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Sawdust

Started by TooManyTrees, May 28, 2015, 10:30:22 PM

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TooManyTrees

Wondering what you guys do with sawdust. I've seen it advertised on Craigslist for sale. Somebody here mentioned burning it. I've read that it makes good compost. Can be used as mulch. Has anyone heard of it being used in a gasifier? Any other uses?

TooManyTrees

Yep, just read that you can use sawdust in a gasifier. Just think, you guys could be running your mills on the waste you produce. No more fuel costs.

TooManyTrees

Running a sawmill on free fuel. Not sawdust in this case, wood chunks, but it gives you the idea.

part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K73ono7QPsI

part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPVJUaRkw8g

hackberry jake

I haul it off in the woods. If you dump it here and there it goes away pretty quick. Just dont make a big pile of it.
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WoodenHead

Here's a more bizarre use for it (limited quantities though).  I've used it to kill poison ivy growing in our yard.  The kids were walking in it.  Tried everything to get rid of the stuff, but it kept coming back.  So early last year I dumped a good pile of sawdust over top of it. Totally covered all of it that was visible. So far it hasn't come back.

Sawdust does not make good compost for some time.  In fact it takes nutrients out of the soil as it decomposes.  I use it as a herbicide when I want to keep the weeds down.

In larger quantities I have sold it to farmers (dairy and horse) for bedding.  The rest of it I am using underneath my log piles.  It far better for the logs to have a little sawdust on them then a little dirt.   ;)  It keeps the mud down in the spring as well.

LittleJohn

Quote from: hackberry jake on May 28, 2015, 11:30:54 PM
I haul it off in the woods. If you dump it here and there it goes away pretty quick. Just dont make a big pile of it.
This is what I typically do.

However for the longest time I have been trying to find/build/steal/borrow a side discharge spreader to better disperse the saw dust along side the woods roads.  Hell, I dont even know if it woudl work, but it has to be better than the current scoop and dump with tracter.

Magicman

There are many sawdust piles scattered within our National Forest that have been there for 100+ years.  I believe that they will outlast the Pyramids.   ;D
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Joe Hillmann

I just spread it out in the yard.  So far it looks as though if I keep it less than 4 inches thick by the next year the grass is growing through it and you can hardley tell it is there.

delvis

We give it away and it doesn't usually sit there for long before someone comes and gets it.  I have done a small amount of research into buying a pto driven wood pellet maker which uses sawdust and looks to work quite well.  As long as the moisture content is right, the pressure of the pellet roller will heat up the lignin in the wood fibers and cause them to bind together making pellets.

If I had a pellet stove, or people that want the pellets, I would seriously consider buying one of these machines.  There are several videos online of these machines and at least one brand that is made here in the U.S.
If I never saw another board I will at least die happy having spent the last few years working with my dad!

Brucer

I pick it up with the FEL once or twice a year and pile it in a really big pile near the entrance to my place. People are free to help themselves. There's many uses ...


  • The local gas station keeps a few 5 gal garbage pails full to spread on gas & diesel spills.
  • The welding/pipe fab shop across the road from me keeps a few pails on hand for the times they are grinding exotic (and possibly toxic metals). They throw it down on top of the grindings when the job is done and then sweep it up. There's enough moisture in the sawdust to keep the metal dust down.
  • People use it for soils amendments. I explain to them that the organisms that break down wood use a lot of nitrogen and that if they dig it directly into their garden their plants will be deprived of nitrogen and will do poorly. I suggest they compost it separately because once the wood is broken down, the organisms die off and the nitrogen comes back into the soil. Some folks listen to me, some don't.
  • People use it for garden mulch. I explain to them that the organisms that break down wood use a lot of nitrogen (didn't I just say that) and that will keep the weeds down. However ,once the wood is broken down, the organisms die off and the nitrogen comes back into the soil and the stuff isn't mulch anymore, it's topsoil. Some folks listen to me and some don't.
  • People use it for winter traction on ice and compact snow. It's every bit as good as sand, and better than ashes. An old dog food bag filled with sawdust is very light and fits into the corner of their trunk.
  • If my pile gets too big I spread it around the grassy parts of my milling site and it disappears. Haven't had to do that for about 5 years now.
Bruce    LT40HDG28 bandsaw
"Complex problems have simple, easy to understand wrong answers."

Geeg

I plan on using my sawdust to mix with wood chips and shavings and put it though my Froling T4 to heat my house, shop and hot water.

Here is the link http://www.froeling.com/ca/produkte/hackgut/t4.html

They are just finishing up CSA approval process here in Canada and should be finished soon. Plan on building a dedicated 10'x14' building for the boiler and hopper.
Retired Airbus 380 Captain. Timberking 2200,  Kioti RX6010PC,  Nyle Kiln KD250, Polaris WV850

york

TMT,so you are making sawdust???How about a follow up on your other thread,Bent frame?
Albert

TooManyTrees

Quote from: Geeg on May 30, 2015, 02:52:56 AM
I plan on using my sawdust to mix with wood chips and shavings and put it though my Froling T4 to heat my house, shop and hot water.

Here is the link http://www.froeling.com/ca/produkte/hackgut/t4.html

They are just finishing up CSA approval process here in Canada and should be finished soon. Plan on building a dedicated 10'x14' building for the boiler and hopper.

Nice. So you think the sawdust will work OK? I'd love to find a cheap pellet mill.

Here's another great idea along that line. Sawdust stove. 8 hours of unattended heat. Good for a shop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj7X9X8LTe0

TooManyTrees

Quote from: york on May 30, 2015, 05:56:58 AM
TMT,so you are making sawdust???How about a follow up on your other thread,Bent frame?

Not at the moment. Will do.

TooManyTrees

Quote from: Brucer on May 30, 2015, 12:10:06 AM
I pick it up with the FEL once or twice a year and pile it in a really big pile near the entrance to my place. People are free to help themselves. There's many uses ...


  • The local gas station keeps a few 5 gal garbage pails full to spread on gas & diesel spills.
  • The welding/pipe fab shop across the road from me keeps a few pails on hand for the times they are grinding exotic (and possibly toxic metals). They throw it down on top of the grindings when the job is done and then sweep it up. There's enough moisture in the sawdust to keep the metal dust down.
  • People use it for soils amendments. I explain to them that the organisms that break down wood use a lot of nitrogen and that if they dig it directly into their garden their plants will be deprived of nitrogen and will do poorly. I suggest they compost it separately because once the wood is broken down, the organisms die off and the nitrogen comes back into the soil. Some folks listen to me, some don't.
  • People use it for garden mulch. I explain to them that the organisms that break down wood use a lot of nitrogen (didn't I just say that) and that will keep the weeds down. However ,once the wood is broken down, the organisms die off and the nitrogen comes back into the soil and the stuff isn't mulch anymore, it's topsoil. Some folks listen to me and some don't.
  • People use it for winter traction on ice and compact snow. It's every bit as good as sand, and better than ashes. An old dog food bag filled with sawdust is very light and fits into the corner of their trunk.
  • If my pile gets too big I spread it around the grassy parts of my milling site and it disappears. Haven't had to do that for about 5 years now.

I have read that the nitrogen effect only affects the top layer of soil, so plants with established root systems will not be affected, but newer growth like weeds will be.

Geeg

Quote from: TooManyTrees on May 30, 2015, 10:59:13 AM

Nice. So you think the sawdust will work OK? I'd love to find a cheap pellet mill.

Here's another great idea along that line. Sawdust stove. 8 hours of unattended heat. Good for a shop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj7X9X8LTe0

Yes, I know it will work. I have been studying this for quite some time. Here is a USA made product that will not only burn only sawdust, it burns many other fuels.

http://bioburner.com/product/bb-100/
Retired Airbus 380 Captain. Timberking 2200,  Kioti RX6010PC,  Nyle Kiln KD250, Polaris WV850

cib

Quote from: TooManyTrees on May 28, 2015, 10:30:22 PM
Wondering what you guys do with sawdust. I've seen it advertised on Craigslist for sale. Somebody here mentioned burning it. I've read that it makes good compost. Can be used as mulch. Has anyone heard of it being used in a gasifier? Any other uses?

I bought a pellet mill and sell hardwood pellets for heaters. If I'm very comfortable about the quality I've sold to guys using it for bbqing. It's good for bedding and garden beds as well.

TooManyTrees

Quote from: cib on May 30, 2015, 11:19:12 AM
I bought a pellet mill and sell hardwood pellets for heaters. If I'm very comfortable about the quality I've sold to guys using it for bbqing. It's good for bedding and garden beds as well.

What would constitute very good quality?

cib

Quote from: TooManyTrees on May 30, 2015, 12:33:21 PM
Quote from: cib on May 30, 2015, 11:19:12 AM
I bought a pellet mill and sell hardwood pellets for heaters. If I'm very comfortable about the quality I've sold to guys using it for bbqing. It's good for bedding and garden beds as well.

What would constitute very good quality?

Mostly consistent tree type and no vines etc.. on the trunks.

The major pellet companies don't care but I do.

If you have a lot of pellet guys in your area you can make good money from the pellets. Heat grade is cheap but grilling pellets can go for .50-.70 per pound at times.

SawyerBrown

I had a lady call just last week, looking for sawdust. Someone told her to plant her blueberries in it ...

When customers don't want it (most of the time) and it's not walnut, I load what I can in a bin in the back of the truck and bring it to a local stable. They use it for bedding for their horses. 
Pete Brown, Saw It There LLC.  Wood-mizer LT35HDG25, Farmall 'M', 16' trailer.  Custom sawing only (at this time).  Long-time woodworker ... short-time sawyer!

Nomad

Quote from: SawyerBrown on May 31, 2015, 08:37:09 AM
I had a lady call just last week, looking for sawdust. Someone told her to plant her blueberries in it ...

When customers don't want it (most of the time) and it's not walnut, I load what I can in a bin in the back of the truck and bring it to a local stable. They use it for bedding for their horses.

     Lots of blueberries grown around here.  I've talked to a dozen people who grow 'em and every one swears that the best thing for them is pine sawdust.  I dunno.  I don't know the first thing about growing blueberries.  But if that many people swear by it, and nobody has told me they're full of BS, I've got to figure maybe they know what they're talking about.
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