So, I mentioned to a co-worker that I burn wood in the winter and he said he knows a guy that can get "all the railroad ties you want" for wood. I'm pretty sure that they would be great for burning, but not in a wood stove. Maybe an outdoor fire pit would be fine. But aren't all those soaked in oil or tar for weather resistance? They are made of oak from what I hear and oak is hard to come by in my area, but I am highly skeptical. I just told him I would think about it. What do you guys think?
Ummm... yea... Nope.. Notta... No... ... pretty sure they have a bunch of not good stuff soaked into them, thusly why they are black in coloration.
Just say no. First of all, they are treated with creosote, so they smoke like crazy, and then once you get the fire hot enough, they burn like an inferno. The second problem is that if they are used, they are full of grit and cinders...VERY hard on saw teeth! My neighbor was burning used ties in his OWB for a period some years back...he said he spent a ton of money on carbide chains for his saw...eventually stopped because the OWB was so gooped up inside it couldn't transfer any heat to the water...no one would work on it either, they just scrapped it...I was not sad to see it go, the stench was terrible when the wind was coming my way!
Creosote is nasty stuff. I remember when I was a young kid, my parents were “painting” that stuff on the exterior panels of their living room addition. Both of my arms broke out in a severe reaction to it. Off to the hospital we went. Was not fun..
Please do not ever burn used RR ties! I'm anything but an environmentalist, but those things are nasty, toxic, & dangerous to burn. As brenndatomu said, once they get going they're a raging inferno of black acrid smoke & stench. Guy around here set a pile of them on fire after tearing out a retaining wall years ago. They finally took off after some time of dousing them with Diesel & made a cloud for miles. He lost control of the fire real fast & melted the siding on his house & got to know the local fire dept. real fast. Leave them where they are & burn firewood.
Railroad ties are nasty. I decided to build a retaining wall out of some old discarded ones last year when I was putting up my pool. Just cutting through those things with a chainsaw released enough putrid fumes to turn me off to them completely. Steer clear of old ties and telephone poles.
C'mon Steve! Are you jerking our chains or what? Can't imagine anyone burning them for pleasure and you sure as he!! wouldn't want to cook anything over them. I don't think you will find any non treated ties as they are bought for a purpose, right? The only ties that people come across are the old discarded used ones. Just stick to burning old tires!
