Best way to get rid of brush

[R_Walter]

I've got approx 25 - 30 acres that's got a lot of beetle-kill pinon pine on it. I've been cutting the trees for firewood and selling it off in the fall and winter. As I cut and clear in an area I pile up by hand all the small stuff which is usually anything under 2- 3 inches in diameter. I now have lots of brush piles scattered throughout part of my land.

I'm in the process of ordering a grapple for my FEL and plan to use it to collect the brush piles which I've already piled up.

My plan: I'm going to dig a large pit roughly 3 - 4 feet deep and maybe 40 feet in diameter and pile the brush in the pit. If I get another winter with lots of snow like last winter I can burn it then. Otherwise I'll need to wait until a hard winter comes. Once burned I will cover over the pit with the fill.

This will involve many tractor hours without a doubt.

My question: what's the best way to organize this and dispose of the brush?

 

[BTDT]

Burning sounds like an easy way to get rid of it. I don't understand your wanting to dig a hole to burn it in, just to fill hole back in. Sounds like a lot of work. Just pile it up and burn (when conditions allow).

 

[woodlandfarms]

4 to 6 ft high and 40 feet wide pile? That is one huge fire... I hope you are just referring to the clearing you are making for your tractor load piles...

I doubt there is much governenance about burns in NM, but in Washington they are pretty strict. Piles have to be 6X6X4 at the biggest and you have to call AQMD and the Fire Department to clear the burn.

Large burns are possible, but you have to really have a pro do it. They (the cops) took my neighbor away one night when he was burning a huge pile he shouldn't have been.

 

[deereman64]

So could you use a chipper, but ( this may be off topic but has been troubling me) is it environmentally better to burn or chip.

Burn leads to smoke and release of carbons, and only a small amount of recyclable ash.

Chipping uses diesel and destroys the ears, but leaves material that can be recycled on the forest floor.

 

[zeuspaul]

I use a heavy duty brush mower to decimate piles of brush. I deal with them where they are. All that is left is some mulch. Three inches is pushing it, two inches is about the limit.


Zeuspaul

 

[Jay4200]

I've got approx 25 - 30 acres that's got a lot of beetle-kill pinon pine on it. I've been cutting the trees for firewood and selling it off in the fall and winter. As I cut and clear in an area I pile up by hand all the small stuff which is usually anything under 2- 3 inches in diameter. I now have lots of brush piles scattered throughout part of my land.

Why not burn it where it is? Maybe push some of the smaller piles together, just so you can use your tractor -- figure 1/2 case of beer per pile, and you could easily knock out 3-4 piles each weekend.

FWIW, a pile of brush (or many small piles) big enough to fill a 40' diameter pit (maybe 20' high) will reduce down to an ash pile that will fit in a garbage can.

JayC

 

[ToadHill]

If your concern with burning involves fire spreading to dry grass and other burnable material, I've used the plow to make several furrows around the piles. It's always kept the fire from spreading.

 

[jsborn]

So could you use a chipper, but ( this may be off topic but has been troubling me) is it environmentally better to burn or chip.

Burn leads to smoke and release of carbons, and only a small amount of recyclable ash.

Chipping uses diesel and destroys the ears, but leaves material that can be recycled on the forest floor.

IMHO

Chip !!!!

Always better to here a diesel run and chipper whine than to just stand and watch a fire burn .

 

[daTeacha]

The chipper is something you can rent for a day for about $150. With a couple of guys helping you can eat an amazing amount of brush in a short time. I used one that would eat up to a 6" diameter stick of hardwood, had power feed and a 25 hp. engine. In only 4 hours of machine time my son-in-law and I eliminated about 7 or 8 large piles of hardwood tops. I hauled it around my hilly property behind a Kubota B7100 with no problems.

Your pine should go even faster and then you have organic material left to enrich the ground and as a bonus know you have not polluted the air.

 

[woodchuckie]

If you get enough rain to help it along our southern pine rots the quickest of any other tree around and from looking at pictures of the pinon pine on google it looks like 90% of the volume is in the needles and small branches. They should rot in a year or so and produce good mulch. Do em like a compost pile keeping it in contact with the ground.