Fly ash?

Neighbor hired a great guy to fence a tough half mile. Thank
goodness, I was getting tired of trying to clear it!

This guy uses fly ash to set the hedge posts. Sets quick and is
strong. Anyone ever used it? How do you get a hold of it? This
guy gets it in bulk. I wast to buy it like bags a Quikcrete.
Supposedly if you call then Quikcrete will put some in bags.
Anyone got a lead on some?

Fly ash is what is left over from burning coal, listed as a hazmat, must be hauled to a land fill and buried. At least that is what I have been told from the truck lines that haul it.

Putting it in a post hole is burying it, right! Makes sense to me.

Some of ours from the paper mill went to a cement block factory in Iowa, I suppose to make cinder blocks. But that was ash from a stoker boiler, I think fly ash comes from a pulverized coal boiler.

We used fly ash as a cement additive. It came from the local coal fired power plant. I personally thought it was a waste of time and energy, but what do I know?

They haul it by the truck loads right across the river from me. But it all goes to Ash Valley where they've dumped their fly ash for years.

There are two types of ash from a coal boiler, the bottom ash is raked out, and flyash that is cleaned out of the flue before the sulfur is precipitated out.

There is a company in Fort Morgan, CO called Sonhaul that uses fly ash tilled in with water and re-foamed asphalt to stabilize roads over swamps and the like all over the country. They till it in about 16" deep. I've seen roads hold up for 20 years with that as underlayment.
http://www.son-haul.com

The small particles make concrete slightly more flexible.

Smart coal burning power plants sell their ash to cement companies. Ash will make concrete pump easier and there are other benefits also I think.

Fly ash is commonly used by concrete companies,if part of the cement is replaced by flyash in the concrete mix then the strength is actually stronger than using all cement but by itself flyash really never gets hard a mix like Sacrete would be a much better choice.

Ive used fly ash for years in the cement block business.It will harden but takes a little more curing time,and makes your water control a little more touchy.I think we used 10% compaired to cement.It is flamible as fine dust and will find every crack and crevis.I had a panel box explode in my face because of a arc and fly ash present

jimmy

Hey old friend. How u doing. Ok to buy fly ash from sonny. Just be careful on hunting trips!

You are right about fly ash being used by concrete companies. I know a man who thinks the fly ash is why the finish on his drive failed. He tells the concrete company NO FLY ASH.

I'm not sure the pro who do commerical jobs want fly ash either.

The locals got upset with a coal mine that sold coal to the electric company then back hauled the fly ash to put in the strip mine.

Somehow they put a stop to that pratice. You can remove the coal, just don't put part of it back in the same hold? Crazy!

Contractors who built cement roadways use fly ash mixed in with the concrete. Have to watch them though. Fly ash is cheaper and using a high percentage in the mixture will lead to failure of your concrete slab.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fly_ash

Wonder how that fly ash will hold up in post holes?

We used bottom ash in front of the horse stall exits to the paddocks in winter, to keep horses out of the mud. Worked pretty good the first year, but the second winter it all turned to slop. The ash is mostly oxides of calcium, phosphorus, etc., but after prolonged exposure to moisture, it will re-hydrate to hydroxides, etc., which are water soluble, and turns to mush.

Fly ash leaves the coal fired power plants in huge bulk semis pretty much non-stop. Its the ash left over from burnt coal. You won't be getting it long though. The power plants used to get paid by concrete companies for it that used it as hardener when mixed with the concrete. Problem is that a couple of years ago the EPA defined it as hazardous waste, so now the power plants have to pay to have it removed, and I'm not certain that concrete companies can even use it anymore. Of the six coal fired plants near me, two have been shut down and completely dismantled, three of four units of another have been shut down and the fourth shutting down in a year. Two are having their three combined units converted to gas, and only one is staying coal fired because its on Lake Michigan. The EPA is forcing them out of business, so your chances of getting fly ash is diminishing with our power sources.

About a decade ago I had to replace a phone cable that was the only cable inside a 1" rigid conduit at one of the plants. Problem is that over the decades, fly ash had filled it mixed with pigeon crap since the pigeons roosted over it, along with rain water. It packed shut for about 10'. I took me about 8 hours to make it through. Fly ash mixed with pigeon crap and rain water and then allowed to dry and harden might be harder than concrete.

Mark

Not anymore. They used to sell it to concrete companies, but since the EPA got involved, must pay to have it removed.

Mark