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Wood chip disposal

T

Todd Williams

Joined
Oct 30, 2012
Messages
17
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Location
Lake Elmo, Minnesota
I generate a couple of 5 gallon buckets of wood chips every couple of weeks. How do I dispose of them? I have looked at a couple of previous threads which mention this in passing. I don't live on a farm, so mixing with manure and tilling into a field is not an option. I have only a small flower garden, so the chips used as mulch would overwhelm the flowers quickly. I have tried burning a bunch outdoors in the spring and fall, but that is a pain and takes significant time, since legally I need to be present all the time.

Anyone who lives in a city/suburb come up with a good solution? Thanks.
 
Many municipalities have composting of wood chips as part of their recycling program and then give it away to anyone who wants it. You can also spread it around on your lawn. As a last resort you could just bag it with your trash that goes to the landfill. It is biodegradable so it's a lot better than most household garbage.
 
I mix my spalted wood shavings in a bed of soil in the back yard and then use that area to spalt fresh logs in.

I watched a video the other day of a person that was mixing wood shavings with a small amount of used oil
and pressing these into hockey pucks used for fire starters and also pressing larger logs to be burned in an
industrial wood stove used to heat a work shop.
 
Depending on what types of wood you have, a landscape company might be interested in using your wood chips.
 
My lawn could easily be the poster child for the poor soil conservation practices of the 1920's through 1940's. The top soil is gone with just a clay loam for soil. It was so bad that barely enough poverty grass grew to provide forage for the sheep when it was used as a pasture.. Fertilizer and lime do little to help soil that acts like hard pan when dry and doesn't not absorb rain water but lets it run off. Any shaving that it not walnut, is spread thinly on the grass before mowing. Mowing further chops it up and distributes it The little particles of wood act like mulch to keep moisture in the ground, add some humus and as the grass grows over it, is incorporated into the soil. In late summer, I can actually see the portions that have had shavings added just because the darker green of the grass. . Mrs. is not happy about the shavings being spread and visible for a few weeks, but she can see the difference in the grass where it is done.

Walnut shavings are kept separate and dumped over an area where I filled a gully with rocks. rain beats the shavings down into the openings between the rocks and slows down water movement and erosion.

Green apple, maple, hickory, sassafras etc, make good smoke for smoking meats. City folks pay for wood chips for their fish and barbecue and country boys throw the stuff out.
 
I make fire bricks for my wood stove, mixing shavings and newspapers 50/50 with about half of a 5 gallon bucket of water. It then goes in to a press sold on Amazon as a "paper log maker" and compressed. Once they dry, they make great firelogs. Not enough btu's to put Duraflame out of business, but the price is right
 
I second the craigslist approach. Within 8 hours, I'll have 6 replies and usually all of them want all the 40 gallon bags I've got (4-10 usually).

Be aware that walnut shavings are problematic. Horses are very intolerant and they also contain a chemical that suppresses growth of other plants, making them a bad choice as mulch or garden amendment.
 
walnut dust is also particularly unhealthy for humans. Had a friend who made some gun stocks out of walnut without a respirator, he was in the hospital for a few weeks and nearly died from the dust. On the other hand, few people know that black walnut trees can be tapped for syrup, same as maple and I can tell you, the syrup is good..
 
Thanks to all the responders. Lots of good ideas. I will try the Craigslist option first.
I watched a couple of YouTube videos on making the briquettes with a press. Frankly, it would take more time than it is worth to me. But it is an option for future consideration.
 
Every time I had a dozen or more packed feed bags full with shavings, I would call a friend who had a bunch of free running chickens and ducks, he would come over when he had time, he would spread the shavings around where the chickens would scratch through them, and some shavings would go into the boxes where they laid their eggs.

We would get a dozen or two of their eggs when he picked up the shavings :D.

Where we live now, we are surrounded by miles and miles of bush, any shavings go into low spots where they will decompose and add to the soil.
 
I once tossed fine sawdust on a leaf fire. Whoosh! Like tossing gasoline on it. Fortunately I was not close to the conflagration. Lesson learned.
 
I also had a taxidermist take a couple of bags of shavings, she would use those to dry and clean the hide and fur of the animal hides she was working with.

Not a lot of shavings to be taken for that, but certainly a better use than just have it composting in the bush here, and she could still use them for that after she was through with it.
 
Mike Adams.. I do the same though in Winter I need to purchase recycle stickers..local ordinance since yard waste pick up stops in early December here in Chicagoland.
 
Mike Ragno said:
Mike Adams.. I do the same though in Winter I need to purchase recycle stickers..local ordinance since yard waste pick up stops in early December here in Chicagoland.
Click to expand...


I wish my township had that option. Our pickups stop between 31 Dec and 31 Mar. I can either store bags of chips in the garage or put them out inside contractor bags.
 
I like the suggestion about filling an Amazon box and putting it on the front porch. We've had a rash of porch piracy in our end of town, and wood chips are a lot quicker to collect than what some of my neighbors recommend.
 
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