Brush & Tree Disposal

[Haoleguy]

Well it's happened. I found that I could push over 25-35 ft spruce trees with my new JD 5325. This has accelerated the dense brush and vine clearing on 3 acres which opens a 6 acre field. I didn't expect to exceed my expectations put the JD did the work and now I come to my problem where I need your help. I have mounds of trees/brush/vines and am facing a disposal, removal, chipping, & burning decision. From the experience of others how can I best attack these piles to get rid of it?? I will stop by my fire district office to see if I can get a burn permit for the near future. My guess is not as we have had a very warm dry summer in CT. Your ideas are much appreciated.

 

[bczoom]

I would make piles now but hold off on burning until snow is on the ground. It's pretty dry right now...

 

[BoneheadNW]

We have a year-round burn ban here. For trees your size and type, I would make 2 piles. The smaller branches would go in one pile to be chipped and the larger (trunk) sections would be cut up to be used for firewood. Personally, I use both chips and firewood but other people here give it away or sell it.

Is it too much trouble to get a chipper in to where you have cleared? Could you haul the branches and firewood out with your tractor?

Bonehead

 

[bczoom]

Bonehead,

He mentioned spruce so I'm thinking (maybe incorrectly) pine trees. If I am correct, I'd just burn them. The wood is no good for fireplace/woodstove and the needles on the branches make it such that it's too much of a hastle to go through the chipping process.

Brian

 

[beenthere]

Yep, pushing them over is easy. Now comes the work.

If you don't have forks for your FEL, you will enjoy them very much for the task of moving brush to a burn pile. If me, I'd start a small pile burning and add to it so it can be controlled.

That is, if burning is permitted such as when there is snow on the ground if not now, and if there isn't salvageble wood for fuel, etc.

 

[BoneheadNW]

Brian-

Pine trees are pretty few and far between where I live. Why can't they be burned in the fireplace? Too much pitch? If you are cold enough, anything is burnable.

Bonehead

 

[Highbeam]

I haven't met a type of wood that isn't good for burning in a woodstove. Some are better, sure, but none are no good. The only trick is the pine will shorten the creosote cleaning interval for the chimney.

I have huge piles of slash from my clearing operation. My dozer can push over similar sized trees. The piles should be pretty free of dirt nomatter what you want to do with it.

If you can burn, do it. That is the cheapest option. Do it safely and legally. The larger and drier the pile, the faster and cleaner it will burn. I would stack the piles as big as you are comfortable with burning right now and let them dry out until wet weather. Many loggers will even put a big sheet of plastic on the top of the pile to keep the core dry when the rains come. The piles will shrink as they wait.

The next option is to cut out the good wood and have a huge pile remaining. This won't get you much unless your time has little value and firewood is of great value to you. In the end you will still have lots of slash to deal with. The slash will need to be dealt with.

There are large tub grinder trailers that can come out and make you a mountain of ground wood. That is cool but expensive get an estimate. A clean pile is much preferred since the grinder will last longer.

The last option is to have a guy come out and haul it off to a central grinder operation. Out here that is about 300$ per semi trailer but it is highly dependent on the distance they need to travel.

There is one member on this board who dug a long deep trench and buried the whole pile. Might not be legal in your area but it sure was a safe and cheap way to go. Don't plan on building anything in that area.

An amazingly huge pile of slash is made when a pretty small area is cleared. You could just make a huge pile out of the way and leave it sit forever. Small animals and birds are supposed to like them.

I am having the logger restack my piles into one huge one and burn them. Stumps, logs, and slash will disappear in short time with a 20+ foot tall slash pile. The risk of wildfire is too high to do it myself, he has insurance.

 

[Farwell]

BoneHead,
You can burn pine but you need to let it dry and that can take around a year depending on where you live. Yes, pitch is one of the pine problems, it will coat your chimney and has a potential for starting a fire if the pine is not dry. The other problem is that it burns real fast so the labor and waiting time makes hard wood much more desirable. If I had a wood furnace in my pole barn I would burn pine once in a while but my insurance company will cancel my insurance if they find any wood burning stoves or heaters on my property. I even went so far as to buy one of the 55 gallon drum stove kits but before I put it together I called my insurance company and that nixed that idea real quick.
Farwell

 

[tawilson]

Doing a similar thing now. As bczoom said, getting it piled for a burn when there is some snow on the ground. Another pile heavy with roots, rocks and brush is heading for a small ledge to be pushed over.

 

[Farwell]

I dig a pit with my FEL that is about 6 foot wide, 6 foot deep and about 20 feet long. I fill the bottom of the pit with as much brush as I can get in it, then I start piling on the logs. The logs crush the brush but leave an air space under the pile to help with getting oxygen to the fire when started. The pile is usually about 8 feet above ground level when I stop adding wood, but drops to about 5 feet by the time I burn it from the wood drying out. I let the pile sit until Fall and then cover it up with a tarp weighted down with sand filled plastic one gallon milk bottles tied to the tarp edges. I am not allowed to burn until around February because of all of the Red Pine that surrounds my property and all of the needles on the ground need to be covered with a good coat of snow.
By waiting until February to burn the Winter humidity is so low here in Michigan that the wood is really dry by the time I can burn it. It is amazing how fast the pile burns down to nothing. Come Spring, I clean what little ash is left in the pit and start all over again. I have a lot of Jack Pine that is dying so I have a constant supply of burning material.
Farwell