what to do with extra railroad ties?

[Trigger Mike]

out in the woods are close to a dozen piles of railroad ties left there by someone. I've lived here 3 years and who knows how many years they were there. you can't burn them due to the creosote. sometimes i will take a few to form a barrier to stop trespassers on 4 wheelers. i know there are various critters living under them for i see the path leading into them, likely snakes are in there. what is a good way to put them to use or get rid of them?

[Dantankerous]

Craigslist might be your friend if you just want somebody to haul them off, usually this can be done with no expense to you. Otherwise, if you have grandkids you could build them a cabin or a fort to play in. You could use them for a shooting backstop depending on where you live. And if you have enough, I have seen people make 3 rail fences out of them.

[Paladin Gun For Hire]

They can also be used in different landscape arrangements. Borders around the yard, posts etc.

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

Lots o' cool things you can do with 'em...

 

Railroad Tie Landscaping

 

Wish someone would leave ME a stack of 'em!

[Chili Ron]

Howdy,

For many years railroad ties were the backstop for many targets.

After some random piles we took two metal fenceposts on each end

and stacked the ties between them with heavy wire between the fenceposts

to hold the ties in solid.

A lot of shootin offn the pickinick table turned many ties to dust.

So: Backstop?

Best

CR

[Charles B. Gatewood SASS #48517]

You might talk to any farmers in the area. RR ties, if in good shape, make good corner posts for fences.

 

 

 

CBG

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

If you weren't clear to hell and gone across the country I'd take a pickup load of them, maybe more than one. They'd be perfect for my back yard... and I hadn't even considered them until I read your post.

[Noz]

They make wonderful raised bed gardens. I'm with 40, I'd love to have a pickup load.

[irish ike, SASS #43615]

Our horses kept pushing over the panels. So we dug holes, with a back hoe, and dropped in railroad ties. Nothing has broken or been pushed around since.

 

Also if you want some good exercise cut one in half with a hand saw. I learned the hard way.

Ike

[Rye Miles #13621]

Okay, dumb question, why can't you burn them? What's the deal with creosote????

 

 

Never mind I found out!!!!

 

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/phs/phs.asp?id=64&tid=18

[Boon Doggle]

Before you go hauling them off, you might want to check with the owner of the property that they are sitting on. They may have "Get around to it someday" plans for them.

[Capt. James H. Callahan]

If you want to work that hard you could load 'em up and sell 'em on the roadside for some nice folding money. Go see what they cost at Lowe's!

JHC

[Capt. James H. Callahan]

Okay, dumb question, why can't you burn them? What's the deal with creosote????

 

 

Never mind I found out!!!!

 

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/phs/phs.asp?id=64&tid=18

It would be fun to burn 'em just to p*ss off the EPA!

JHC

[Shorty Jack Hammer]

You could always build a short line

[Rye Miles #13621]

It would be fun to burn 'em just to p*ss off the EPA!

JHC

Great minds think alike!!!

[Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217]

I don't think I'd want to use them for a garden. When watering, chemicals from the ties could leech into the food plants.

 

When we bought our property the previous owners used them for a garden. We cleared that out. Now they are just stacked next to a shed that was here.

[Trigger Mike]

i liked the green idea the most but the chemicals are problem so won't do that. they are in my woods i just don't know what the person who put them there had planned. maybe fence post. each one weighs a ton. hope my sons grow up soon to help me move them

[Ramblin Gambler]

Can the creosote be cleaned off? If not, is there clean wood underneath? And what kinda wood is it? Do they still use redwood?

 

 

[Chili Ron]

Howdy,

I bet that stuff goes all the way thru.

Just go right ahead and clean one, I can watch.....

Best

CR

[Yul Lose]

Whatever you do with them don't use them near or in a creek, stream or river. When I first moved into my house in 1992 there was a ravine with a galvanized culvert in it and when we got a lot of rain it would wash out around the upstream end of the culvert. I found some old railroad ties cheap and built a wall and wing walls to control the water a little better. Well the U S Fish and Wildlife was doing a study out in my area on a tree frog and a kangaroo rat that they wanted to put on the endangered species list and they saw my railroad tie flood prevention and the guy about had a heart attack. He got the state fish and wildlife dept involved and to keep from having a huge legal bill I had it all torn our and a stone wall built that has worked well. I guess the problem is that the creosote on the ties will leach into the water and is toxic to fish and also a carcinogen.

[Blastmaster]

creosote is a hazardous substance.

 

Below document is from one state agency but you can guess the reset. Keep googling if you have more interest.

 

 

 

http://nj.gov/health/eoh/rtkweb/documents/fs/0517.pdf

[Alpo]

Can the creosote be cleaned off? If not, is there clean wood underneath? And what kinda wood is it? Do they still use redwood?

Creosote is like ugly - it goes clear to the bone.

[Alpo]

Double tap.

[Hillbilly Jim]

Snakes love to den in old ties so be very careful when moving them. I would wait until mid-winter to have them hauled off.

Craig's list the way to go.

[SaukValley Sam, SASS # 66557]

I found that used RR ties do not last forever in landscaping. I bought some used ties (you could see where the rails had been spiked down) and set them around a garden for my wife and then used some to make a set of steps up a steep bank. In just a few years (6-8) I pulled them out and they were half rotted. The RR does not replace them for no reason. Best bet would be to find source of new ties with full creosote treatment.