"free wrought iron"

[Clint]

Over the years, I restored many cast iron fences. Most of the fences were damaged by cars or snowplows, and a lot of them were simply lifted by tree roots and shattered. Most of the cast fences in the north east were made in the 1870's by foundries trying to recover from the economic down turn, post civil war. The castings were almost always hung on two horizontal round bars 3/4" in diameter. These bars were made of refined wrought iron and the time period between the 1860's annd 1920's produced the best double rolled iron ever made. I would always replace the old bent iron bars with "BRAND NEW STEEL !" and I would keep the iron. Charge to remove a fence repair repaint and reinstall a cast fennce was $300 per foot. I used wrought iron for expensive 18th century repairs and reproductions. You can make a living at this.

 

[FPDoc]

I realize its been a while since you posted.. but.. reminded me of years of acquiring similar.. Had to eventually move and divested myself of approx 12 tons of wrought iron when all loaded.. it's where you find it.. it all adds up.

 

[Jo Melon]

True puddled wrought is rare now and many “wrought iron” fences are actually cast iron or mild steel, so a quick spark test and a cut and etch to look for slag stringers will confirm you’ve got the real stuff. If you’re chasing more material, old bridge tie rods and scrap anchor chain from marine yards can yield genuine wrought. Do you have access to municipal demo lists in your area?

 

[t_bone]

@Clint, if you can't remove the root, think about setting your posts on a concrete pad with anchor bolts rather than deep, narrow footings. A shallower, wider pad spreads the load and is less likely to be cleanly lifted and snapped like a deep post by a growing root.
Also, are you using a slotted hole/key system on your horizontal steel bars where they pass through the post? This allows for thermal expansion and contraction, which can reduce stress fractures on the brittle cast panels