Where do you guys get railroad ties?

[rdln]

If you cant find them retail, call these guys, they might have a project within a reasonable distance.

Midwest Railroad Tie Sales - Used Railroad Ties

 

[Gale Hawkins]

If you are planning to pick them up off of the side of the tracks be careful. Two years ago my BIL crushed himself when he rolled his 601 Ford tractor. Too bad he was not on his big tractor with a full cab.

 

[dragula]

Yesterday, I noticed that my local Tractor Supply had them. They were $12 each but some of them looked pretty rough.

 

[bigdad]

I would avoid RR ties as much as possible. 38 years experience with new and old ties not to mention creosoted telegraph poles, I can testify. New treated ones are dangerous to man and beast and the used ones aren't worth taking home. The RR doesn't remove them because they are in good shape. Very short lived and when they give up the ghost it's hard to dispose of them and burning them is disgusting not to mention unhealthy.

I know I have been on the soap box before on this subject, but ......... the RR frowns on non RR people salvaging their equipment as junky as it might seem. We get trespassers hit and killed every year. Do yourself a favor and avoid RR property. Thank you.

Big Dad, BNSF RR Signal Inspector

 

[spo307]

same here big dad, the RR I work 4 throws out alot of good junk...

 

[fluffhead31]

Where i come from there is a fencing supply company that always has them.

 

[clemsonfor]

I used to pick them up for free off the railroad discard pile. But they're few and far between now, so the last four I obtained were purchased from a mulch yard. Besides mulch, they also sell stone/rock/gravel, landscape timbers, railroad ties, et cetera. See if there's one in your area.

After all those freebies, I hated like **** to actually pay money for them. But since I only needed four at the time, $12.50 each didn't break me.

//greg//

They just redid miles of railroad track along the highway along the way to my work. I talked to a guy to ask who to talk to to take a couple of the old ones. He said that a contractor comes and pics them all up to resell them. Im not sure if the contractor pays for them or the RR just gives them to them to clean up and get rid of them i think the latter maybe, as they mostly seem to be in bad shape and they have to pick them all up and put on a rail car then pile them and band them and load them onto a trailer to take to places to sell, like landscape places.

You are technically stealling these ties out of a pile from a guy trying to make a living, and yes they are pretty rough almost 1/3 of them are falling apart or the center is rotted out of them.

 

[clemsonfor]

Call the local rail yard. They will either have old ones for free or they will tell you where they buy theirs ( which is usually a local supplier. I get mine right at the rialyard. They are the old ones they replaced but usually still in good condition. Take a buddy or two with you though because tyhey are usually very long and very heavy.

I did buy a few non treated ones from the rail yards supplier to use as raised flower beds. I believe I paid $14 a piece for the 12 footers.

Im not sure how long your non treated ones will last w/groundcontact in flower beds. They are sometimes made out of sweetgum which is not rot resistant, and Oak wont last verylong either in that situation.