We all face the dreaded chore of emptying the dust collector. How do you folks get rid of the dust and shavings? Do you have a small mountain growing in the back 40? Will animal owners take the assorted exotic mix with the chance of some screw or nail that got sucked up? Will the trash collector accept a few contractor bags full each week? Is there a compost potion that makes it useable? A local sawmill lets me drop mine but if they should change their mind, looks like I might have to dig a pit.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Replies
Hammer,
Got a neighbor with a Guinea pig who takes every 10th bag of shavings that I make :?))
All the rest go on the path my son cut thru the woods down to the river when he was 16. I start at the trail head,and work my way towards the river, laying the shavings down about 6" thick. Haven't made it all the way down yet, as I keep refreshing the path as it thins out. Keeps the weeds from taking over. Walnut works best.
Regards,
Ray
I think dumping it outside may be okay as long as there isn't any dust or shavings from plywood, particle board, MDF or any other material that contains formeldehyde, adhesives or other potentially toxic substances in the mix.
I'd be especially be cautious about laying the waste down on a trail going down to a river where any toxic substances could leach into the soil and ultimately into the river.
ted,
Good points, all. I use so little ply as to be negligable, no mdf or particle bd. The wood dust and shavings are no different in my opinion from the leaf litter and branches that are already on the floor of the wood lot. Just came from a different patch of woods is all.
Regards,
Ray
I don't plane MDF, plywood and such but I cut quite a bit of it. I just used some shelving that is called "Woodstalk". I guess it's made out of wheat straw. I wonder if I can make pancakes out of the dust?Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Hammer,
"it's made out of wheat straw. I wonder if I can make pancakes out of the dust?"
Sure you could. And then, maybe you can $hit 2X4's. Let us know how it all works out...
Cheers,
Ray
Cheers
Local haulers still take ours. Wife said it was quite a sight the day the guy threw the heavy duty contractor garbage bag full of sawdust on the truck & hit the compacting switch. The bag was partway out from under the compactor and like a big balloon it got tighter and tighter until it burst, blowing sawdust all over the guy. He disappeared in a great cloud of dust and wife made sure she was out of sight when it cleared. There was still a couple gallons of the stuff on the street when I got home from work that evening. Never had any repercussions but I didn't put any more out for a while.
Paul
Here the city garbage pickup takes the dust. What I do is line a 5 gallon bucket with a plastic bag, put in a couple gallons of water, and add dust to the top. Then I add water to make sure it's all thoroughly soaked. That way even if the bag gets ripped open when they dump it (or by the street winos looking for cans), dust doesn't blow around. That helps to keep the neighbors happy.
Fine dust, like under 30 microns, is a huge health problem no matter what the actual material is. Even something inert like gold or glass will plug up your lungs if it's in that size range.
-- J.S.
City pickup here.You might check with your city's arborist or parks folks. Here, they take all the tree trimmings and downed trees to a special area of the city/county trash/recycling centre.All the stuff is piled up in huge piles and locals can load whatever they want to use as mulch. Some of the local turners mine the tree branches/trunks for turning material.Good luck,Leon Jester
It's an issue here in San Jose. I have two large trash cans that I use to store the dust/shavings and they go along on my periodic trips to the dump.
I don't know an exact formula for composting wood dust. I have known people who used about a cup of cottonseed meal per 100 pounds or so of yard debris. Cellulose needs a source of nitrogen to feed the microbes. A sodiun nitrate fertilizer applied about one teaspoonfull per bushel should work. Keep it wet but do not use urea, ammonium nitrate or manure - these will release ammonia and cause a stink - especially with the neighbors . It will take several weeks or maybe months to compost, depending on the temperature.
HarryD
Thanks, Harry. I'd never heard of cottonseed meal. I've used a little nitrate fertilizer on my leaf and grass pile. Some weeds really seem to like it. I ought to get a tractor with a bucket so I can turn the piles more often. They don't decompose very fast sitting in a lump.Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Hammer,
Folks with cows or horses love the stuff, but black walnut can kill a horse and wood that isn't kiln dried can give a cow mastitis. So some of these people are pretty picky, and for good reason. My shavings are given to a farmer that uses it for mulch in his orchard, and for nesting for his chickens.
GRW
One good use is to get rid of old paint. I put the dust on a tarp and poor in old, left over latex paint. Stir once in a while, and when it's dry it goes in the garbage.
House paint in my area is taken as part of a twice a year Household hazardous waste collection. You may want to check with the local landfill for a similar program.
--Rob
So far, my garbage hauler will take this stuff.
I checked with our local compost people (who take leaves), and they will not accept any of this -- dust or shavings. One site has just started accepting branches, so I intend to ask there.
Idon't see why you couldn't compost this material yourself -- but I would think you should probably keep any dust from cutting plywood and MDF out of the mix.
Planer shavings -- for years, I had a neighbor who would take all my planer shavings for horse bedding (excepting walnut). But alas, she moved away.
"I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong."
-- Bertrand Russell
So far the trash man still takes mine, and I put plastic bags in the bottom of the dust collector and the drop barrel I have on the plainer rather than dumping it into some thing later, But the only problem I have is finding plastic bags big enough for the drop barrel. I would like to point out a helpful hint with using a separator lid, is that you need to put a baffle between the inlet hose and the out going hose, about 8" long to stop the saw dust from going directly up to the out going hose.
Builder Furniture to become Heirlooms.
Thanks for all the replies so far. In my area, all the landfills have been closed. We have curbside recycling but they won't take sawdust or other wood type debris. The trash to energy program won't take it either. Horse and cow owners are afraid of what exotic woods, MDF, particleboard, paint and plywood dust might do, and the chance of a nail or screw in the mix could cause some serious problems for the animals. Small animal owners also have found that shavings and dust contribute to allergies and respiratory problems for rabbits, guinea pigs and the like. I generate 4-8 42 gallon bags a month so the mess is a significant pile over a years time. I can pay to take it to a recycling center if the sawmill starts to refuse it. Their pile is twice the size of my house so my little truck loads don't add too much. I don't generate much garbage but there is plenty of leaves, grass clippings, wood ash, firewood slash and sawdust to pile up. None of which decomposes very fast. I make a pile the size of a pickup each year and would like to turn it into something useful. It's a lot of work turning it by hand. I think I need some type of accelerator to get it cooking. I'll have to do some composting research. Thanks again for the suggestions.Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
As hinted above, nitrogen a big factor in the process of producing compost. The difference between wood shavings/sawdust and other plant products such as leaves and twigs is that the shavings and sawdust have virtually no available nitrogen.
The fastest and least labor intensive way I know of the convert raw materials into compost is one of those rotating barrels that's on a stand and has a handle to turn it. Problem is, one barrel isn't going to take care of the kind of quantity you produce. If you wanted to try one though, you'd want to put your greens (grass clippings) in with the sawdust and probably add "hot" cow or horse manure (any stables or dairies nearby?). Or a high-number nitrogen fertilizer. Be sure your grass clipppings aren't from a chemically treated lawn.
The wood ash might not be a good idea in anything more than very small quantities. I need to do some research on that myself.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
I have a chemically treated lawn. I tried the natural route but became over run with pests, weeds and moles. I used a mix from an organic website that used a touch of salad oil and a drop of soap and it killed half my landscape plants. I also grow apples and cherries and without some pesticides, I don't get any edible fruit. I tried the wood ash on some blueberries that was recommended. They stopped producing and withered. I guess I've got a black thumb when it comes to gardening. Must be due to all the hammer blows. I haven't given up yet, though.Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Wish I could tell you the specific nasties you need to keep out of your compost mix, but I don't listen to the radio garden guy much these days. There's one chemical that was getting into the commercial composts and causing failure of gardens anywhere the compost was laid. It was very potent and very long-lasting I guess.
I'm a "less lawn the better" person. I like to have enough for the grandson to play on if he wants to roll around or play catch with grandpa or tug-o-war with the dog. Other than that, lots of trees, rhodies and berry bushes for the birds.
I've heard rumors it's possible to have a pretty nice lawn area without chemicals, but have to admit I've never tried it. Our "lawn" is a mixture of whatever grows, cut short. The basics seem to be a strong root system (organic fertilizer in the fall), letting it grow a little long to shade out weeds, good aeration, etc., etc. Something tells me, dandelions don't care!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Our "lawn" is a mixture of whatever grows..
LOL I loved that one..
If not for weeds I woulden't have any lawn!
At the school shop where I used to teach, we had a big Torit cyclone and a Dustcop recapture bag house. The cyclone was up on stilts so a truck could back under and pull the hatch. If someone left the hatch door open, even just a crack, the cyclone would empty into the bag house. This contained 30 8" x 10' canvas socks. What a pain when those suckers would get stuffed tight. There was a shaker on the house but it wouldn't budge the shavings. You'd have to fish a wire up into each sock and work it out a little at a time. It made a good job for wise guys that I gave detention to. They usually only got detention once. Eventually I put a lock on the hatch. It's funny how some small leak or restriction can have a big effect on a collector.Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Dang! You my old Drill Sargent back in 1960?
Hi
I have a farmer nearby who rases chickens or laying hens i should say . He takes my sawdust and shavings. once in a while when i plain walnut he gets bent out of shape bacause he said the walnut stains the chichen eggs.
Have s nice day Lee
If you know a potter or ceramicist- they use it for raiki (spelling) glazing. They take the pot hot from the kiln and submerge it in wood shavings/dust. It imparts fantastic colors into the pottery. The wierder the mix (contaminants and different species encouraged) the better. All art is accidental to some degree!
All art is accidental to some degree!I'm going to write that one down, Tony.Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Around here, local eggs are brown. Maybe a little walnut coloring wouldn't matter. Chickens were big business once but the big conglomerates drove all the small growers out. There's just a few folks with a half dozen layers in the back yard. There sure is a difference between a fresh egg from them compared to the super market variety. I had some a few weeks ago that were naturally light blue. They weren't from the bunny or robins.Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
I am lucky.. My garbage folks take ANYTHING but wet paint and Mercury!
You're lucky, Will. The big cities are hard to manage. We have to buy garbage bags from the town. They cost $1.50 for the small ones and $3 for the large. When I see some houses with 5 or 6 big bags everyweek, ouch, they've gotta have a $50-$60 a month bag bill.Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
I compost mine and have been very successful in doing so.
First, I rarely use walnut, so that is not an issue for me.
I mix my sawdust with shredded twigs and garden "scraps", and mix in grass clippings on a regular basis (so long as there aren't too many grass clippings, at which point the clippings stay in the lawn).
Once a month I run a rototiller through the pile to stir it up, and re-heap it. I usually get two crops of compost a year, in April and September. I've spread it through the gardens and I have no problems.
I'm a small shop with a 1/2 acre yard, so this won't work for a large shop with a postage stamp yard...
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