[Tinbasher]

you can treat them urself with old engine oil n white spirit .... let em dry and dont paint if wet  

I like the idea of this.  Why have I never heard of this mixture before?  What have you found the best proportions of the mix to be?

Yep, I've scavenged all the timber instead rather than burden the society finances by buying it.  So no pressure-treated wood now, arsenic or not (and thanks for that post explaining the latest developments in treated timber - summat else I've learned).

Yeah, I already had loads of 5 x 3 lengths, all sawn at 48" dead conveniently, stashed away at work.  I retrieved them from a cricket club and ground that folded in 2005.  Can't think why I didn't remember them.  I've inspected the site perimeter closer and the boundary fence on the required side is 4 x 4 posts @ 6' height concreted into the ground and set every 8 foot centres.  Couldn't be better.  I'm gonna poach a fixing off the back fence using the posts as my rear supports.  Angle bracket an intermediate 5 x 3 (+ 1" packer) support post between the uprights onto the fence cross-spars - already sawn and doesn't need to be grounded.  In fact 2" higher to create a slope for the roof.  The front supports can again be my 5 x 3 beams, and the side and division planking (which I've skip-raided - 6 x 1 floorboarding) will hold all together along with a spar or two.  I seem to have got away with no digging of post holes.  The existing fence and the ground (it is level) is my anchor.

So I need that mixture - at least the posts can be brushed with it.

[noshed]

Just wire some pallets together. When they rot, get some new ones.

[muntjac]

gallon of oil to 4 pints white spirit . so its reall runny  

[Tinbasher]

gallon of oil to 4 pints white spirit . so its reall runny  

2:1 oil to spirit.  Yummy.  Thanks.

[muntjac]

likes it with a head on

[Trillium]

Over here, the pressure treated manufacturers drag their feet on warnings, but it has been publically announced that handling P.T. lumber with bare hands is not safe. The home reno shows also emphasize the dangers of bare hands on the wood AT ANY TIME, regardless of wet or dry. The arsenic will rub off on hands, more of a steady buildup really, but what if you forgot and had to wipe dust out of your eyes? Arsenic can be absorbed topically (through skin) so better safe than sorry.

As for compost bins, the only place I'd use any would be at the very bottom to frame the ground layer, then it would be other wood going upward.