving so fast. Magical places. You're very lucky to have tree like that in you backgarden
Also if you read this, I think concrete is the way to go. Maybe with some wire as reinforcement. Plastics will breakdown eventually into the soil, and the nasty chemicals can filter their way into the groundwater. It might be a small amount, but can still have an impact. Especially of you or your animals drink from borehole water. Concrete would last longer too, I would imagine. If they are strong enough without reinforcement wire, then better to go without it, as the rebar (or wire) rusting is generally what started of a crack, which then the frost/thaw cycle can expand upon. All the best, Random viewer
The trees are working for the planet and the plastic will just be kicking around for ever, so make the plastic work for you and let the trees work for everyone. Keep up the good work. Love you efforts.
My wife and I conserve a small patch of temperate rainforest in England. Although rising rainfall should mean that there will be more rainforest in future, our bit goes back to the ice ages, so we're trying to maintain a reservoir of flora and fauna already adapted to it!
Volunteer at a few railways up in the north east of Scotland. One particular narrow gauge (2ft) has started using plastic. Reasons go like this Wood - usually lasts about 10-15 years, rots more in wetter weather Concrete - can last 25-35 years, can be expensive and heavy to move. Plastic - it's very new and still under test, believed to last about 50-75 years (meaning one change will last a lifetime), can be on the expensive side but the money to time balances out.
Wouldnt the plastic break down in the light? And keep breaking down into micro plastics over that 75 years? Concrete is natural atleast. I would rather risk creosote than plastic.
Volunteer at a few railways up in the north east of Scotland. One particular narrow gauge (2ft) has started using plastic. Reasons go like this Wood - usually lasts about 10-15 years, rots more in wetter weather Concrete - can last 25-35 years, can be expensive and heavy to move. Plastic - it's very new and still under test, believed to last about 50-75 years (meaning one change will last a lifetime), can be on the expensive side but the money to time balances out.
I think you should use whatever you have at the moment, plus whatever better alternatives available when you have money to spend, and work up a schedule for upgrading when possible.
What may interest you are things we have in South Australia - Stobie Poles. These are electricity poles that are made out of steel and concrete instead of the traditional wooden power poles as we have very little quality wood. They prove to be very strong and it would be excellent if you could incorporate the design into your railway sleepers.
Have you tried the Japanese burnt timber method? They use it to maintain wooden temples for centuries. The name for this varies by the type of timber used, e.g. for cypress wood they call it shou sugi ban.
I grew up in one of those little green areas and used to see ferns growing on the trees all the time- now I know what that's called! I remember having issues with things like wooden raised beds or retaining walls made out of old railroad ties. It's true that things rotted away quickly; it also appeared to be true that things seemed to stay in place for years after whatever wooden structure was holding it became thoroughly rotten. I'm guessing you would get a good many years of useful service out of your railway if you do opt for wood.
The membrane (geo textile) would keep your ballast from sinking into the mud over time. Keeping weeds down requires constant spraying even our a semi arid climate. Ballast would be a good investment over time and not only helps preserve your sleepers it keeps the track from settling as well as keeping in aligned. I don’t think a ballasted track would be a hazard, on the contrary , 2” high rails buried in the vegetation present a trip hazard. Wood sleepers have too short a lifespan, you don’t want to have to rebuild a non profit railroad every 4-5 years. My feeling is plastic is the way to go because you would have a lot less labor invested. Creosoted wood sleepers are treated under high pressure.
Plastic sleepers seems like like a perfect fit for such a wet climate, and your most likely helping keep some Plastic at least out of landfills and oceans.
you could char the wooden sleepers (if they're hard wood) to make them last longer and make them somewhat waterproof. as far as i know, you can re-char the wood a fes times, if the outer layer is worn or damaged...
I made some modular concrete planters, small concrete panels connected with iron rods thru the ends. They didn't work very well, but I got some experience making concrete molds. I suggest making some concrete molds with a trapezoidal cross section, they will pop out of the molds easy. Make the molds in sets (they can be built as a single unit) of however many sleepers you can get out of a sack of concrete mix. A day or two for the concrete to set in the mold, then pop them out gently to finish curing and reuse the molds. How many sets of molds depends on you daily production goals. Use heavy wire to reinforce the concrete. PVC pipe sections for spike holes. OOPS! Do Not Forget to grease the molds! 500 concrete sleepers? I'm glad it's your back not mine. Jim Y
Hi Tim, not sure if you know this but you can add clickable End Card that floats over the last 20 seconds of your vids with a link to your Patreon. Also put the link in a pinned comment, makes it a lot easier for people to support you. 😀 Love the project! Eric.
Love wood but go for plastic. Better still, frequent use of a new steam contraption to run the line and provide fun and enjoyment for everyone. On the epiphytes; most of my students 50 years ago dismissed them until visiting and saw them in my woodland. I have a huge and varied fernery started in Victorian days from old stumps. Best wishes from New Forest. Thank you for posting.
That temporate rainforest map is very generous. Parts of New Zealand are like Ireland, wet (coolish) on the west and much drier on the east. In terms of the sleepers I think the recycled plastic is your best bet. They should be easier to work with than the concrete, less brittle, and since they're not under lots of mechanical wear they should last a long time.
I'm also reminded, that a miniture railway I worked at recycled some old concrete fence posts into sleepers by cutting them down to length with an angle grinder. They got given them as they were junk ones that had been replaced by something else. Where from I don't recall. Where you'd be able to get those at a decent price, I don't know. But it is an option that exists.
You could cast smaller concrete sleepers on sight by digging a hole in the ground and just filling the hole? You could even set the pipe fitting pieces into it and lay the track on it so it sets in place with the tracks ready to go. Maybe use one piece of rebar to tie it all together with a hole on the bottom of the pipefitting and a metal tie through it and holding the rebar or some other form to hold it together as you cast the concrete. If you can cast and move the concrete on site this would be the best option in my opinion (some strange young guy on the internet). If not maybe go concrete in the direct sunlight areas and plastic where it has less heat and wood where it is both dry and easy to replace if you need to. The real question, in the years you have had the other track how much of it have you had to replace? Anyways I love the project. And I wish you the best of luck!
I was waiting for pros and cons on the other types! Others have said, I think a mix is probably wise, wood where you can replace easily like straights, and plastic or concrete in the more complex areas, curves and points. I presume concrete is the most expensive of the 3
I would prefer plastic or concrete sleepers. They would save you a lot of maintenance. However costs are higher. Keep up the good work👍. In Denmark we see furns growing on very old oaktrees where water is collected in Y shaped big big branches.
The question is: where do you fall on the trade off between getting finished now, so that you have the tool you need to make some money, knowing that the whole project will cost more in the long run when you replace the wooden sleepers, vs. wait awhile so you can accumulate the funds to install a more permanent solution, where you don't have to come back and fix it. Of course keeping in mind the old adage: "It's only temporary. Unless it works."
What about an alternative wood treatment like charring/burning the outside layer like they use in Japan to prevent rot? Might be able to use your charcoal oven to do large batches all at one time.
You have the opportunity to design and make a very cool strimmer set up, mounted on a snowplow to keep the vegetation on the rails well in check! :) I would personally go plastic for sleepers
Maybe you could separate the sleeper functions of setting the rail position, gauge and supporting the wagon weight. Rebar could be bent into a "staple" with the pipes welded to it and driven into the ground. Supports of bricks, concrete pavers, wood, plastic or any thing else handy can be placed under the rails to support the weight. Or the ends of the staples could be placed in small holes which are then filled with concrete.
Morning Tim. After some thought I think wooden sleepers are the best choice for now. Plastic might be best overall for your concerns, but concrete is overkill. Concrete is only as good as the mix, reenforcement bars and skill of the person making them. You could use mostly wood and sprinkle some concrete and plastic ones in to test. Without proper ballast and grade your choices are limited. Thinking outside the box, would a shallow canal work? You could pull the little barges with a variety of animals you already have and materials are needed only for the barges. That, of course is off course in your plans, I know. Cheers all. 🇨🇦
Wood where it's easy to replace, plastic where it isn't. Also, maybe consider making a tool for scraping off the mats of vegetation that want to grow wherever you leave bare ground. Either transplant it somewhere else, or just chuck it into a compost heap for more organic matter for your fields.
The west coast of British Columbia is in a temperate rain forest and ferns are quite prolific. East of the coast range (less than 300 km from the coast), the climate is near desert due to the rain shadow effect.
Seeing the way the grass grows over the rails reminds me of a technique I've seen for no-herbicide weed killing: propane weed flamers. I could imagine a special "flame cart" that has 2 or 3 burners. Light them up, then push the cart along the rail, once every few months.
Pressure treated wood sleepers should be easiest to bang out the ginormous amount of rail track you need to lay out there. But I think a more permanent solution in the form of concrete sleepers and plastic sleepers to replace the wooden ones over a long period of time might be better. Since it takes time, you can keep a stockpile of recycled plastic sleepers and maybe a few concrete ones as you need them. Wood is always a cheap and fast solution but like you said it wont last long.
Although the plactic ties should last the longest, they take a long time to make them. I would go with the concrete. Its not to hard to set up multiple forms to cast several at a time.
When the first railways started, they used almost anything to use as ties. In your case, if you have anything that you can use to make a railroad tie, use it. You can always get the recycled plastic tie later.
I think you're going to end up with mix of sleepers. The "expensive" plastic ones in the wettest areas, going to wood in the areas with the best drainage. I bloody love your channel 🙂 When' the next Calendar out?!
I treat any untreated wood I use at or below grade (such as fence posts) by charring the outside- a simple enough task with a big propane torch. There's probably sciencey data on the effectiveness of this, but from personal experience, it extends the life of spruce and pine by at least 10 years. Just something for you to keep in mind for future projects.
I'd do it as a 3 step process... 1) lay the whole thing with wood (minus the few areas you know are going to be bad for rot, which you do with plastic) 2) when some of the sleepers start rotting early, replace those with plastic so that you have the worst areas done in the expensive non rot sleepers. 3) maintain the rest of the sleepers with wood sourced from your own trees for maximum cheepness, in locations where you know they'll last a decent amount of time.
If you use lumber for the sleepers, you might be able to use either something such as aromatic cedar or (not sure if they exist in Ireland) Osage orange (are they trees or bushes?) plants, AKA hedge apple. These are two wood options that resist rot quite well. Though the one problem with the hedge apple idea is whilst it resists rot and it REALLY tough, it'll probably be fairly expensive if you can get it at all.
I use treated fence rails, that are approx 3" x 2" on my line at home and my commercial line. My supplier cuts them to my required length and you can see that the preservative doesn't penetrate very far, so I stand them in a creosote bath for 48 hours, turning them after 24 hours. Real creosote is very effective and can still be purchased for agricultural use. The secret is to ensure the wood is dry and that the creosote gets plenty of time to be absorbed by the grain. I've made over 10,000 sleepers this way and the oldest are still fine after 11 years in the ground. They need to be in cleanish ballast on a membrane, and ths tops must be clear so that they can breath.
Have you considered metal sleepers? They are hollow like a long upside down bowl, so they can be as light as plastic without the nasty leaching chemicals. You wouldn't need the whole bowl shape for the traffic your line will have, so I'm sure making them out of i beams or L beams or H beams, either pre existing or made or using your sheet metal folding contraption would do well. Although using metal is more expensive, there would be some savings from you would be able to half the length of the pegs and weld them directly to the sleepers. Keep up the good work Tim!
I think it would be good to use wooden sleepers at less demanding places like straight sections and plastic sleepers at turns, so wooden sleepers could rot more before you need to replace them. Or use at turns plastic sleepers for every other for same reason to get more life out from wood sleepers. Question is also how long wooden sleepers last etc... if they last 20 years and more then wood is way to go.
if you go concrete or wood and go out on one of the rare damp days you can rig a weed burner similar to what is used for burning off weeds in tilled fields before planting to help keep down the grass between the rails
I'd start with wood and replace with more durable sleepers when/if they start to rot. I have some raised flower beds made of commercial treated lumber, some rotted away in a couple years, others are still solid after 15+ years
Checking in from the Oregon Coast Range, another temperate rainforest. Ferns growing on trees is pretty common here. And yep, wood in ground contact is ruined in almost no time. Good luck!
Concrete sleepers used on the big railway have steel tendons inside that are stretched before the concrete is poured and only released after it has set, the tendons keep the concrete in a stat of compression where it is strongest.
Any ideas on a loco? I wonder if you could contact a wrecking yard or something of the like and get some forklift batteries, they big and heavy which get 2 birds with one stone since you need the weight.
I've seen some railroads that used metal ties. I think they had a cross section that was sort of open at the bottom, with little flanges to keep them from sinking into the soil, and perhaps they were prestressed to keep them from bending under load. I'm curious about the concrete ties. Would you cast them? With rebar and prestressed? And the holes in the casting? I don't know how heavy the loads you use are so maybe prestressed isn't required. If you used plastic could you have a wide piece at the bottom to make them more stable on whatever they rest on? Thanks for sharing. Fascinating.
Seems you use the railway seasonally, so, how about overstock ruminant animals directly on the railway for a time, perhaps using electric netting or a reel of electric wire. Both of those are fantastic temporary electric options that I use personally.
Decisions, decisions, my suggestion would be to get some old railroad ties (sleepers) put them on the ground running parallel to your steel rails then lay your rail line on top of the the old ties. My choice for new sleepers would be the plastic ones.
I think you can just combine all methods. In more humid areas where wood would deteriorate use plastic, on short and very flat surfaces you can use several concrete ones and rest wood (which I think is cheapest option?) Also, you can treat wood by burning surface. If you leave no uncovered spot, these can make it through several years even in wet ground.
Frying Wood has recently shown that this makes the wood more resistant against microorganims. However frying makes the wood then more brittle. Maybe worth a try.
Maybe now that you need so many sleepers it is profitable to make your own recycled plastic sleeper post. You just need something to melt them down and a press that will pull the melted plastic through a square tube to shape it. If you can get some old plastic from greenhouses or something like that, it might work out well.
Concrete sleeps for the junctions, recycled plastic for the curves and alternate plastic/wood for the straights. Will reduce the replacement costs whilst ensuring those that come under more stress are more hard wearing.
BT use pressure treated creosoted poles for their network, they're estimated to have a 20 year working life with regular retreatments, and there's only about 4FT actually in the ground. Regardless of what you opt for, you should consider using plastic sheeting under them to stop the weeds growing back through and choking your rails.
Here the most effective way do way with vegation is stream. Mounted on a wagon we got s steam cleaner , water tank and propane tank. With a hose going to a copper pipe with a row of holes that just above the ground. Plus a square piece of canvas. So as you pull the wagon the steam comes out along the width of the wagon . The canvas keeps it hot enough to cook the weeds and grass. But zero chemicals is used🎉. So maybe you could do something the same on the railway. To keep it free of weeds and grass too. Good luck with your extention railway.🚂
I'm voting for concrete. I have little money, so I make my own pavers from Redimix using milk jug bottoms as forms. you could do this with a rebar connection between pavers. The spacing and holes in the pavers could be easily achieved with a simple wooden template form that could be used repeatedly. I have also incorporated an old vibrator from a Lazy boy recliner to release the air from my poured pavers in the drying process. you would use far less concrete than a full length 'sleeper", as you call them, and they would be lighter and easier to install.
Genuine railway sleepers were pressure treated with creosote to quite some depth, 2' to 3' inches, they lasted decades, not like the joke stuff you buy from the garden centre today where it’s shown the pressure tank door and that’s all you get. I'd use plastic sleepers mostly because it's using up waste plastics.
You have the VEVOR vacuum pump, I would treat your new wooden sleepers with the creosote mixture in a vacuum chamber, this would insure optimal penetration into the wood without the having to heat the nasty creosote mix. Some people on YT videos suggest scorching or burning the outside of their wood that is to be exposed to moisture. Others are convinced that a mixture of used engine oil mixed with diesel or petrol works equally well. I don't have any experience with preservative coatings but maybe you could research this some and run some experiments with the most promising systems.
Assuming it’s not too expensive, based on the conditions, the plastic ties are the best option assuming their mechanical properties are similar to wood. I know on standard gauge operations they’ve been used successfully. Wood is going to be the second best option. Lasts long enough, cheapest and easiest to replace. Concrete should really only be used for well maintained ballasted road beds. This is because when one concrete tie fails the adjacent ties do not handle the extra strain well and will fail prematurely creating a domino effect of failure. Wood and plastic are not affected in this way. Not to mention the freeze thaw cycle I assume you experience. A proper road bed will prevent weed growth, but as you explained it’s an expensive endeavor.
Is there any benefit to charring the outer layer of the timber sleepers? I don't know if it's practical but it would be inexpensive if a bit time consuming, provided it worked.
On my railway. I used steel sleepers. Pros. Its easy to install you just weld them together. Cons. You need to laser cut some kind of rail holders for your gauage. (Like i did). If you are doing steel sleepers take in calculation you cant use the flat iron. You must use 90° angle iron profiles because they will anchor themselfs in ballast. Hope i helped. :)
I would personally use concrete sleepers as they are quick and cheap to make, and last a lifetime under the conditions that the railway will be used in.
Maybe you can reach out to some pladtic recycling company to sponsor your sleepers? With all the long lived, work load and environmental issues of wood and concrete considered, i would recommend the plastic ones. After all, they are too, made of trees! Well, some hundreds thousand years old, petrified, pumped out of the ground and chemical reworked. 😅
Answer to your question is so obvious. Many many railway companies around the world tried everything for decades to develop the best solution for sleepers. And the answerr is... concrete. If concrete is a good grade and made well in controled manner, it will last for decades without major repairs. I know that you are interested in price also, but all that railways companies were too. And they still choose concrete sleeepers. And I don't even mention the they are pretensioned concrete. Also the railway understructure is from crushed stones for a good reasons. Mainly it very well distributes load from rails and sleepers to the topsoil and also somehow prevented grass to grow between sleepers. In your case, topsoil seems to be soggy mud. But still an interesting garden project. Good luck.
You aren't really comparing apples to apples though. If I want to buy a cheap doodad from china, it will probably be injection moulded plastic. Thats isn't the cheapest solution for small scale production though. Plus theres different scales. a commercial railway has to deal with higher speeds and much more weight.
Ballast has to be cleaned regularly. With time, dirt and sand gets blown into the ballast, and here, plants can root, and then you are back at Square 1, except you regularly take up the ballast, wash it and put it back - what an effort! (And I don't think Plasser&Theurer will sponsor your videos anytime soon.) Railways do this, but they do it to keep the ballast dry, so it has to drain fast after the rain. If not, they risk frost damage in the winter. But with Ireland not being famous for long and cold winters, I guess this is a risk you can take.
Can you come up with a video showing the pros and cons of plastic and concrete sleepers. Even without a video I would suggest plastic especially if you can make them yourself.
People who don't live in our climate don't get just how *wet* everything gets. I am in Scotland and for most of the year, everything is soaking. Concrete sleepers would probably be more environmentally friendly in the long run. Plastic one are more resistant. I don't know about the microplastic situation but at least you would be recycling plastic that ends up in landfill or some poor sod's field in another country. Wood, while being cheaper and easier does not last. May I suggest, wood for areas that are easier to maintain and plastic or concrete for harder to maintain areas (or if you have enough for larger sections) . Replace the wooden ones with concrete / plastic as you can afford and need to replace the wooden ones.
Being from NZ kinda assumed that most places had epiphytes, but that map shows we are pretty unique (and as other commenter has said not all of NZ has them, our east coast is much drier and doesn't get them as often / at all in certian places.
People often like to slag off the weather of Britain and Ireland as if it's just cold and rainy all the time, but the more important thing to consider is that it's actually LUKEWARM and MOSTLY DRY all the time, compared to everyone else at the same latitude. It rarely dips below freezing (maybe 5 days a year on average?), and equally it rarely gets too hot (maybe 10 days a year above 30°C?). We spend our entire lives in this tiny band of temperature that most of the world would give offerings to live within. Even partners such as New York city, Boston, Philadelphia, etc. (all closer to the Equator than the whole of Britain and Ireland) spend months under snow and ice, and then likewise swelter in the summer heat and beg for aircon. Instead of moaning about the rain (London average rainfall per year 580mm, Dublin 680mm per year, New York 1100mm per year, Philadelphia 1050mm per year), maybe we all need to stop and realise how lucky we are to be warmish, moisturised, but not in North America.
@@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299 Indeed - that's the downside. We've grown farming industries that rely on our delicate temperate climates, and now they're changing... It's so much harder to adapt. I really feel it for the farmers. It's been obvious now for a few years from potatoes that something is going wrong. From cheap supermarket spuds to expensive Walkers Crisps and McCain Chips... Potatoes just aren't what they used to be. So many black spots and bad taste now that never used to be. I was gutted to hear that you had a failed garlic crop last year - I just assumed that it was just so average you didn't bother making a video about it. But to see the devastation... I can't imagine how heartbroken you must have been. :/ I hope that 2025 brings you a truly marvellous crop - and a pray that our weather returns to the temperate climates we have become accustomed to.
You can soak the Timbers in 50/50 used motor oil and diesel fuel. This is what farmers do for the bottoms of their fence posts. I think this is the simplest and cheapest and should last a few years. Use your fiber reinforced concrete ties only for the very wettest swampy areas.
Recycled plastic. And I recall you rather liked them when you used them before. But it is your (and Sandra's) farm. You will know what is best for you. ☮
Concrete or plastic on wetter areas or the sections that are harder to set, repair or replace like turns, junctions, and switches. Use wood on sections that you can replace quickly like straight sections.. Expand concrete and plastic areas when feasible.
It’s time to make a mower attachment for your train Tim 😁
I was thinking the same, maybe strap a couple of weed whackers to the front of a cart
Tim Train Track Trimmer
That and a road salt spreader, it would save him a lot of time by making the intervals between cutting longer.
As someone who works on a small tram museum in the American mid Atlantic I can confirm that ballast in no way stops vegetation from growing on the track. Stuff just grows right up through it and we end up just spraying weed killer along the RoW
I volunteer at a commercial narrow gauge railway and they are switching to recycled plastic ties/sleepers and that the way you should go if you can afford to.
Plus, plastic is not as environmentally horrid as concrete AND you'll have to mix it up and make a form for it. It's going to be plastic
As someone who lives in a temperate zone in the rain shadow of the Rocky Mountains, which makes it an area that often flirts with becoming a desert, interspaced with monsoon-ish rains, I’m always fascinated by places that rain and plant growth are nearly a plague, they come so easy!
Dear inventor Tim
👍👌👏 2) I guess that in Germany alone ten thousands of old windows are thrown away each year. A lot of the frames are made of relatively rot resistant exotic wood (red meranti for instance). Usually one can get old windows for free. Maybe you know some carpenters, recycling or dump sites who will allow you to "harvest" wood for sleepers. I have to admit, that doing something like this is a lot of effort. 3) Therefore I vote for concrete sleepers. You can easily make a mold for let's say ten sleepers and pour concrete almost every day. By using recycling gravel and sand, it should be way cheaper than with fresh/new material. But of course you will still need fibre material to add to the concrete mix (using rebar is too expensive and too much effort).
Thanks a lot for making explaining recording editing uploading and sharing.
Best regards, luck and especially health to all of you.
I like the idea that others are echoing to use the plastic/concrete sleepers at junctions and switches which would be very difficult to replace and to use the wood on the straightaways. Given how long the wood for the existing railroad has worked I would bet that some new wooden sections could do quite a bit of work for you before they would have to be replaced meaning that they can at least help pay for their "upgrades/upkeep". Great stuff as always I patiently await future updates, Best of Luck!!!
Where I am in West Wales there is a fair few temperate rainforests I know off, mostly small patchs tucked up in valleys. It seems to me that sometimes the lay of the land funnels fog into certain parts of valleys. You can be on a walk in the woods and make a turn a corner and suddenly everything is blanketed in thick moss and ferns and there is a constant fog, and water dripping down even when its not rain, just from the condensation - transpiration cycle moving so fast. Magical places. You're very lucky to have tree like that in you backgarden
Also if you read this, I think concrete is the way to go. Maybe with some wire as reinforcement. Plastics will breakdown eventually into the soil, and the nasty chemicals can filter their way into the groundwater. It might be a small amount, but can still have an impact. Especially of you or your animals drink from borehole water. Concrete would last longer too, I would imagine. If they are strong enough without reinforcement wire, then better to go without it, as the rebar (or wire) rusting is generally what started of a crack, which then the frost/thaw cycle can expand upon.
All the best,
Random viewer
The trees are working for the planet and the plastic will just be kicking around for ever, so make the plastic work for you and let the trees work for everyone. Keep up the good work. Love you efforts.
My wife and I conserve a small patch of temperate rainforest in England. Although rising rainfall should mean that there will be more rainforest in future, our bit goes back to the ice ages, so we're trying to maintain a reservoir of flora and fauna already adapted to it!
That's wonderful, I didn't realise there was any left!
@cooperised little pockets, here and there!
More rails!
I wish we had more pros and cons of both the plastic and the concrete sleepers.
Volunteer at a few railways up in the north east of Scotland. One particular narrow gauge (2ft) has started using plastic.
Reasons go like this
Wood - usually lasts about 10-15 years, rots more in wetter weather
Concrete - can last 25-35 years, can be expensive and heavy to move.
Plastic - it's very new and still under test, believed to last about 50-75 years (meaning one change will last a lifetime), can be on the expensive side but the money to time balances out.
those videos are coming
@@trainswithmark thank you for the breakdown.
@@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299 Oh, awesome! Thank you.
Wouldnt the plastic break down in the light? And keep breaking down into micro plastics over that 75 years? Concrete is natural atleast. I would rather risk creosote than plastic.
Volunteer at a few railways up in the north east of Scotland. One particular narrow gauge (2ft) has started using plastic.
Reasons go like this
Wood - usually lasts about 10-15 years, rots more in wetter weather
Concrete - can last 25-35 years, can be expensive and heavy to move.
Plastic - it's very new and still under test, believed to last about 50-75 years (meaning one change will last a lifetime), can be on the expensive side but the money to time balances out.
Excellent presentation of temperate rain forests.
I think you should use whatever you have at the moment, plus whatever better alternatives available when you have money to spend, and work up a schedule for upgrading when possible.
What may interest you are things we have in South Australia - Stobie Poles. These are electricity poles that are made out of steel and concrete instead of the traditional wooden power poles as we have very little quality wood. They prove to be very strong and it would be excellent if you could incorporate the design into your railway sleepers.
Have you tried the Japanese burnt timber method? They use it to maintain wooden temples for centuries. The name for this varies by the type of timber used, e.g. for cypress wood they call it shou sugi ban.
I grew up in one of those little green areas and used to see ferns growing on the trees all the time- now I know what that's called! I remember having issues with things like wooden raised beds or retaining walls made out of old railroad ties. It's true that things rotted away quickly; it also appeared to be true that things seemed to stay in place for years after whatever wooden structure was holding it became thoroughly rotten. I'm guessing you would get a good many years of useful service out of your railway if you do opt for wood.
The membrane (geo textile) would keep your ballast from sinking into the mud over time. Keeping weeds down requires constant spraying even our a semi arid climate.
Ballast would be a good investment over time and not only helps preserve your sleepers it keeps the track from settling as well as keeping in aligned.
I don’t think a ballasted track would be a hazard, on the contrary , 2” high rails buried in the vegetation present a trip hazard.
Wood sleepers have too short a lifespan, you don’t want to have to rebuild a non profit railroad every 4-5 years.
My feeling is plastic is the way to go because you would have a lot less labor invested.
Creosoted wood sleepers are treated under high pressure.
Plastic sleepers seems like like a perfect fit for such a wet climate, and your most likely helping keep some Plastic at least out of landfills and oceans.
you could char the wooden sleepers (if they're hard wood) to make them last longer and make them somewhat waterproof.
as far as i know, you can re-char the wood a fes times, if the outer layer is worn or damaged...
I made some modular concrete planters, small concrete panels connected with iron rods thru the ends. They didn't work very well, but I got some experience making concrete molds.
I suggest making some concrete molds with a trapezoidal cross section, they will pop out of the molds easy.
Make the molds in sets (they can be built as a single unit) of however many sleepers you can get out of a sack of concrete mix. A day or two for the concrete to set in the mold, then pop them out gently to finish curing and reuse the molds.
How many sets of molds depends on you daily production goals.
Use heavy wire to reinforce the concrete. PVC pipe sections for spike holes.
OOPS! Do Not Forget to grease the molds!
500 concrete sleepers? I'm glad it's your back not mine. Jim Y
Hi Tim, not sure if you know this but you can add clickable End Card that floats over the last 20 seconds of your vids with a link to your Patreon. Also put the link in a pinned comment, makes it a lot easier for people to support you. 😀 Love the project! Eric.
Love wood but go for plastic. Better still, frequent use of a new steam contraption to run the line and provide fun and enjoyment for everyone. On the epiphytes; most of my students 50 years ago dismissed them until visiting and saw them in my woodland. I have a huge and varied fernery started in Victorian days from old stumps. Best wishes from New Forest. Thank you for posting.
Looks like the recycled plastic ones are the go. 😀
Being a recycling man myself I vote for recycle plastic and I would make an injection molding machine. Free plastic is everywhere.
I guess that is probably the best option for Tim.
Keep suggesting and tell him about the injection molding stuff. He'll appreciate the information. 🫡
Been a fan for two years. That Map at 0:08 is the first time I've ever actually understood the layout of your plot! :)
That temporate rainforest map is very generous. Parts of New Zealand are like Ireland, wet (coolish) on the west and much drier on the east.
In terms of the sleepers I think the recycled plastic is your best bet. They should be easier to work with than the concrete, less brittle, and since they're not under lots of mechanical wear they should last a long time.
i really want to see tornado pulling some freight cars
PLS
PLSPLSPLS
I'm also reminded, that a miniture railway I worked at recycled some old concrete fence posts into sleepers by cutting them down to length with an angle grinder. They got given them as they were junk ones that had been replaced by something else. Where from I don't recall. Where you'd be able to get those at a decent price, I don't know. But it is an option that exists.
More railway videos, please!!!!!
You could cast smaller concrete sleepers on sight by digging a hole in the ground and just filling the hole? You could even set the pipe fitting pieces into it and lay the track on it so it sets in place with the tracks ready to go. Maybe use one piece of rebar to tie it all together with a hole on the bottom of the pipefitting and a metal tie through it and holding the rebar or some other form to hold it together as you cast the concrete. If you can cast and move the concrete on site this would be the best option in my opinion (some strange young guy on the internet). If not maybe go concrete in the direct sunlight areas and plastic where it has less heat and wood where it is both dry and easy to replace if you need to. The real question, in the years you have had the other track how much of it have you had to replace? Anyways I love the project. And I wish you the best of luck!
I was waiting for pros and cons on the other types!
Others have said, I think a mix is probably wise, wood where you can replace easily like straights, and plastic or concrete in the more complex areas, curves and points.
I presume concrete is the most expensive of the 3
It's one of, plastic isn't far off the same price if not a little more to buy, that being said the lifespan difference is quite large
I would prefer plastic or concrete sleepers. They would save you a lot of maintenance.
However costs are higher.
Keep up the good work👍.
In Denmark we see furns growing on very old oaktrees where water is collected in Y shaped big big branches.
The question is: where do you fall on the trade off between getting finished now, so that you have the tool you need to make some money, knowing that the whole project will cost more in the long run when you replace the wooden sleepers, vs. wait awhile so you can accumulate the funds to install a more permanent solution, where you don't have to come back and fix it.
Of course keeping in mind the old adage: "It's only temporary. Unless it works."
What about an alternative wood treatment like charring/burning the outside layer like they use in Japan to prevent rot? Might be able to use your charcoal oven to do large batches all at one time.
Shou sugi ban technique would be quite cheap to test
You have the opportunity to design and make a very cool strimmer set up, mounted on a snowplow to keep the vegetation on the rails well in check! :)
I would personally go plastic for sleepers
Maybe you could separate the sleeper functions of setting the rail position, gauge and supporting the wagon weight. Rebar could be bent into a "staple" with the pipes welded to it and driven into the ground. Supports of bricks, concrete pavers, wood, plastic or any thing else handy can be placed under the rails to support the weight. Or the ends of the staples could be placed in small holes which are then filled with concrete.
Morning Tim. After some thought I think wooden sleepers are the best choice for now. Plastic might be best overall for your concerns, but concrete is overkill. Concrete is only as good as the mix, reenforcement bars and skill of the person making them.
You could use mostly wood and sprinkle some concrete and plastic ones in to test.
Without proper ballast and grade your choices are limited.
Thinking outside the box, would a shallow canal work? You could pull the little barges with a variety of animals you already have and materials are needed only for the barges.
That, of course is off course in your plans, I know. Cheers all. 🇨🇦
Wood where it's easy to replace, plastic where it isn't.
Also, maybe consider making a tool for scraping off the mats of vegetation that want to grow wherever you leave bare ground. Either transplant it somewhere else, or just chuck it into a compost heap for more organic matter for your fields.
Using what is best for you seams to be working well bro and looking forward to see more track being laid. Safe travels y'all. Ken.
The west coast of British Columbia is in a temperate rain forest and ferns are quite prolific. East of the coast range (less than 300 km from the coast), the climate is near desert due to the rain shadow effect.
Seeing the way the grass grows over the rails reminds me of a technique I've seen for no-herbicide weed killing: propane weed flamers. I could imagine a special "flame cart" that has 2 or 3 burners. Light them up, then push the cart along the rail, once every few months.
Pressure treated wood sleepers should be easiest to bang out the ginormous amount of rail track you need to lay out there. But I think a more permanent solution in the form of concrete sleepers and plastic sleepers to replace the wooden ones over a long period of time might be better. Since it takes time, you can keep a stockpile of recycled plastic sleepers and maybe a few concrete ones as you need them. Wood is always a cheap and fast solution but like you said it wont last long.
Great section on the temperate rainforest. Parts of Dartmoor here are very similar.
Although the plactic ties should last the longest, they take a long time to make them.
I would go with the concrete. Its not to hard to set up multiple forms to cast several at a time.
And you can cast the pieces into them removing a bit of setup of hammering them in place
I like the plastic idea.
When the first railways started, they used almost anything to use as ties. In your case, if you have anything that you can use to make a railroad tie, use it. You can always get the recycled plastic tie later.
I think you're going to end up with mix of sleepers. The "expensive" plastic ones in the wettest areas, going to wood in the areas with the best drainage.
I bloody love your channel 🙂
When' the next Calendar out?!
I treat any untreated wood I use at or below grade (such as fence posts) by charring the outside- a simple enough task with a big propane torch. There's probably sciencey data on the effectiveness of this, but from personal experience, it extends the life of spruce and pine by at least 10 years. Just something for you to keep in mind for future projects.
I'd do it as a 3 step process...
1) lay the whole thing with wood (minus the few areas you know are going to be bad for rot, which you do with plastic)
2) when some of the sleepers start rotting early, replace those with plastic so that you have the worst areas done in the expensive non rot sleepers.
3) maintain the rest of the sleepers with wood sourced from your own trees for maximum cheepness, in locations where you know they'll last a decent amount of time.
If you use lumber for the sleepers, you might be able to use either something such as aromatic cedar or (not sure if they exist in Ireland) Osage orange (are they trees or bushes?) plants, AKA hedge apple. These are two wood options that resist rot quite well. Though the one problem with the hedge apple idea is whilst it resists rot and it REALLY tough, it'll probably be fairly expensive if you can get it at all.
We have the choice of spruce or douglas fir!
I use treated fence rails, that are approx 3" x 2" on my line at home and my commercial line. My supplier cuts them to my required length and you can see that the preservative doesn't penetrate very far, so I stand them in a creosote bath for 48 hours, turning them after 24 hours. Real creosote is very effective and can still be purchased for agricultural use. The secret is to ensure the wood is dry and that the creosote gets plenty of time to be absorbed by the grain.
I've made over 10,000 sleepers this way and the oldest are still fine after 11 years in the ground. They need to be in cleanish ballast on a membrane, and ths tops must be clear so that they can breath.
can you get more of the recycled plastic ones tim? they seem to be so fitting
Have you considered metal sleepers? They are hollow like a long upside down bowl, so they can be as light as plastic without the nasty leaching chemicals. You wouldn't need the whole bowl shape for the traffic your line will have, so I'm sure making them out of i beams or L beams or H beams, either pre existing or made or using your sheet metal folding contraption would do well.
Although using metal is more expensive, there would be some savings from you would be able to half the length of the pegs and weld them directly to the sleepers.
Keep up the good work Tim!
Thanks for posting Tim
I think it would be good to use wooden sleepers at less demanding places like straight sections and plastic sleepers at turns, so wooden sleepers could rot more before you need to replace them. Or use at turns plastic sleepers for every other for same reason to get more life out from wood sleepers. Question is also how long wooden sleepers last etc... if they last 20 years and more then wood is way to go.
if you go concrete or wood and go out on one of the rare damp days you can rig a weed burner similar to what is used for burning off weeds in tilled fields before planting to help keep down the grass between the rails
I'd start with wood and replace with more durable sleepers when/if they start to rot. I have some raised flower beds made of commercial treated lumber, some rotted away in a couple years, others are still solid after 15+ years
Checking in from the Oregon Coast Range, another temperate rainforest. Ferns growing on trees is pretty common here. And yep, wood in ground contact is ruined in almost no time. Good luck!
Concrete sleepers used on the big railway have steel tendons inside that are stretched before the concrete is poured and only released after it has set, the tendons keep the concrete in a stat of compression where it is strongest.
yes - the compression is an important point
Any ideas on a loco? I wonder if you could contact a wrecking yard or something of the like and get some forklift batteries, they big and heavy which get 2 birds with one stone since you need the weight.
Looks to me that a couple of well placed goats or sheep might be in order! 😊
Here in the NW USA we are swapping to concrete sleepers
I've seen some railroads that used metal ties. I think they had a cross section that was sort of open at the bottom, with little flanges to keep them from sinking into the soil, and perhaps they were prestressed to keep them from bending under load. I'm curious about the concrete ties. Would you cast them? With rebar and prestressed? And the holes in the casting? I don't know how heavy the loads you use are so maybe prestressed isn't required. If you used plastic could you have a wide piece at the bottom to make them more stable on whatever they rest on?
Thanks for sharing. Fascinating.
is there a particular video that explains your strap and pin tie rail construction and the reasons for your choices?
There is a video, but I'll go over it again in the next couple of weeks
Can you use a torch mounted to a rail car to singe and scorch the grass away from the sleepers each year?
Seems you use the railway seasonally, so, how about overstock ruminant animals directly on the railway for a time, perhaps using electric netting or a reel of electric wire. Both of those are fantastic temporary electric options that I use personally.
How about a mix, you coat the wooden battens in the recycled plastic. you get the advantage of plastic and the cheapness (ish)of wood ?
Decisions, decisions, my suggestion would be to get some old railroad ties (sleepers) put them on the ground running
parallel to your steel rails then lay your rail line on top of the the old ties. My choice for new sleepers would be the plastic ones.
As much as I hate plastic, it seems like a great fit for this scenario, especially if it's recycled.
I think you can just combine all methods. In more humid areas where wood would deteriorate use plastic, on short and very flat surfaces you can use several concrete ones and rest wood (which I think is cheapest option?) Also, you can treat wood by burning surface. If you leave no uncovered spot, these can make it through several years even in wet ground.
Frying Wood has recently shown that this makes the wood more resistant against microorganims. However frying makes the wood then more brittle. Maybe worth a try.
Maybe now that you need so many sleepers it is profitable to make your own recycled plastic sleeper post. You just need something to melt them down and a press that will pull the melted plastic through a square tube to shape it. If you can get some old plastic from greenhouses or something like that, it might work out well.
Concrete sleeps for the junctions, recycled plastic for the curves and alternate plastic/wood for the straights. Will reduce the replacement costs whilst ensuring those that come under more stress are more hard wearing.
BT use pressure treated creosoted poles for their network, they're estimated to have a 20 year working life with regular retreatments, and there's only about 4FT actually in the ground.
Regardless of what you opt for, you should consider using plastic sheeting under them to stop the weeds growing back through and choking your rails.
Here the most effective way do way with vegation is stream. Mounted on a wagon we got s steam cleaner , water tank and propane tank. With a hose going to a copper pipe with a row of holes that just above the ground. Plus a square piece of canvas. So as you pull the wagon the steam comes out along the width of the wagon . The canvas keeps it hot enough to cook the weeds and grass. But zero chemicals is used🎉.
So maybe you could do something the same on the railway. To keep it free of weeds and grass too.
Good luck with your extention railway.🚂
Goe for the plastic!
I'm voting for concrete. I have little money, so I make my own pavers from Redimix using milk jug bottoms as forms. you could do this with a rebar connection between pavers. The spacing and holes in the pavers could be easily achieved with a simple wooden template form that could be used repeatedly. I have also incorporated an old vibrator from a Lazy boy recliner to release the air from my poured pavers in the drying process. you would use far less concrete than a full length 'sleeper", as you call them, and they would be lighter and easier to install.
Sounds great, Brian - I'll have a think..
Genuine railway sleepers were pressure treated with creosote to quite some depth, 2' to 3' inches, they lasted decades, not like the joke stuff you buy from the garden centre today where it’s shown the pressure tank door and that’s all you get. I'd use plastic sleepers mostly because it's using up waste plastics.
a kind of rotating shaft with nylon or steel cable to turn and wack those weeds and grass into mulch would be helpful i guess
You have the VEVOR vacuum pump, I would treat your new wooden sleepers with the creosote mixture in a vacuum chamber, this would insure optimal penetration into the wood without the having to heat the nasty creosote mix.
Some people on YT videos suggest scorching or burning the outside of their wood that is to be exposed to moisture.
Others are convinced that a mixture of used engine oil mixed with diesel or petrol works equally well.
I don't have any experience with preservative coatings but maybe you could research this some and run some experiments with the most promising systems.
Assuming it’s not too expensive, based on the conditions, the plastic ties are the best option assuming their mechanical properties are similar to wood. I know on standard gauge operations they’ve been used successfully.
Wood is going to be the second best option. Lasts long enough, cheapest and easiest to replace.
Concrete should really only be used for well maintained ballasted road beds. This is because when one concrete tie fails the adjacent ties do not handle the extra strain well and will fail prematurely creating a domino effect of failure. Wood and plastic are not affected in this way. Not to mention the freeze thaw cycle I assume you experience.
A proper road bed will prevent weed growth, but as you explained it’s an expensive endeavor.
Is there any benefit to charring the outer layer of the timber sleepers? I don't know if it's practical but it would be inexpensive if a bit time consuming, provided it worked.
On my railway. I used steel sleepers.
Pros. Its easy to install you just weld them together.
Cons. You need to laser cut some kind of rail holders for your gauage. (Like i did).
If you are doing steel sleepers take in calculation you cant use the flat iron. You must use 90° angle iron profiles because they will anchor themselfs in ballast.
Hope i helped. :)
Loving the context!! thanks :)
Concrete would be my shout
We have polypodia growing in the Cataract Gorge in Tasmania. Bloody cold there. And your rain fall is fed by the gulfstream.
What about coating the wooden sleepers with the same epoxy resin you used for the magnets in the induction heater project?
I would personally use concrete sleepers as they are quick and cheap to make, and last a lifetime under the conditions that the railway will be used in.
Quick? Cheap?
Maybe you can reach out to some pladtic recycling company to sponsor your sleepers?
With all the long lived, work load and environmental issues of wood and concrete considered, i would recommend the plastic ones.
After all, they are too, made of trees! Well, some hundreds thousand years old, petrified, pumped out of the ground and chemical reworked. 😅
Have you tried charing the wood.
Answer to your question is so obvious. Many many railway companies around the world tried everything for decades to develop the best solution for sleepers. And the answerr is... concrete. If concrete is a good grade and made well in controled manner, it will last for decades without major repairs. I know that you are interested in price also, but all that railways companies were too. And they still choose concrete sleeepers. And I don't even mention the they are pretensioned concrete. Also the railway understructure is from crushed stones for a good reasons. Mainly it very well distributes load from rails and sleepers to the topsoil and also somehow prevented grass to grow between sleepers. In your case, topsoil seems to be soggy mud. But still an interesting garden project. Good luck.
You aren't really comparing apples to apples though.
If I want to buy a cheap doodad from china, it will probably be injection moulded plastic. Thats isn't the cheapest solution for small scale production though.
Plus theres different scales. a commercial railway has to deal with higher speeds and much more weight.
Ballast has to be cleaned regularly. With time, dirt and sand gets blown into the ballast, and here, plants can root, and then you are back at Square 1, except you regularly take up the ballast, wash it and put it back - what an effort! (And I don't think Plasser&Theurer will sponsor your videos anytime soon.) Railways do this, but they do it to keep the ballast dry, so it has to drain fast after the rain. If not, they risk frost damage in the winter. But with Ireland not being famous for long and cold winters, I guess this is a risk you can take.
Can you come up with a video showing the pros and cons of plastic and concrete sleepers. Even without a video I would suggest plastic especially if you can make them yourself.
People who don't live in our climate don't get just how *wet* everything gets. I am in Scotland and for most of the year, everything is soaking. Concrete sleepers would probably be more environmentally friendly in the long run. Plastic one are more resistant. I don't know about the microplastic situation but at least you would be recycling plastic that ends up in landfill or some poor sod's field in another country.
Wood, while being cheaper and easier does not last.
May I suggest, wood for areas that are easier to maintain and plastic or concrete for harder to maintain areas (or if you have enough for larger sections) . Replace the wooden ones with concrete / plastic as you can afford and need to replace the wooden ones.
Being from NZ kinda assumed that most places had epiphytes, but that map shows we are pretty unique (and as other commenter has said not all of NZ has them, our east coast is much drier and doesn't get them as often / at all in certian places.
People often like to slag off the weather of Britain and Ireland as if it's just cold and rainy all the time, but the more important thing to consider is that it's actually LUKEWARM and MOSTLY DRY all the time, compared to everyone else at the same latitude. It rarely dips below freezing (maybe 5 days a year on average?), and equally it rarely gets too hot (maybe 10 days a year above 30°C?). We spend our entire lives in this tiny band of temperature that most of the world would give offerings to live within.
Even partners such as New York city, Boston, Philadelphia, etc. (all closer to the Equator than the whole of Britain and Ireland) spend months under snow and ice, and then likewise swelter in the summer heat and beg for aircon.
Instead of moaning about the rain (London average rainfall per year 580mm, Dublin 680mm per year, New York 1100mm per year, Philadelphia 1050mm per year), maybe we all need to stop and realise how lucky we are to be warmish, moisturised, but not in North America.
Yep - I agree completely. But it's hard when you're a beekeeper and a vegetable grower..
@@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299 Indeed - that's the downside. We've grown farming industries that rely on our delicate temperate climates, and now they're changing... It's so much harder to adapt. I really feel it for the farmers. It's been obvious now for a few years from potatoes that something is going wrong. From cheap supermarket spuds to expensive Walkers Crisps and McCain Chips... Potatoes just aren't what they used to be. So many black spots and bad taste now that never used to be.
I was gutted to hear that you had a failed garlic crop last year - I just assumed that it was just so average you didn't bother making a video about it. But to see the devastation... I can't imagine how heartbroken you must have been. :/
I hope that 2025 brings you a truly marvellous crop - and a pray that our weather returns to the temperate climates we have become accustomed to.
You can soak the Timbers in 50/50 used motor oil and diesel fuel. This is what farmers do for the bottoms of their fence posts. I think this is the simplest and cheapest and should last a few years. Use your fiber reinforced concrete ties only for the very wettest swampy areas.
Recycled plastic.
And I recall you rather liked them when you used them before.
But it is your (and Sandra's) farm.
You will know what is best for you.
☮