Dealing with a wood pile, disposal, removal, re-purposing find out how to decide read this article.

I don't think I am alone in being the proud owner of a pile of wood that no longer has a use. In the beginning, we are more than happy to accept it, and many of us glorify in using it. We like to find uses for it and create stuff for free, then sit back and pat ourselves on the back in honor of our creative genius. Too soon comes the time to clean it up, that takes on the opposite emotions of the dreaded "I just don't want to do it", attitude. There are few reasons to hang on to it any longer, and when that time comes something must be done with it. In this article, I talk about it, listing why it must be dealt with, some of the dangers, and what can be done with it, we have options.

This is not a photograph of my pile, but it could be.

Our youngest son was working on a construction site as a plumber where a temporary deck was being torn down. Long story short we inherited an enormous stack of treated lumber, 2x6 in long and short lengths, 4x4's, 2x4's and more. Of course, I wanted it, I had raised bed garden boxes to build. The pile has dwindled down over the years and it became a shadow of its former self, the final few usable boards I gave to a lady living on a houseboat. She needed some wood to rebuild her deck, living on the water is hard on wood, to expect it to last longer than 5 years before rotting away is not reasonable. My grandson's and I built a front stoop, a cold composting bin, nine raised bed boxes, fences and I gave a lot away to the rancher across the road and another guy for a deck.

We continue to strive for self-reliance and preparedness, hopefully being able to sustain our needs from anything from an electrical outage to a major flood. Gardening is a big part of that, vermiculture (worm farming) and salvaging useful materials fits right in there as well. As with all good things, they must end and the need to clean up what is left of the wood pile is now at the top of the list. There is still some good material scattered in that mess, I plan on seeing if there is enough to build a small box for a peach tree I started from a seed 1-1/2 years ago. I would transplant the tree but it is the wrong time of year.

A big problem with wood piles is they attract a lot of different creatures, rats, raccoons, and whatever else happens to walk by. Burning is out of the question mainly because I don't know what else may be in the wood, and also burn days are virtually non-existent where we live. I suspect the wood is OK, but because it is reclaimed I don't want to risk it. I will cut it up into 2' pieces and off to the recycling program. We won't burn painted or stained wood either, it just isn't right to send more stuff into the air. The nails, screws and other hard metal construction fasteners are sticking up, it's a hazard. It's a must to wear hard-soled shoes, safety glasses, and gloves when messing around with this pile. When it's being sawed (sawn?) we wear respirators, safety glasses, hearing protection and gloves, old wood splinters in a finger get infected easily.

(This Link leads to Ohio's paper on dealing with Nuisance Wildlife.)

The varmints are a problem as well, skinks occupy that pile, I've seen quite a few of them. We have snakes as well, I'm sure in some of the overgrown, dry areas there are rattlesnakes, I have not seen one around the house. I have seen other snakes so I know they are around, the Gopher, Gardner, and California Whip Snakes all prey on small furry mammals. The mice, rats, and gophers are a problem, I encourage the snakes as much as I can. They occupy the woodpile along with lizards, spiders, and scorpions, all of them prey on insects, slugs, and snails, which also call that pile home. Skunks love wood piles, and this one is no different. Plus with the crawl space under the house exposed over 80% of the way around they treat it like a hotel. I found a mummified Possum under the house when I was still able to crawl around on my stomach.

The pile is a fire hazard all covered in overgrown weeds and boards in crisscross patterns. I have a habit of digging through and finding what I need tricking my self into believing I will come back and clean up the mess later. That later rarely comes, however, the next time I need some material when I get to the pile I curse the guy that left it such a mess until I realize it was me. At that point in time, I normally re-arraigning some of it, all the while keeping an eye out for what I need, and stopping the restacking when I see it. The lot next door is empty, an encouragement for weeds to become overgrown, and when added to the flowers next to the fence they become a great ignition source. Being on the North Side of the house it catches the intense summer sun so a fire has always been a major concern.

(The UK has Fire Prevention Plans for refuse piles at this Link)

The pile started out on the other side of the house, it has been moved three times, it kept the grandsons busy for a while. It didn't seem to do them any harm, but each one of them remembers the experience. They also remember what they each built with the materials, those are good memories, time flies by way too fast. We know it does when the time comes that one of the projects needs to be repaired, or material replaced due to rotting. I believe that the experience we had together building the stuff will stay with them the rest of their lives, they have a grandpa that is always up to something. Now some of them will help me saw the wood up, and dispose of it to a landfill. I don't feel bad about sending this stuff to be recycled, they deal with it correctly. The wood is taken to a disposal center where it is separated from plastic, tires, and garbage. It is then sent through a wood chipper, (a tub grinder actually), and is ground up into "spec" fuel sizes. From there it goes to a biomass plant to be used to fire a boiler to generate steam to produce electrical power. There are a lot of opinions on burning it in a boiler firebox also, but overall I believe it is better than it being placed in a landfill forever.

We generate a lot of trash.

What else can be done with scrap wood? It makes good mulch and it will decompose no matter how large the piece is. If time is of no concern we can stack the debris up in an unused corner and let it rot away, but in the meantime, the critters will still be treating it as a hotel. Cutting it into smaller pieces would help the process, and a spot in the yard would have to be dedicated for years. I watched a video on youtube of a guy in Australia putting together a raised bed garden. The boxes were empty and before he filled them with soil he filled them 1/2 way with organic material in the form of logs. He placed these logs as closely together as he could, then filled the box with the potting soil. I thought that was genius, unfortunately, I don't have any empty raised bed boxes to fill, I will do that if I ever have a next time. the wood can be sent through a chipper making the end result usable in the garden and around the yard. In fact instead of whole logs in the boxes, I would use wood chips, they would decompose faster which could be a blessing or a curse in that situation. A blessing because it would be denser than the wood logs, and a curse because I would have to add organic material more often throughout the year. I do have an emergency firewood pile, it consists of almost 1/2 cord of cut and split logs. Tree trimming companies will leave the tree trimmings on the side of the road, the rounds are all cut to just under 18 inches the correct size for my wood burning stove. Some of the scrap lumber I will split into kindling, we burn the firewood when we lose power which means we lose heat. Our house is heated with wood pellets in a separate stove on the second level, we have no natural gas service.

I don't believe there is a perfect solution to dealing with scrap wood, or any of our other trash either. We are fortunate to live in a country that believes in dealing with trash in a positive manner, we really do have a few options. Unlike in undeveloped countries where even a task as critical as trash collection does not exist, it never caught on. We actually do treat our trash fairly well, I realize that plastic is a huge problem globally. I have written articles on plastic pollution and the need to find a positive way to deal with it. Happily, in this country, we have a handle on most construction scrap, residential tree trimmings, and scrap lumber, we can take comfort in that. There are personal dangers involved in working with wood as well, we need to wear protective clothing while handling it.   

We must protect ourselves when working around
wood piles.

I had an experience when a 5-inch wood splinter pierced through a leather glove and into my index finger while re-arranging scaffold in a boiler on a job site. That splinter went in at just about an inch below the fingertip, exiting an inch from my big knuckle on my hand, it had to be cut out, at a hospital, in the emergency room at 2 am.

I'm off to clean it up, I will generate a lot of sawdust which I can use in the worm farm, garden, and compost pile. If you have a wood pile it may just be the right time to walk out to it and take a look around. I will be happy to eliminate my fire threat, I'm closing the "Varmint Hotel", they will have to move along.

Thank you for reading and sharing, there isn't much to learn in this article, just another chapter in our how to become more self-reliant, self-aware, and realize our personal responsibilities virtual book. Everything helps. Thanks again.


jacquesandkate   emergencykitsplus.com