RAILROAD TIE REMOVAL IN PUEBLO: HEAVY WOOD, HAULED OUT
Half the older properties around Pueblo West have railroad ties somewhere — a retaining wall on a slope, a driveway border, a raised bed that hasn't grown anything since 2011. They looked good for about fifteen years. Now they're splitting, leaning, and leaking black tar into the dirt every July.
Here's what it actually takes to get them out.
They're heavier than they look
A standard 8-foot tie weighs 150 to 200 pounds dry. Ones that have been sitting in Pueblo clay soaking up snowmelt weigh more. Add a spike or two driven 8 inches deep, plus whatever gravel and yard debris has packed in behind a wall over the years, and a "quick weekend project" turns into three days and a tweaked back.
Most walls we pull are 20 to 60 ties. That's several tons of wood before you count the fill behind it.
Creosote is why you can't just burn it
Railroad ties are pressure-treated with creosote. You can't burn them — the smoke is genuinely bad for you, and it's not legal. You can't put them in your regular trash pickup. Not every landfill takes treated wood, either.
We've been handling hazardous material for 12+ years, so this isn't a guessing game for us. We know which facilities accept treated wood and we take it there. That's part of the price we quote you, not a surprise line item afterward.
The skid steer earns its keep here
This is the exact job a skid steer with forks is built for. Instead of prying each tie loose by hand, we lift them straight out of the wall, stack them, and load them into a 7-ton dump trailer. Two trailers on site means most residential tie walls leave in a single visit.
If the wall is holding back a grade, we'll tell you that before we touch it. Sometimes the right answer is pulling ties and hauling them off; sometimes it's pull, haul, and you get a wall guy in behind us. We'll say which one we think it is.
What it costs
Depends on tie count, how buried they are, and whether we can get equipment within reach. Small border job or a full wall — same process: we look at it, give you a number, and that number holds.
Junk removal in Pueblo and Pueblo West, every day 7 AM to 7 PM, same-day when we have the slot. Call or text (719) 334-4581.
Tell us what you've got — call or text (719) 334-4581. We'll send a fair quote fast, no high-pressure scripts, no surprise charges.