Length and cleanliness decide the pile
A straight log from a tree you felled is not the same item as a railroad tie, a pressure-treated post, or a painted beam. Call the disposal site and ask whether logs are yard waste, whether there is a length and diameter limit, and whether the pile is chips-only. Some sites want logs short enough for a tub grinder. Some refuse logs entirely and take only branches. Firewood users may want clean, untreated logs, and giving them away is reasonable if the person agrees and the wood is not full of hardware. Do not haul infested wood across the county to a friend if your area has a quarantine on that pest. Ask the local extension or forestry office before you move ash, pine, or any wood you suspect is under a movement rule. Listings you found by ZIP code or city can be out of date.
Nails, paint, and rot
Run a metal detector or look hard for hooks, nails, and old clothesline pulleys. Metal in a yard-waste log is how grinders get wrecked, and the attendant is right to refuse the load. Paint, stain, and any treatment move the log out of clean organics. Describe it as finished wood and ask whether it is trash or construction debris. Rotten logs that crumble into soil may still be organics if the site says so, or they may be too dirty. Do not mix a painted log into a clean stack and hope the paint faces down. Dirt clods should be knocked off if the site wants clean wood. Leaves can stay in the organics area only if you are allowed to unload them there. They are not a reason to hide a log in a bag.
Stack them below the rails
Logs roll. Set them lengthwise, tight against the cab, and strap them. Do not lay them crosswise on top of a light load where they can bounce out. A single round log will walk backward under vibration. At the site, wait for the organics bay or the trash bay you were assigned. Unload one log at a time if they are heavy. Do not dump the bed by slamming the brakes. If one log in the stack has a nail, pull the stack back out when the attendant objects and sort it at home. Leaving the nail log in the chip pile after you were told not to is how the rest of your load gets rejected too.
Before you go
- Ask the site about log length limits and whether clean logs are yard waste.
- Check movement rules before you haul wood that might be quarantined.
- Remove nails and keep painted or treated pieces out of the clean pile.
- Strap logs lengthwise and unload them in the bay you were given.
Hiding a nailed, painted log under clean firewood in the organics bunker.
Questions people ask
Are palm trunks or bamboo logs ordinary wood?
Describe the species. Some sites treat them as yard waste and some do not. Do not assume a hardwood rule covers a fibrous trunk.
Can I leave logs for the city brush crew?
Only if that crew's rules say logs of your size are collected. A pile at the curb on the wrong week is still your wood.
Search Dumpmapper by ZIP code or city, then call the site before you load the truck. Hours and accepted materials change.