Recently, it came to my attention that the power company was selling the changed out power poles quite cheaply. With goat pasture in mind, and the price of corner posts being very high, I decided to check it out. As an added thought, there is the shop building I am hoping to build soon which will take several poles.As it turns out, there was a catch. There is always a catch of some kind. The poles are cut into shorter lengths, to be used for posts only, so no shop poles here. There is also an agreement to sign stating that the poles will not be used inside buildings, that they won't be burned, that the person receiving them takes full responsibility, etc.
The price was VERY, VERY cheap, which was what I expected from the information I had received. What I did not expect from this company was for the attendant to load them for me with a fork lift. In no time at all, the trailer was loaded and I was driving away with a load of posts, for almost no cash outlay. As an added bonus, I immediately noticed that the ground wires had not been removed, leaving the potential for recovering much (if not all) of the price in scrap copper and aluminum.
Company policies vary as to price of used poles and some remove all the wire before letting the poles go, but all things considered, if you are needing posts the power company is worth checking into. As it turned out, I ended up with twenty five posts. Considering the need for at least twenty, and the local price of about $16 each for treated corner posts, the savings is over $300. Not bad wages for a couple of hours and a ten mile drive to the power company.
Yes, this is the same power company I was complaining about a while back. And yes, it is the same power company I am hoping to gradually eliminate from my life. However, the need for the goat pasture is more important than my personal distaste for the power company, and my tightwad tendencies lead me to take advantage of the opportunity.
