Best way to get rid of brush

[ktm250rider]

I had about 15 piles of brush that i burned this past winter. Had one large one that I started Probably 10x10x10. I was only planning on burning that one pile. As it burned downed, I put the forks on the tractor and started picking up the other piles. I dont have a grapple but the piles were just big enough to not fall off the forks. I could dump the whole load on the fire, wait 10 minutes, get another load and dump. Finished all the piles in one day.

 

[RonMar]

I wouldn't dig a pit, might restrict airflow. Better airflow = better, hotter burn(less smoke) Move the brush as little as possible and build up pile sizes you feel comfortable managing(That is what I am doing in the picture to the left). A really big pile can take a long time to get up to a good burning temp and a long time to finish burning. Adding air to the core of the fire with a blower and metal duct really helps the pile reach critical mass quicker. I don't leave fires unattended(good way to get a ticket) and I don't like tending to them all night or putting them out so I can go to bed. Once you build your piles, cover them with clear plastic sheeting(inexpensive) untill the rain and snow flies to keep them dry and ready to quickly burn. A good hot brushpile fire will burn down to almost nothing/very little leftover ash. Then if you like, dig a small hole to bury the small ammount of ash in.

 

[R_Walter]

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.

The only rule about burning where I am is don't burn down the Santa Fe Nat'l Forest. That's why I plan to wait until there's a foot or two of snow on the ground. I don't want to start another Cerro Grande (Los Alamos, 1999 I think) type fire.

 

[R_Walter]

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.

I'll be chipping away for the rest of my life. 25 acres of thick wooded pinon/juniper with a lot of beetle-kill pinon is a lot of brush and wood. Way too much to start chipping I believe. But, good thought.

 

[R_Walter]

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

I've got all I can handle with a tractor and grapple just gathering up the brush. I'll never finish 'mowing' as you suggest. Good thought, though.

 

[R_Walter]

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

This is high desert windy mesa and mountainous country in the Southwestern US. I don't want to be starting any more fires than absolutely necessary. Only time I'll even start a fire will be with snow cover on the ground. I think I'm best advised to minimize the fire starting.

BTW, you may want to check your figures. I've done some burning before and I know I'll end up with a whole lot more ash pile than a garbage can full unless you're talking about a dumpster. And, it's not the ash that will provide the leftover bulk; it's all the half-burned stuff that will be left. But thanks.

 

[R_Walter]

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.

You're exactly right. My concern is not to burn down the western Santa Fe.

 

[R_Walter]

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.

See my earlier comment about chipping away for the rest of my life. It's going to be a huge task just gathering up the brush into one or more piles that are fairly removed from tree cover and in the open enough to burn even with snow on the ground. Thanks.

 

[R_Walter]

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.

Things are very slow to rot or rust in the desert southwest. There are old homestead places with the log cabins still standing and very little rot from 1900 - 1910.

 

[R_Walter]

quicker. I don't leave fires unattended(good way to get a ticket) and I don't like tending to them all night or putting them out so I can go to bed. Once you build your piles, cover them with clear plastic sheeting(inexpensive) untill the rain and snow flies to keep them dry and ready to quickly burn.

I'm not keen either about leaving any fire unattended. The plastic sheeting will not be necessary. Even in wet weather this stuff will go off like gasoline.

I want to thank everyone for their suggestions. I hope I've not been too brusque with anyone. If so, I apologize.