Brush in gulley - leave it or not?

JimParker · Nov 21, 2006

Guys, I need some input from you "veterans"... I took "Hoss" (JD 3320, 300CX) out to my new property today, to move some dirt and play (er - work). I moved some old dead trees into a large brush pile in preparation for future chainsaw/wood chipper action (more toys - er - Tools!).

While I was out there, looking at the property from a tractor's eye view, I noticed that in one of the gulleys, the previous owner had dumped a bunch of old dead bushes, trees, and brush. Now I was planning on filling in the gulley, but I got to thinking - I wonder if the brush was put there to slow down the erosion effect of the water running downhill? The gulley is about 4 feet deep, and varies from 4 ft wide to over 12 ft wide in places. There are several living trees right in the middle of it.

So what do you think? Should I leave the brush and downed trees in the gulley? Should I throw dirt in on top of them to fill it in? Should I remove the brush and fill? Suggestions, please. Thanks for your help!

RobJ · Nov 21, 2006

A few thoughts...

If you want to fill the gulley, fill it up with other stuff, then burn it.

If you want to keep it, just keep throwing stuff in there. It will help on the erosion and you can eventully burn it if you like. But look at the area before filling, it may become a gulley again...in no time.

Good Luck,
rob

ICGREEN · Nov 21, 2006

Leave it. Gives a nice place to get rid of brush and great animal cover in the winter.

Champy · Nov 22, 2006

Is there someplace else that you want this gulley to be?

It's probably there for a reason (Mother Nature rules us all).........if you fill it in, the rainwater / runoff will have to go somewhere else, most likely just creating another gulley exactly where you don't want it - or re-cutting the old gulley over again!

Since this is new property for you, I would leave it alone until you have a couple of seasons of watching how this gulley is helping to provide a runoff path (or not) before you get too FEL happy about filling it in.

JimParker · Nov 22, 2006

Thanks, guys. I'm kind of leaning towards leaving it alone, also. My only hesitation is that we're planning to raise goats, and it would be nice to not have to cross-fence both sides of the gulley - I'm afraid the goats would be attracted to the gulley, and get hurt when something they were climbing on shifted.

Anyway, I think I'll leave it alone for now. I've got another 3-4 dead trees that have fallen, and I'm thinking I'll cut them up and drop them in the gulley also.

TomKioti · Nov 22, 2006

Jim,
How about some pics! We love pics. A pictures worth a thousand posts

If it's not too much trouble. Whadya say!

ShookFarm · Nov 23, 2006

We have erosion issues in a couple of places on our property and my uncle has had them on his 180 acre farm in Northern Missouri. Keep putting your biodegradable debris in the gulley, but don't bother trying to fill it in.

Unless you have large boulder size rip-rap to use in slowing down the flow of the water and to aid in stabilizing the banks of the gulley, you won't win this battle using dirt to fill it in. As stated previously, filling it in won't do much good. It's likely there because it's a natural drainage.

Also, there's not much chance a goat will get hurt unless the gulley is extremely deep. I've seen goats in places I wouldn't go with a ladder! With cows, I'd fence them out of it. With goats, I doubt it would be necessary.

GordNovo · Nov 23, 2006

JimParker said:
I'm afraid the goats would be attracted to the gulley, and get hurt when something they were climbing ....

Hi Jim, I think I have a solution to your dilemma. Why not just build a bridge over the gulley? But make sure you get at least one bigger billy goat just in case they encounter the troll living in the brush under the bridge.

GN

HillbillyFarmer · Nov 24, 2006

If you really don't know the best thing to do, why not contact your local county extension agent? That's what they're for.
I've always found that it's best to leave things as they are and not try and mess with natural contours etc.

CurlyDave · Nov 24, 2006

I'm afraid the goats would be attracted to the gulley, and get hurt when something they were climbing on shifted.

Any goat that lets that happen needs to turn in his goat ID papers and become a miniature cow or something.

Goats are a lot more nimble than you think.

Unless these are super-expensive show goats or household pets, just turn them loose & see what happens. If one of them gets hurt in there, it goes in the freezer.

Around here goats go for free to about $25. I bet you can replace a lot of goats for the price of a goat-proof fence.

JimParker · Nov 24, 2006

Next time I go out there, I'll get some pictures of the big gulley. I've pretty well decided to leave it alone and just keep piling brush into it as I clean up the other brush piles.

Yesterday, my wife asked me to get her a chain saw for Christmas. She says she gets to play (I mean - work) with tools also! Actually, she wants 2 of them...

I was out there for about 4 hours on Wednesday, just messing around. Consolidated a couple of brush piles into one bigger one. Leveled out a couple of really bumpy areas. Things like that. Anyway, while eating lunch, I sat and watched a hawk cruise the meadow, then the treeline, and then loop back about every 30 minutes. In the distance, I could hear a couple of crows cawing at each other. Add in a few songbirds, some butterflies landing on the wildflowers, and a beautiful day with temps in the mid-60s... I've got a wonderful wife, 3 fantastic kids, a great job that pays well, and now this beautiful piece of land. What a great lead-in to Thanksgiving Day celebration with my sister's family. Is this a great country of what?

ddivinia · Nov 25, 2006

Where is your new place - Farmersville?

D.

texasjohn · Nov 25, 2006

Howdy,
I put brush in erosion areas. Birds sit on it, droppings happen, trees spring up, slow water, slow erosion, grass grows under dead brush, difficult for herbivors to get to, reduces erosion rate, gathers runoff debris, dirt begins to fill in the area, bottom flattens out, water slows down drops silt, variety of plants increases, critters hide there... its a good thing, leave it there.

Goats will NOT, EVER, get hurt on any part of the terrain you describe.

Have fun doing something else with your tractor seat time

mikim · Nov 28, 2006

FYI -- my wife really likes the 2 echo saws she has --- light weight - handle on top ....

RalphVa · Nov 28, 2006

I filled in a gully made by rain coming down from the neighbor's turnaround area with gravel. At one place, I put in a "lazy man's rain garden" by making a dam with some big rocks. Then filled in behind the dam and put some Jamestown Weed seeds down. Had a nice crop of Jimeson weeds with their pretty flowers this summer on it.

Where the contractor pushed excess dirt from the carriage house construction, there's a mini gully that I'm filling in with stuff. Eventually, I'll maybe get a load of dirt delivered and dump it in there on top.

Another place where there's a big gully, I built a mini dam out of leftover cement blocks. They stop some of the minor erosion.

I'd leave your gully, maybe put some stuff crossways down near the bottom end of it to better stop erosion. Continue to put brush in it. Cut it up to pack it in better.

Ralph

Pilot · Nov 28, 2006

Leaving the brush is probably not a problem.

The only potential problem I see is from flooding, maybe a flash flood. Then what happens is that the stuff will start to move and may pile up against something further downstream, doing some damage or causing more cutting of banks, maybe undercutting the edge of a road or driveway. The '64 flood here in Oregon had logs piling up against bridges until there was so much pressure the bridges gave out. That was an extreme flood & we had really big trees. But we lost some big bridges. A walk downstream to see what's there could identify problem areas. Or maybe the stems on this brush are smaller than I imagine or the volume of the brush is smaller and there is no problem at all...

BTW, I am 1/3 of the way thru building an RV-9...and live less than 30 mi. from Van's. Eat your heart out!

JimParker · Nov 30, 2006

ddivinia said:
Where is your new place - Farmersville?

Yep, it's really closer to Princeton, but the mailing address is Farmersville. If you know where 380 crosses Lake Lavon, we're a bit north of there, next to the Army Corps of Engineers land.

Sounds like you're in the general area also?

JimParker · Nov 30, 2006

Pilot said:
BTW, I am 1/3 of the way thru building an RV-9...and live less than 30 mi. from Van's. Eat your heart out!

Now that's just downright mean!

From what I've heard, 1/3 finished means you've only got about 90% left to go! I hope you enjoy yours as much as the other RV builders I've met love theirs. Are you going to paint it green and yellow?

ddivinia · Dec 3, 2006

I grew up in Greeville and have driven 380 many times - know the area well. I am in Red Oak now (25 mins south of Dallas).

D.

Pilot · Dec 3, 2006

Actually I would like to paint it green & yellow, but around here in western Oregon the green would disappear against the background of trees. And at Van's fly-in, I have noticed that some yellow planes attract bees and I am allergic to them, so I'll probably go with blue or marroon. Got the top wing skins riveted on last week, the QB fuselage is ordered & will be delivered in March.