Disposing of old wood construction material

[ToadHill]

Harbor Freight also sells a magnet about 3 feet long and attached to wheels with a handle, like a push broom. My son who has poor eyesight uses one after he builds projects in the garage so if he misses a nail, the wife dosen't get flat tires.

 

[anthonyk]

The reason rocks and things migrate to the surface is because of water.
When rain falls, it soaks into the ground.
When it freezes, it expands, and since it's easier to push UP rather than down, things are pushed to the surface.
Kind of interesting trivia!

anthony

 

[MarkV]

I have a few pieces of old tin that I’ll lay down to burn that type of stuff on. Makes it much easier to pick up the nails after a burn.

MarkV

 

[EddieWalker]

Some of my early burns were in pits. I figured it would be easy to control the fire and then I could just bury everything after I was done burning. It sounded like a good idea, but in reality, it didn't work for me. Once I got to burning, I kept on burning. One day of good burning would just encourage me to have another day of burning.

The problem happened when it rains. If you have a pit and it rains, the pit will fill with water. What's in the pit will no longer burn and you can never fill a pit with dirt when it's full of water. All you do is create quick sand. That's another story, but here in Texas where it's mighty warm all summy, that quicksand took months to dry out enough to be able to drive over when mowing!!!!

I now burn in an open, flat area. I'll keep burning until I'm done or I want to burn in a new area. Then I dig a pit next to the burn pile as deep as I can and push everything into it. I scrap off a few inches of dirt until I don't have any ash left. This gets all the nails and whatever else doesn't belong there. Then I fill and compact the hole right away. It has to be done at the same time because of that rain issue. Water in a pit is very, very bad!! hahaha

There is rarely extra dirt for some reason, but I do spread it all out and leave a small mound where the pit was. In time it will either settle, or look natural. My mounds are just a few inches above the surrounding ground, so nobody can tell it was there. Another advantage to a slight mound is that it sheds water from the pit.

Eddie

 

[Nasty135]

Barry , In my little world I would probably take a chain saw to quickly cut things to size, cutting out the steel to dispose of later and if you have a bunch of nails in boards (depending on the amount and how soon this had to be cleaned up) I always enlist my kids with hammers, crow bars, sledge they love it, well kinda?? They are 12 (twin boys) Once ya get them going that is...

If any of the wood is still straight or useable for a small future project, at my place a trebuchet comes to mind...Busy kids...

For the spoils when I burn I have a two row cinder block circle that contains the fire with a couple big sitting logs next to "fire ring" and we usually roast marshmellows or just have a bonfire...something to do with the kids...

There are always some branches, twigs, etc. in the fire ring... If no kids are around it can still be done... Just an idea

 

[RobertN]

I have some piles of plywood decking, wood siding and even some trusses The simplest way would be to burn them. The

Check your local regs. Out here, at least in my area, we can burn, with a permit. But, we can only burn yard waste, ie leaves, pine needles, brush. Burning construction debri is a huge no-no. Burning trash is a no-no too.

 

[lhfarm]

Barry , In my little world I would probably take a chain saw to quickly cut things to size, cutting out the steel to dispose of later and if you have a bunch of nails in boards (depending on the amount and how soon this had to be cleaned up) I always enlist my kids with hammers, crow bars, sledge they love it, well kinda?? They are 12 (twin boys) Once ya get them going that is...

If any of the wood is still straight or useable for a small future project, at my place a trebuchet comes to mind...Busy kids...

For the spoils when I burn I have a two row cinder block circle that contains the fire with a couple big sitting logs next to "fire ring" and we usually roast marshmellows or just have a bonfire...something to do with the kids...

There are always some branches, twigs, etc. in the fire ring... If no kids are around it can still be done... Just an idea

You wouldn't want to rent out those two boys would you? I've given up on the pit and will do as you suggest. I may use a saws-all to go through some layers of old plywood and cut them into managable sizes. I'll probably use the fire to warm up on cold days. Need kids to enjoy marshmellows.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions and warnings. I'll report my progress.