What do you do with your sawdust.

[manoverboard]

I use my pine sawdust to glean the grout residue on tile...

[GeneWengert-WoodDoc]

When sawdust is used as soil, soil amendment or compost, it will initially use all the available nitrogen for decomposing, so the plants will have the "yellows."  Therefore, always mix a lot of 30-0-0 fertilizer, plus a small amount of 10-10-10.  Failure to do this will "sour" the soil.  Never include walnut, as walnut has a natural herbicide, so nothing will grow.  You can mix manure with dust to have a good supply of nitrogen, but the odor can be unpleasant for some.  The small size particles create problems when used as mulch around plants as it mats and repels water and can get slime-type fungal growth. 

A good option is to mix green grass clipping and dust together, about 50-50.  The grass has nitrogen.  Stir often (every couple of days) to avoid anaerobic decomposition and acidic compost at the end.  This mixture can be sold for a profit.

The fine dust from some sawmills (teeth are spaced too closely on the blade) will kill chickens and create breathing problems for hoses and humans, especially when dry.

[justallan1]

If I have the mill at the house or shop I use it for floor dry. Right now it's in the barn still so the sawdust will get thrown in the open areas to mix with the flour like dirt in hopes that it'll not be so darned dusty in there.

Allan

[sigidi]

We have local animal owners who come down and want from a bucket or two right up to a trailer full at a time - if they load, they get it free, if we load they pay.

Also just had local butchers wanting 3-4 cubic metres of it per week for old school smoking of their meat,same again they load its free, we load they pay.

Had one guy want it as he sells potting mix and he took 20 cubic metres in a truck and dog so he could mix it in to make up his potting mix - he brought his own wheeled excavator to load - so got it free ;)

[longtime lurker]

Three species are kept clean and separate and sold/ bartered for the smoking of smallgoods. Everything else is sold for filler in explosive columns.

[xlogger]

Would you think cedar sawdust would help keep insects out of garden? Not sure if it would help soil since it probably would not rot fast.

[Atlantic Trader]

I get alot of wood chips not saw dust from my firewood processor, mostly maple, it has a nice texture and doesnt seem to stick together. A few guys come and take it for small hobby farms. Keeps the area around the machine clean. they are good people to have stopping in when iam not around.

[Bigbo1234]

If you have the means, spread it on the two track in the woods. Helps keep growth of the trail and is much quiter to walk on than dead leaves when walking to your hunting blind! I have a loader here to spread it and plenty of trails to cover.

[bugdust]

I trade mine for cow manure. ;D

So do I. The trade is one pick-up load of sawdust = one pick-up load of manure. Great deal for both of us.

[grweldon]

When sawdust is used as soil, soil amendment or compost, it will initially use all the available nitrogen for decomposing, so the plants will have the "yellows." 

I have found this to be true mostly with my legumes.  Eggplant, Tomatos, Bell Peppers and Onions don't seem to have the same issue.  I've had to supplement my sawdust/sand mixture with quite a bit of 24-0-6 (what I could find) in order for the beans as well as the weekly fertilizer mix for them to get some of their green back.  I should have mixed a good bit of it in while I was mixing up the sawdust/sand mixture, but this is my first time with the Mittleider method and it doesn't mention anything about the sawdust decomposing and robbing nitrogen.  Live and learn.