Drowning in yard waste- how to dispose?

[plowhog]

How much property do you have? Can you just put it somewhere?

Not quite 100 acres.

Appreciate the responses about shredders-- but it sounds like one would only shrink a huge giant pile into a smaller huge giant pile.

I think I will use a tractor/landscape rake to make big piles of debris, then use the loader to put it into a dump truck. I have an opening in the forest where bark beetles wiped out all the pine trees back in 2014. I can truck the debris over there.

Once it is away from the buildings, I'm good with fire prevention. Then I can figure out whether anyone wants to take it or if I burn it this winter.

 

[plowhog]

Maybe a lawnmower with mulcher blades ... How big an area and do you have any area to put it?

Probably pushing 1/4 acre, ranging from 6 inches to 1 foot of leaves/debris/cover on it. It's a lot of material. The stuff at the bottom, built up over years, is about 3 inch thick, compacted, and tough. It is substantial physical exertion to rake down to bare dirt using a metal rake. You have to get the rake under it and pull up.

I have a riding mower with Cyclone rake and extra large 44 bushel bag option. It's overkill for most yard lawns, but I max it out every Fall when the leaves are falling. The problem around the outbuildings is that nothing was done for decades so the stuff really compacted in.

 

[ponytug]

I would think about aerating it to get it to decompose, if you can. Lack of water is probably going to make it slow, but leaving flat for the wet season and then wind rowing it for the summer would help a lot, or windrow it and turn it during the rainy season. Could you till it in at all? Rototiller? Plow/harrow? The latter two would really help with the fire issues....

Compacted, it won't go anywhere very quickly.

All the best,

Peter

 

[ponytug]

FWIW: I run three compost piles; one gets the manure, the next gets the yard debris, leaves and fallen limbs, and the third is the second one that has had the big pieces run through a chipper. The first pile composts in six months. The second pile doesn't do much over the course of a year, but when it gets moved to the third pile and rototilled every six months, it is pretty decent compost in a year. So, I think size reduction helps, but turning it regularly helps more.

BTW: 10-15" of annual rainfall, all in the winter.

All the best,

Peter

 

[Captain Dirty]

I have a 8-10hp stand-alone "home owner" chipper-shredder with 3/4" holes in the screen. If the oak leaves are dry, it will produce 1/3 to 1/2 the volume in the form of "corn flakes" relatively quickly. If the leaves are wet or matted they will clog the screen, and I will have to run sticks through the chipper chute to open the holes. The product is wet dirt or even extruded mud with wood chips that is not as desirable as mulch. If I partially open a discharge door as the manual suggests for wet leaves, it will just spit out clumps of whole leaves. After about 2 cu ft of shreddings accumulate under the screen they must be raked out and then shoveled or forked into a wheelbarrow, FEL bucket, or trailer requiring more time. You are correct that it would be a poor machine for your application.

When I was shopping for a PTO chipper some 8 years ago I noted Valby made a PTO powered, belt driven, chipper-shredder with a raised discharge chute priced at several thousand dollars. Recent Google searches for "Valby chipper shredders" have shown only chippers, not chipper shredders; perhaps a more diligent search would find one. Even with the increased power, I expect matted material would still be problematic.

 

[oldnslo]

Would a flail mower chew up the leaves and the piles significantly smaller to move? I have only ever used a flail for corn stalks but I would think they would shred leaves.

 

[CalG]

Probably pushing 1/4 acre, ranging from 6 inches to 1 foot of leaves/debris/cover on it. It's a lot of material. The stuff at the bottom, built up over years, is about 3 inch thick, compacted, and tough. It is substantial physical exertion to rake down to bare dirt using a metal rake. You have to get the rake under it and pull up.

I have a riding mower with Cyclone rake and extra large 44 bushel bag option. It's overkill for most yard lawns, but I max it out every Fall when the leaves are falling. The problem around the outbuildings is that nothing was done for decades so the stuff really compacted in.

Use that mower and the cyclone if only 1/4 acre. Start away from the building and keep making passes until you are down "enough", or the debris stops picking up.

Drive those 44 bushels out away, and dump 'em.

Lather rinse repeat!

1/4 acre is not going to take that much time

If you get down to the packed stuff, and it won't pick up. there are all sorts of rippers and rakes that are not difficult to cobble together. Heck, just run the mower with high lift blades, or thatcher blades. $40 worth of tooling ;-)

 

[dirttoys]

I would have said flail, but mentioned above, a harley rake would move most of it easy, and mulch the rest.

Best,

ed

 

[CalG]

a harley rake is a spendy piece to move 1/4 acre of old leaves.

 

[dirttoys]

a harley rake is a spendy piece to move 1/4 acre of old leaves.

True, I would rent one for this project. However, if he has another use case, or deals with this every year might be worth having one around. Mine is handy as a hoot owl And yes it was expensive.

Best,

ed