Railroad rails.

bigdeano · Jul 11, 2013

If you had 4 rails they would work nicely by putting 2 rails on each side, one above the other, and welding spacers between to make a beam a couple feet high. The more the space between the more load it will carry.

yomax4 · Jul 11, 2013

Telephone Poles work very well on my 20' span.

Robert_in_NY · Jul 11, 2013

duwem said:
Sounds like your best bet is to take the rails in for scrap and buy some other materals.

Sometimes you can get electrical poles for free if the utility is replacing them. They of course have a limit too.

I don't know how it is in other areas but I was told that we can't take in rails for scrap here because they don't want idiots ripping up the tracks for the scrap money like they do with the copper wires. My friend was cleaning up his parents place after his father passed away and his father hoarded scrap metal. The scrap yard he was sending it to wouldn't take the rail and that was the reason he gave me.

medic0648 · Jul 12, 2013

I'd be making some good ballast for the tractor with them since you can't scrap them. RR ties are good. Also a container or flatbed trailer.

CNC Dan · Jul 12, 2013

Robert_in_NY said:
I don't know how it is in other areas but I was told that we can't take in rails for scrap here because they don't want idiots ripping up the tracks for the scrap money like they do with the copper wires. My friend was cleaning up his parents place after his father passed away and his father hoarded scrap metal. The scrap yard he was sending it to wouldn't take the rail and that was the reason he gave me.

Cut it into small sections and sell it. People love rails for small anvils.

rsallen · Jul 12, 2013

If you take rail in for scrap you best have **** good proof you've bought and paid for them.

In this part of the world any respectable yard will be calling the company store before you can get it unloaded.

Robert_in_NY · Jul 12, 2013

CNC Dan said:
Cut it into small sections and sell it. People love rails for small anvils.

They used some in the back of their trucks for extra weight during winter. I have a small piece from my father that I use as a portable anvil. I'd love to find a large anvil at an affordable price someday to keep in the shop.

cqaigy2 · Jul 12, 2013

CNC Dan said:
Cut it into small sections and sell it. People love rails for small anvils.

Yes, they make great little anvils:thumbsup:

SPIKER · Jul 13, 2013

cqaigy2 said:
Yes, they make great little anvils:thumbsup:

I have a 18" section that was at the farm when I bought it, it is cut at 50~60 degrees on one end and 90 on the other end that I use regularly for anvil... one day may get old Steel Wheel and Pipe to raise it up a few feet, for now it just is moved and set wherever it will be the most inconvenience, easiest to kick & trip over lol. "

:/

FYI the scrap yards around here also will NOT take it if they see it in the trailer for same reasons. I know cutting them can be a pain too. The outer surfaces are work hardened on top from steel wheels and inner core can have slag (most rails are pretty old if you got them free-ish.) There was a whole industry built up around scrap rails as well. They re-heat & split them down by running them thru linear cutters and turning them into T fence posts out the other side of plant. Why some fence posts bent easy and others you could not touch without them snapping in half.

Mark

jkis · Jul 13, 2013

when i was young, they used railway line for cattle yards ect, some people made gantry's to remove motors ect, did hear of 1 gantry that after being used to lift a heavy car motor, collapsed during the week, it was fractured, they used it for fence posts on bush blocks, so fires wouldn't burn them out, did hear of 1 post that was on the ground when they came back to put the wire in, it was also fractured, i'd use it for anvils or posts, not something i relied on for safety.
cheers stuart

Redbug · Jul 13, 2013

I have several pieces stored in the back. I never pass up a piece of rail. I have a friend that works for the RR. Some I have cut for ballast on top of my box blade, disk, and as a drag behind the tractor. I have some pieces cut to 12 and 18 inches long in my workshop for hammering. There's no way I would take any rail to a scrap yard for money. To me it's worth much more than that. Too many things you can do with it. It also makes great entrance posts cemented in with heavy cable and a lock in between. I guarantee you won't knock over RR gate posts cemented in deep without tearing up your vehicle.

6011Artist · Jul 13, 2013

You can't sell RR iron here either UNLESS you have a permit from the railroad. I have a buddy that was scrapping/cleaning up around his fathers farm. Said there were 2 sections of iron laying against the woods, been there for 40 yrs. He called the RR, they sent an inspector out to look at them. He wrote him a permit to sell the iron. They measured the RR iron and listed it on the permit. He was allowed to sell ONLY what was on the permit.

I know someone that runs a shredder/scrap yard. They say it is a federal offense to buy or sell RR iron without a permit.

busy dad · Jul 23, 2013

If it was me i would suggest buying a used flatbed trailer to build a bridge from..Normally available cheaply and work well ..18' would be nice and strong also..

henrybuchanan · Jul 27, 2013

I had a similar issue with a small creek behind the house. The creek is 8.5' wide and the banks were 6.5' tall. On the average day the creek carries about 8-9" of water. I started by widening the creek to 12' to keep the water depth down. I then cut ramps on each creek bank. Now I simply drive down into the creek and back up the other side of it. I had a few issues with deep mud in the creek itself; however I just laid two layers of flat rocks across the creek bed. I like bridges but there's something nice about driving through the creek. Good luck mate.

Pa Pa Jack · Jul 27, 2013

I had thought about that but the trail down into and out of the area is already fairly steep. By the time I cut it out to be able to cross, it would be a major slope. I want to use that passage to be able to haul a trailer out carrying logs for firewood. Even with 4WD I don't know if I could pull a load up that slope without creating a mess every time.

Pa Pa Jack · Jul 29, 2013

This might give you some idea how steep the trail is coming into and out of the gulley. It is a pretty steep slope. Cutting down to the bedrock at the bottom of the gulley would make it a lot worse.