Reuse and replace with recycled RePost’s

For decades, solving the problem of what to do with unwanted treated timber trellis posts has been a puzzle for the viticultural and agricultural industry.

Thanks to Howard Valley couple Dansy and Greg Coppell, the answer may have been found after the pair spotted an opportunity in Marlborough vineyard posts.

Using their connection with Villa Maria viticulturalist Stu Dudley, the duo came up with a cheap farm fencing solution – RePost, and the business is going from strength to strength.

At their Spring Creek base, RePost’s post processing trailers are piled high with broken 2.4m vineyard posts. These are quickly repurposed into 1.6 and 1.8m half and quarter round posts for use in viticultural and agricultural settings.

Since starting, RePost general manager Liam Garlick says more than 637,000 posts have been reused for 6,772km of fencing while diverting 7,236 tonnes from landfill.

“It started out a lot more backyard than the machines you see now.

“It means we’re reusing otherwise waste wood with private owners and Waste Management and providing farmers fencing products for a quarter of the price of new wood,” Liam explains.

“Alongside pursuing reusing wood, we’re working on ensuring the posts’ nails and clips are recycled as well, separated magnetically and remoulded, because we’re always looking to meet our zero waste goals.

“The health and safety impact of Copper Chrome Arsenate (CCA) post extraction was also top of mind, which is why we use more inert posts 10 to 15 years old.”

The business started when the brothers needed 30km of stock fencing for their sheep and beef farm. It was then they first thought of reusing vineyard posts. They began by finding posts in vineyards across Marlborough.

When the finished products worked across the varying landscapes of their own farm, the brothers decided to start upscaling.

After years of working to streamline the process from the farm workshop to the sixth trailer version – including a one-stop-shop hydraulic press and buzzsaw – Liam says each trailer team can now process up to 1200 posts per day.

The transportable trailers add an ease of transport aspect to RePost’s mission, having had a crew helping farmers in need in the Hawke’s Bay.

“We’ve had crews in the Bay helping farmers with their cleanup and recovery efforts, especially since the amount of scrap wood found after Cyclone Gabrielle,” Liam says.

“It shows us the idea is solid, so we’re looking at travelling roadshows where practical and sensible - but right now we’re operating at full capacity with bookings already just from local demand.

“The concept works turning any variety of timber post into the finished products needed quickly and economically, and help fellow farmers in need, where needed, with what they needed.”

RePost fencing is available at www.repost.co.nz or at Mitre 10 Mega. Learn more about RePost on this week’s Hyundai Country Calendar, 7pm Sunday.