Some kind of long term dumpster without heavy rent charges? Buy one cheap?

[BadDecisions]

I have an acre plus of scrub desert that's been heavily overgrown, largely because I've been lazy the last couple of years, lol. I've been slowly working on clearing it out again - dragging out a bunch of weeds, light brush, trimming up trees, etc. I've been building up piles of stuff, but it sure would be nice to just drop it in a dumpster or something as I go rather than building multiple piles around the place. Problem is that being that I'm working by myself, I'm pretty slow, I can be called out to work at any time (I don't work a set schedule..basically an on-call field tech, and there's been times I've been gone for over a week at a time), along with all other of life's necessities, this isn't a weekend project for me. I've been at it for a couple months at this point, though obviously not continuously on this alone.

I've priced dumpster rentals, and I'm looking at $500-$600/month for these things, which could get expensive quick for these things at the rate I'm going. Is it possible to buy these things relatively cheaply, and just have it emptied at my convenience? Or maybe I'm just not looking at the right rental places?

Or maybe I should be looking at picking up an old dump truck or dump trailer, then reselling when I'm done with it?

Or is it just a case of suck it up buttercup, deal with a bunch of piles of debris until I'm ready to fill up a big rental dumpster, and take a week's vacation to fill the sucker up in one go?

 

[mrmikey]

Is burning it an option? Having to pay to get rid of scrub would make me cry. I don't have a lot but I pile it up during the year and burn it in the fall or spring when it's wet out.

 

[bcp]

I've seen where people pushed their brush to the property line, leaving a long straight pile that slowly decays. Kind of a brush fence and animal habitat.

Is it Mesquite? Palo Verde?

mesquite wood craft - Google Search

palo verde wood - Google Search

Bruce

 

[newbury]

Have you looked into the cost of used IBC totes?
Around here (Ms) non-food grade can be found for about $50@ w/cage and I've seen just the plastic inserts going for $10.

 

[deserteagle71]

Your problem, should you buy your own dumpster, is getting someone to dump it. At least around here, none of the disposal companies will touch a dumpster if they don't own it.

 

[Needville]

I had a similar situation when I bought some property. Previous owner was a handyman/remodeler and would dump construction debris all over the property. Everything from old roofing and tile to old couches. I hauled out 5 30 yard dumpsters of trash over 9 months. I just made a big pile in a central location and when I had a dumpster load I brought in the dumpster and filled it up. Once its in a pile filling the dumpster goes quick.

 

[aczlan]

Big tow behind woodchipper?
Something like this perhaps? https://m.facebook.com/marketplace/item/6711612505536033/

Either chip your piles and let them decompose, chip them and sell them, or chip them into dumpsters or a dump truck.

Aaron Z

 

[MossRoad]

For best bang for you buck and personal time, I'm of the mindset of the others that suggest piling it up until you get enough to fill a bit more than a dumpster, then get it delivered, filled, and gone in a weekend. Repeat as you accumulate.

You could pile it up on property lines and leave it for wildlife habitat. I've been doing that for 25+ years on our back property line on 1 acre. There's a nice dirt berm under it as it rots. All of our yard waste goes there. But it doesn't sound like the amount of debris you have.

You could get a chipper, too. However, size of the chipper would be dictated by size of the debris. Chippers are inherently dangerous (so is life) and should be respected.

 

[BadDecisions]

Is burning it an option? Having to pay to get rid of scrub would make me cry. I don't have a lot but I pile it up during the year and burn it in the fall or spring when it's wet out.

This time of year in the desert? Only if you want to be featured on the 5 o'clock news as the clown that started a 1,000 acre wildfire, lol.

I've seen where people pushed their brush to the property line, leaving a long straight pile that slowly decays. Kind of a brush fence and animal habitat.

Is it Mesquite? Palo Verde?

mesquite wood craft - Google Search

palo verde wood - Google Search

Bruce

It's a bunch of everything...a stupid amount of stinknet, palo trimmings (good lord, those things grow FAST!), a lot of random brushy things that I have no idea what it is...not really wild about the animal habitat thing though. Not that I'm against wildlife, rather that the more of it that I invite, the more I get to deal with things like chewed wiring on cars, holes in the ground, coyotes who then eyeball the domestic animals, etc.

Have you looked into the cost of used IBC totes?
Around here (Ms) non-food grade can be found for about $50@ w/cage and I've seen just the plastic inserts going for $10.

Hadn't even crossed my mind, though plastics don't tend to deal well with being baked in the sun long term about here, and I'm not sure how I would handle emptying them later. I suppose I might be able to rig up some kind of cradle that would attach to the bucket and allow me to dump that way...or just toss the whole thing full, lol.

For best bang for you buck and personal time, I'm of the mindset of the others that suggest piling it up until you get enough to fill a bit more than a dumpster, then get it delivered, filled, and gone in a weekend. Repeat as you accumulate.

You could pile it up on property lines and leave it for wildlife habitat. I've been doing that for 25+ years on our back property line on 1 acre. There's a nice dirt berm under it as it rots. All of our yard waste goes there. But it doesn't sound like the amount of debris you have.

You could get a chipper, too. However, size of the chipper would be dictated by size of the debris. Chippers are inherently dangerous (so is life) and should be respected.

I have a chipper already, but it doesn't do much for the weeds and smaller brush. Granted it's a smaller 5HP model, but I don't see using it enough to justify the cost of a larger one.
I suppose just dealing with the piles for a while is just what I'm gonna have to do.

 

[jyoutz]

Pile and burn

 

[BadDecisions]

Pile and burn

Maybe if you live where that weird white stuff ends up on the ground, but here it's a good way to get to have an unpleasant conversation with a Sheriff Deputy...

 

[bigtiller]

Your stinknet sounds like some bad stuff.

 

[jyoutz]

Maybe if you live where that weird white stuff ends up on the ground, but here it's a good way to get to have an unpleasant conversation with a Sheriff Deputy...

Maricopa county has burn permits.

 

[BadDecisions]

Your stinknet sounds like some bad stuff.

From an ecological standpoint, it is, and it's EVERYWHERE out here. Some of the media sites make it sound like it's a small but growing problem, which it is...in the urban areas. But it's already WELL beyond the established point out in the rural areas. It literally carpets thousands of acres out where I'm at.

Dragging it out is pretty simple with the landscape rake though. It doesn't root deep, so lightly dragging the rake on the ground pulls 95% of it in a single pass, much like pulling the foxtail.

 

[BadDecisions]

Yavapai county has burn permits.

I was unaware that Yavapai annexed Wittmann. Gonna be a LOT of other people here that will also be surprised to hear that.

 

[jyoutz]

I was unaware that Yavapai annexed Wittmann. Gonna be a LOT of other people here that will also be surprised to hear that.

I corrected my post. Either way, counties do issue burn permits with stipulations for burning.

 

[BadDecisions]

Yes..I'm well aware of this. Which is also why I know that the county isn't giving me a permit for burning this stuff, and you'd have to be brain dead to think even for a second that it's a good idea to burn it when everything is dry as a bone around you.

 

[jyoutz]

Yes..I'm well aware of this. Which is also why I know that the county isn't giving me a permit for burning this stuff, and you'd have to be brain dead to think even for a second that it's a good idea to burn it when everything is dry as a bone around you.

To each their own. I’m familiar with desert burning during the summer monsoon season. It’s actually easier to burn in the desert because of a lack of continuous grass cover to carry fire. You have an almost impossible task to clear and remove vegetation on several acres without treating it on site. I’m out.

 

[mikester]

rent one of these, skip the land fill. in a week you will get a lot done. thank me later

 

[paulsharvey]

Push it into a big pile in an accessible corner; then see if it's still worth spending a couple $1k to get rid of, or just use as shooting pile or leave. If you still want it gone; then it's all in an easy pile to order a 30 yard dumpster delivered and hauled off; but you might find that in the corner, it's out of site, out of mind. Small/light stuff isn't economical to haul off; 30 yard dumpster or a dump truck or whatever costs the same to haul 5 tons of light brush as 15 tons of debris; but that light stuff will fill the dumpster/dump trailer/whatever, very fast. Another option, just dig a 3 ft deep, 10 ft wide ditch; dump it in there; and push the dirt back on top. Yep, will have a berm/hill there for 5 years; as things decompose; but that's probably going to be your best soil afterwards.