saw dust uses?

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.

BradleyS

New Member
Nov 10, 2013
46
Long Island, NY
Hello,

I just bucked up a nice pile of wood that was dumped off by a local tree trimming company.

I got a nice pile of saw clippings/dust. Are there any good uses for this. Does it compost well?

Or should I bag it and dump it.
 
A thick layer of saw dust can keep grass or weeds from growing where you dont want them.
As wood breaks down it requires nitrogen so it is not there for weeds and grass to use.
 
hardwood sawdust doesnt break down that easy for composting. Its organic so you could probably dump it somewhere that you dont mind it changing the soil pH. It will 'burn' grass so I use the bagger on my push mower to get it off the lawn. You may be able to use it as a mulch bed. I do that with large volumns of chipped brush.
 
Use it where you don't want grass. I vacuum them up and put them in the woods on my property
 
The sawdust from my workshop has been working great for compost. Lots of surface area means it breaks down really fast. Haven't tried chainsaw discharge sawdust; maybe it's not ideal due to bar oil content? A lot of my shop sawdust is from plywood so it probably contains a lot of glue, and that doesn't seem to be an issue. If you plan on making some compost I'd try it out.
 
Take your chainsaw sawdust, put it in a bowl, add melted wax, then pack it it small paper cups. Now you have made an ideal fire starter. Been doing it for years. No need to ever need newspaper to fire up the stove, plus a lot less ash to clean.
 
I like to use my saw dust for oil spills and for hardening old paint and used paint thinner before putting it in the trash.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.