Buying used Rail Road ties is something I do almost every year it seems. Not many mind you. I think I purchase maybe three or four every few months for various projects. I used six or so to line the driveway in front of the barn a couple years ago. Used another six or so to hold the gravel under my mother's little cabin project. etc.
I kinda have a thing for keeping loose material contained and establishing borders for the driveways and such.
For years now used ties have always been $8.00 each if I had to resort to buying them at one of the local lumber or hardware stores. I also pick em up used here and there from private sellers for cheaper prices but that supply rarely coincides with my immediate needs. As it turned out I only had one extra tie laying around and needed four more to finish the edging for the wood chips I had been leveling out.
My plan was to pick up a few extra ties for whatever future projects I might need em for. They also work well for corner posts in a pinch too and I have that last fencing project coming up soon too.
So I hooked up the big trailer and went to town.
Rail Road ties are now $12.00 each.
That's a 50% price increase in less than a year. Actually less than 9 months and the sales guy told me they been twelve bucks for a while now.
That's just a ridiculous price increase in my opinion. Needless to say buying them at the lumber places is now not as much of an option as it used to be. I didn't mind paying a few extra bucks for them but damn. Of course I am sure private sales prices will soon rise to meet the bigger store prices as well.
I can remember when they used to be a buck a piece. Hell I can remember when people couldn't give em away.
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!!
If the railroads are like everything else, they may be putting more resources into benefits of executives and pensions and not doing as much actual work so there could be a shortage of ties that have been replaced.
ReplyDeleteWe used to have a friend that worked for the railroad & he got them for us for free. We lined our driveway & put leaves down to keep the dust at bay. The leaves would eventually pile up along the ties & I once or twice a year I would take a shovel & scrape away. One day while scraping I saw a huge pile of earth worms. I thought I would relocate a handful of them to the back garden. I scooped them up in my gloved hands & as I was walking back to the garden I realized they were opening & closing their mouths. About a millisecond later I remembered that earthworms don't have mouths. I was holding about 20 teensy baby snakes! Yes, they went flying after that & yes, I screamed like a girl.
ReplyDelete$8, crikey they cost a good £15 to £20 each here in the UK. Particularly since it became trendy to build raised beds with them! Fortunately having a forest meas I never buy timber. Unfortunately it means I get to do the work making into timber!
ReplyDeletePP,
ReplyDeleteThose rail road ties have gone up in price. I've stopped using them all together.
They are on Craigslist here for $20 a piece, used! I'd say you got a deal!
ReplyDeleteok I an still thinking ewwwwww on DFW's comment!!! YIKERS...
ReplyDeleteIt amazes me all the time at how much so many things have gone up in price!
Texan, That was over 30 years ago, when I was just a yound newlywed & I still remember the ewww feeling today!
DeleteI think RR ties are trendy. With gasoline leveling off in price, and a really mediocre "booming" economy. manufactured goods would normally come down slightly in price. Which isn't particularly helpful if your one of the folks who hasn't seen a raise in 5 years.
ReplyDeleteAlso factoring into the "missing inflation" is the growing number of people who rent rather than own their dwellings and the increase in that rent especially in urban areas.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-09-21/mystery-missing-inflation-solved-and-why-us-housing-crisis-about-get-much-worse
When my neighbor asked me to help her remove the 24 RR ties she had around some of the daylilies beds she was removing, I was more than happy to help. When she asked if I wanted them, I was more than happy to take them. A bunch of them made a nice base barrier around my new chicken run.
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