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

 

[have_blue]

I simply push my stuff up into a pile and let it rot. I cut bigger trees up into 10 foot lengths so they will pile more compactly. As the leaves and small twigs decay, the pile shrinks quickly, and quite a lot.

The rabbits and birds really enjoy the cover. The missus doesn't really like the brush pile, but all I have to say is "Oh, look at the cute bunny"! and I win. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Haoleguy]

bczoom : Correct on the pile entanglement. The vines have essentially tried to choke all the other invasive plants and trees over the past 20-30years. Regardless of my choice of disposal it appears I now need a grapple to move this stuff around efficiently. I will be checking on the burn permits here but I suspect it will be a dead of winter permit only. Cheers.

 

[psuedofarmer]

i've been clearing/restoring fields for nearly 3 years now on my farm. some of my burn piles reach mammoth proportions (e.g., 30x30ft), and contain wet/dry/unseasonsed/stumps, etc.

when burning such large piles, i ALWAYS wait for snow on the ground, and always try to burn when its precipitating.

good luck
pf

 

[BoneheadNW]

Just a couple more comments. When we had the area cleared to build our house (approx 1.5 acres cleared), my wife and I decided that all of the trees/brush would be used by us in some way. The brush and branches were chipped using a tub grinder (which was fed by an excavator) and the trees were stacked in the back yard for me to cut/split to use as firewood. Tub grinder cost was $200/hr and took around 3 hours to grind everything making a huge mulch pile. We used the mulch (after decaying for almost 2 years) in combination with other soil amendments to improve the crud we have as soil. I bucked every last tree stacked in the backyard, gave some to buddies at work, and have used the wood to heat the house for 3 years now. I'm not saying that it was worth my time, but someone made the mistake of saying "There is no way you are going to cut up all of those logs!" From then on ther was no doubt I would do it.

Whatever method you chose, good luck and be safe.

Bonehead

 

[Tdog]

Haoleguy,
I used to accumulate trees & brush until I had a good size pile & then, weather permitting, we'd burn. Burning was not my favorite task. Waiting for snow would be a decade-long wait. If I burned in the summer, it was, well, too hot. Besides, it is a lot of work & we never left the burn unattended. It consumed quite a bit of the day.
Since I've had a tractor with a FEL, I've been towing, hauling, or pulling trees, etc back to the back of my property & 'hiding' it in the woods. My bone pile is pretty dang big by now. It well eventually rot away. Whatever, it's out of sight, & it is a lot quicker and a LOT more fun than burn piles.
It may not work for everyone, but it's been right for me.

 

[Junkman]

When I inquired about burning a large pile of brush, the local fire department told me that it is illegal to burn any wood over 3" in diameter. That quickly ended my thoughts of burning anything. I just left the piles out to weather and after a few years they were rotted down to almost nothing. Pine rots quickly, so if it isn't a aesthetic problem, let it rot...

 

[psuedofarmer]

the 3" diameter restriction is common. fire depts. in NH have the same language in their burn permit restriction. however, that doesn't seem to stop farmers, developers, and individual home owners from 'bending' the rules.

the local fire dept (most of whom i know personally in my neck of the woods) should be approachable. it may be prudent to talk to them about your situation. it would help if you applied for the burn permit during winter (with snow on the ground) and during a nor'easter.

good luck.

pf

 

[Haoleguy]

All - An update on the burn possibility. I stopped by to see the fire district chief about a burn permit. It turns out that I met all criteria except for one.........I do not have a residence at the property. He said the Connecticut EPA holds the strings and there is still a chance based on future agriculture use of the cleared land. Next week is the followup with the state EPA. The alternatives to burning are pricey but I'm still chasing a few leads down. Thanks to all. I will still monitor this thread to see if any other suggestions come up. Cheers!

 

[bczoom]

Haoleguy,

A quick anecdote that applies.

A friend of mine's Dad has a hundred or so acre farm in Ohio. Some ordinance passed that you can't burn unless it's for recreational cooking. So, he builds a huge pile of all the stuff he needs to burn, lights it and backs up to his chair where he has a hotdog on a stick that he holds up (from about 50' away). The local law enforcement did stop by one time but pretty much shook their heads and left.

Not sure if you could take this approach where you are. Check with the local fire district again and ask the "what if" I put up a tent for the weekend. Can I burn fires so I can cook? With a wink, also make sure they do know how big it's going to be so there's no problems once the burning actually does start.

Brian