Chinese vs USA galvanized T posts

[terracore]

I've always bought the Chinese galvanized T posts because they are $3-$4 cheaper than the USA ones. Last trip to Mirandas I was pissed about my Chinese dishwasher breaking and we bought the USA posts.

My first reaction is that the USA posts are crap. The top where the post driver smashes the post doesn't just flatten much easier than the Chinese variety but the steel is actually broken and the galvanized coating is peeling away from the steel. Also the new posts have spots of rust and the Chinese posts that have been in the ground for 4 years don't have any. Granted, I don't know how long these USA posts have been outside at Mirandas.

I had one Chinese posts break when I was pounding it into the lava rock but other than that they seem fine. I have over 100 of them in the ground and a 1% failure rate seems reasonable.

Has anybody else had similar experiences?

[lquade]

wow. i go out of my way to buy USA and also from miranda's. i checked that each post said USA. a 3 acre spaghetti lot, thats a lot of posts, none broke, none flattened on top and so far no rust... were yours marked with the USA?

[terracore]

I need to back peddle.

I think the first couple of posts I sunk were just duds. I put another 14 in today and didn't have any problems with the top splitting. If I remember I'll post a link to a photo of what I was talking about with the post driver splitting the top and the top getting unusually smashed.

I watched a documentary showing how USA T-posts were made by recycling train rails. They heat the rail sections to glowing, stretch them, and they get stamped into posts and the T section added later. I don't know if the T-posts I bought were made in this manner, but some of these train rails were made a very long time ago.

Sometimes when pounding in a T-post it finds it's own way down into the rock that is not perpendicular to the ground. I did notice that the USA posts were harder to bend back straight up than the Chinese variety leading me to believe that they are a stronger steel. (The ones with the smashed tops didn't have to be bent so I don't know about those).

So the USA posts aren't crap. At least not most of them. The real test will be a few years of getting rained on and I'll have the Chinese vs USA ones side by side to make comparisons.