Sawdust problem!!

Cartwright · March 29, 2019, 02:23:33 AM

I've got to much of it! ;D
A guy called and wanted a couple truck loads but I haven't seen him yet!! :-\

A-z farmer · March 29, 2019, 04:32:03 AM

Cartwright
If you have the land I would compost it.My buddy used to do land clearing for site development.He brought me wood chips and stump grinding by the 100 yard walking floor trailers.i mixed it with our animal manure and turned it a few times a year .
It took a few years but many tens of thousands of yards we applied to our crop land .

Cartwright · March 29, 2019, 07:44:44 AM

A-z I've tried a small amount to compost but the volume I'm going to have is a bit overwhelming! The amount in pic is from a couple of weeks!! :-\

Southside · March 29, 2019, 07:45:28 AM

That's what I do with it, along with chipping some of my edgings and opening slabs, the stuff turns into powdered gold. I always have people who ask to buy it, but I really don't like to sell any.

moodnacreek · March 29, 2019, 08:22:01 AM

Your not the only one. Mine is under a roof and I have to give it away or spread it around.

pineywoods · March 29, 2019, 08:55:17 AM

Yeah, these little bandmills do make an amazing amount of sawdust.
Magicman has the perfect solution, saw about a week, then move the mill to a new location. ;D The 5 gallon bucket hanging on the sawdust exit chute looked workable but didn't prove practical for me. Finally gave up and installed a blower in the saw shed. Harbor freight 2 hp blower and a long run of metal stove pipe running WAY out in the woods. I stlll have to rake out under the mill about once a month, but I just pull the bark and sawdust out to where I can get at it with the tractor..

WV Sawmiller · March 29, 2019, 09:23:10 AM

I'd love to sell or compost mine but don't get the calls for it until after I have removed it. I think if I had cows and could mix with manure I might try to compost some but my horse and mule are too housebroke and won't go in their stall when I feed them. They wait till I let them out then run roll (Mule) and hit the sandbox. The horse will wait and fart on/at me every time I let him out. (That's gratitude for you!) I'd read somewhere composting toilets in RVs might use sawdust but no dealers around here I know of to talk to. I may stop and see the next time I go to a larger town. I push mine in low spot every time I move the mill on a mobile job. At least i get a few nightcrawlers along the edges at times.

Darrel · March 29, 2019, 09:35:43 AM

When my wife had chickens we'd throw some on the floor of the coop and in the chicken yard but I made more sawdust than the hens could poop on.

btulloh · March 29, 2019, 09:44:39 AM

If there's no other source of nitrogen, you can mix it with ammonium nitrate and it will compost in a month. Best to calculate the N/C ratio first. It adds cost but . . . you end up with a usable by-product.

rjwoelk · March 29, 2019, 10:06:37 AM

This is 1600 cubic ft of chips and saw dust. Then mixed in 21 yards of fresh cow manure. Turned it every 4 to 6 days wait till it heats to 140 to 160 then when it drops turn it. 8 weeks it smelled like nice garden soil

doc henderson · March 29, 2019, 10:11:43 AM

there is info on making a composting toilet using sawdust. I have a colleague with an off grid cabin and he made one. trouble is, it does not use much sawdust. I give him a 5 gallon bucket every month or so. he does not live there full time. some claim that walnut shavings are bad for horse hooves.

nybhh · March 29, 2019, 10:27:28 AM

I have a neighbor that grows mushrooms and he takes a contractor's bag full every once in a while as a growing medium. Of course it only takes about 10 minutes to fill up that contractor's bag so it doesn't make much of a difference but it is a cool use of it nevertheless.

He originally offered me 1 lb of mushrooms for every 5 lbs of sawdust but we've since backed away from that once he realized how much sawdust I was capable of producing :D

I still use the 5-gallon bucket but I'm still leveling out the area around the mill so I don't have too far to carry it. Still, having to change it out every few trips down the log is a PITA.

If I had a better source of nitrogen, I'd compost the heck out of it though. I've got another neighbor that raises a few chickens, I should offer them some I suppose.

goose63 · March 29, 2019, 03:55:12 PM

Pepole ask what I do with mine told them I just burn it BURN IT thy say sure would like some for the chicken coop or the garden well bring me a old pickup or trailer and its free thy never show up may be I should start chargeing for it ;D

WV Sawmiller · March 29, 2019, 06:39:39 PM

Doc,

Is your friend a patient of yours? If so be sure to prescribe a lot more fiber in his diet and maybe he will use up more of your excess sawdust. :D :D :D

nybhh,

If he still wants to make that deal send him my way! I'll start sawing veneer to make more sawdust to get more mushrooms if I have to. ;)

doc henderson · March 29, 2019, 08:20:10 PM

could do like the big city, put a 25$ price tag on it and people will steal it. I guess if my buddy ate more of it, maybe he would not need it for his composting toilet!!! He is a Trauma Surgeon. yes after a long day working in the shop, I feel like my bugers are a fire hazard! sorry TMI

doc henderson · March 29, 2019, 08:40:41 PM

used to take planer chips to a nurse who had chickens. I would take a 55 gallon trash bag full, but she might not be working, or forget to get it out of the back of my truck. I would stash it in the hospital, but was afraid if it sprung a leak or if someone thought it was a suspicious package... you know the drill, I have a smart sack (4 foot by 4 foot by 4 foot) full now. A guy a few years back was gonna buy a pellet mill for his tractor. He and his FIL were gonna split the cost, but his in-laws divorced, and FIL no longer has a pellet stove... Just cannot find a good way to get rid of it. I have looked at compacting back into logs, but I already have enough hobbies.

Brad_bb · March 30, 2019, 12:36:36 AM

I burn all of mine, often straight off the mill. If you have hot coals, it will dry the dust and then burn it.
Burning as we go - sawdust, planer shavings, bark.
http://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=95735.msg1476521#msg1476521

redbeard · March 30, 2019, 01:15:43 AM

A local Hemp farmer is taking all my sawdust for his CBD oil crops.

glad he came along not only did he take it all but the pile was so old and big I was amazed how hot it was half into it. 120° no wonder the dogs dug into it and beded down on cold days.

PAmizerman · March 30, 2019, 07:17:39 PM

At least you don't have to shovel it all out.
Actually it's not that bad. At least I get "payed" to do it. In my 7 years of milling I've been able to sell all of it. The local horse owners take it as fast as I can make it.

PAmizerman · March 30, 2019, 07:19:13 PM

The trick to being able to sell it is keeping it clean and dry. If it sits outside no one wants it

hacknchop · March 30, 2019, 07:38:08 PM

My mobile dimension mill put out a coarse long sawdust almost like a shaving horse people as I call them kept it cleaned up and would follow me around the country, sometimes there would a little bit of drama over the first come first served in my yard at home ,on the road it was up to the customer and most farmers kept it for themselves . I havent been able to get rid of sawdust from the bandsaw so I just pile it up along the edge of bush.

WV Sawmiller · March 30, 2019, 07:53:08 PM

Quote from: doc henderson on March 29, 2019, 08:20:10 PM
could do like the big city, put a 25$ price tag on it and people will steal it. I guess if my buddy ate more of it, maybe he would not need it for his composting toilet!!! He is a Trauma Surgeon. yes after a long day working in the shop, I feel like my bugers are a fire hazard! sorry TMI

Doc,

Reminds me when I first moved to WV I considered putting up prominent signs saying "Anyone caught stealing the rocks or multi-flora roses will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law" hoping folks would think they were valuable and come steal them and get them out of my way.

I had an outboard motor repair mechanic in Albany Ga when I was stationed there and I mentioned maybe just buying a spare gas can at the flea market and he suggested not. He said "I have trouble getting rid of my old rusted cans because of environmental regs so I 'forget' to bring them in at night and people steal them."

doc henderson · March 30, 2019, 11:33:24 PM

I scoop up the sawdust from the mill and fill up my burn pit that consists of a old combine wheel about 2 feet tall and 3 feet across. I fill it heaping to the top covering hot coals. looks like nothing is happening but for a little smoke. In a week or so it is all gone. like a punk on the 4th of july.