Any Uses For Wood Chips?

[Harv]

<font color=blue>This is one of those jobs that's easy to put off till later</font color=blue>

You got that right, Glenn, and I've been doing just that for years now.

Fact is, this whole brush and tree clearing thing just became my responsibility a few years ago. It was my parents' property since the mid 70's, and I have no idea exactly when this pile was born, nor was I around on "disposal" days. I noticed an incinerator type of setup nearby, so I'm guessing Pop burned off small quantities at regular intervals. He was a methodical man.

When Pop passed in '89, Mom did her best to keep things cleared, but she was more of the weed-pulling type than a brush clearer. It was only 3 or 4 years ago that it finally dawned on me that my visits should be as much about taking care of the acreage as caring for Mom and making home repairs. And less than 2 years ago that I realized what I really needed was a tractor. /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

With my new found ability to carry off great loads of brush, branches and even logs, it seemed logical to just dump it all on the existing brush pile. And now, with Mom gone and the property officially mine, I finally realize that the pile will only get bigger until I find a way to deal with it.

Never said I was a quick study. /w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif

 

[cisco]

I had major tree limbs, minor limbs, and lots of vines around the (about) 75 big trees on my property after I got through the "brush cut and then tree trim" phase of cleaning my country 7.5 acres (previously "wild"). Rented a 20 hp Vermeer (rated to 6 inch limbs - don't believe it - maybe 4 inch) and towed such behind my pick-up. Drove up to any particular tree, chainsawed the big stuff into manageable pieces, put what I could through the chipper (about 2-4" chips), and threw the oversized stuff into the pickup bed, destined for the woodpile (later to be burned). Wear ear plugs, manuver recalcitrant limbs around the entrance port of the chipper with a stick or whatever (not your hand), and don't muck with the chipper when you're real tired - what it can do to wood, and hence your arm, is scary. You'll get lots of chips, which you can just spread around the base of the tree to deter weed, vine and brush growth (just like pine straw would do). Good luck - I had to rent the chipper two weekends in a row (if you rent Saturday AM, you can return the chipper before 8am on Monday, and only get charged for 1 day - at least I could). I had considered picking up all the debris with my FEL & pick-up, and carting such to a mega-brush pile, but the chipper was the faster way to go. Good luck, and stay safe.

 

[stovepoker]

Green wood is much easier to chip than dry. My contractor
agrees to chip the dry stuff only for special consideration
(extra money, equipment repairs, extra hard cider) etc.
Dry wood is MUCH harder on the machinery.

 

[patrickg]

Since no one put in a plug for the procrastinators... here goes. If you age your brush long enough it gets beyond the "hard" stage and gets softer. Old old brush doesn't actually chip per se but turns into a soft granular material that seems ready to use as a soil ammendment. I've never had a plugging problem with this stuff. I didn't age brush intentionally, just had a big supply when I bought the chipper (DR 20 HP - a good tool) I have been trying to cover all the unpaved space within 20' of my mom's house with chips. Got help from Asplundh (sp?) Plan is to make a really low maint yard for her. So far so good. Can walk the chips after inches of rain with no problem. They don't blow around much as they stay moist most of the time. Help retain moisture around the roses etc. and ****** weed and grass growth although will use a little spray next year to discourage some hardy grass that was not killed in advance of chip application. Could use several truck loads for rest of yard and garden.

If there is a nitrogen depletion problem with adding uncomposted chips to the garden, add some high nitrogen fertilizer, its cheap enough. Sure helps our clay from getting too cement like when dry.

Patrick