Railroad ties

[jerrybob]

I wish you were closer.....I'd take them off your hands. They make great retaining walls.....I need about 20!

 

[tallyho8]

When I bought 8 acres next to my 8 acres it had piles of 50+ year old ties on it also. They were all too rotten to use for anything. I paid a guy with a bobcat and an 18 wheeler dump truck $300 a load to load them and haul them to a dump. I had 3 loads.

If I was doing it again I would dig a hole with my box blade on a low portion of my property during the dry season and push them in and cover them with the dirt.

 

[El Wood]

I just bought a few from a landscape supply for a gate back to part of my property. I paid $12 a tie. I will probably buy more for upcoming landscape needs.

I would put them on Craigslist. That's how I found and purchased mine. Who knows, you might be able to make some $$$.

 

[Pete Judd]

They make great fence corner posts. I have a few around the garden to hold the fence to keep the rats with antlers out.

 

[yelbike]

If they are really dry try burning one and see how much smoke it produces, I would keep the fires quite small if that's the route ended up with. The other suggestion would burry them in a low spot during the dry part of the year.

 

[MossRoad]

murphy -- i like your thinking... jersey is the WORST for gun laws, and my town in particular has an ordinance against "discharging firearms in a non-hunting scenario..." blah blah blah. as far as i'm concerned railroad ties are always in season!!!

Dep -- that is a great idea - i will call around to the concrete/ steel plants to see if they can burn them.

power -- if there's one thing in jersey that's worse than our gun laws, it's the NJ DEP... they are tyrants with grudges that just look for reasons to cause trouble when it comes to "wetlands." but yes, 2/3 of my lot is "wetlands" and the RR ties are so deteriorated that they'll most likely crumble when i scoop them up. the prior owner used them to line trails and flower beds some 30 years ago, and even those have completely fallen apart. unfortunately they're not deteriorated quite enough to pass as old wood.......yet!

If they are that old and deteriorated, do what others have said and dig a shallow hole, lay them in there, and put a layer of dirt over them. If you turn them over once or twice a year and drive your tractor over them a few times, they'll break up and rot down in a few years.

 

[/pine]

IMO...Burning them is a bad idea all around...regardless of what you end up doing with them you should educate yourself on the possible hazards etc...
Be careful handling them...

Creosote

 

[DrRod]

Actually, if they are rotted beyond constructive use, you may find someone to take them as "clean fill." Would certainly save you time and expense. Swimming pool installers tend to know who needs fill since they tend to wind up with extra dirt on a regular basis.