Brush, what to do with it?

[fried1765]

I clear a lot of land, for me as well as for others.

My preferred method is to find a ravine and push the stumps and brush into, then regrade.

If I cannot do that, then it is burning it. Chipping just takes too much time, and fuel to get anything measurable out of. And digging a hole and burying it does not make much sense either as the size of the hole needed, and time it takes to dig the hole, is just way too much for how much has to be buried.

As for saving topsoil, which no one has talked about. Here in the north we got it made because we can pull the stump with an excavator, then let it sit over the winter. Frost will freeze the dirt, and let it unstick from the roots, then when you move the stump to burn it, all the dirt falls off and they burn cleaner.

On my own land, I do something a bit different because I have time and do not mind looking at the clearcut for awhile. I just wait for 5 years before clearing. That allows the stumps to rot down, so it takes half the time, and half the equipment size to clear the land. That is because in 5 years time, most of the stump is rotted because stumps rot from the ground up, and not the ground down. I am left with some saplings to clean up, but they are easy to push.

Time for stumps to rot is a wood and soil type specific thing.
I have locust stumps, in well drained soil. They can take up to 50 years to rot.

 

[Jstpssng]

Time for stumps to rot is a wood and soil type specific thing.
I have locust stumps, in well drained soil. They can take up to 50 years to rot.

Locust takes forever to rot anyways. That's why they were planted years ago as a source for fence posts.

 

[Bullwinkle123]

I've been hoping there might be a chipper in my future, as brush piles mount and because I never have enough mulch when I estimate my spring needs.

Two questions based on this thread:

1. What is a widowmaker tree? I'm having trouble picturing any of my trees that aren't widowmakers in some way or another.
2. That comment about termites in wood chips, vs commercial bark mulch. Anybody else have that concern? If I just make a big pile of wood ships and let it stew for a year, will it still be a termite risk?

 

[Smokeydog]

Widowmakers are dead trees or dead limb or hanging limbs in trees. Unpredictable when and how they fall. Just the vibration of cutting the trunk or pushing with a tractor can have a limb or top break and fall on you. Doesn’t take much of a branch falling 50-60’ to kill you or go thru the tractor canopy.

It’s been good to see these arborists work on the few storm damaged trees insurance or I can pay for. Full gear, chainsaw chaps, boots that grip on trees, helmet with communication and always a spotter for anything overhead. I’m letting them do the widowmarkers over the spring house and log house with a bucket truck. Being 30-40 years younger helps too.

I have a 36” red oak in the woods beside the driveway die a few years ago. Needed to winch it to get it to fall where I would like it to go. Didn’t get to it soon enough. Now too dangerous to cut. Some of the branches that have fallen drive 2’ in ground. I’ll let nature take its course and hope we are not under it.

 

[mred2]

Smokeydog, I had one just like that by drive. I did not park anything under it. I got lucky, paid a guy $300 to cut it and two others. He had a large bucket truck and knew how to do it. Cut it down 4 feet at a time.

 

[bigtiller]

I just spent 3 days chipping/shredding storm damage with my bearcat 540 5" chipper/shredder. I chipped into a 5x10 dump trailer and filled it 3/4 full twice.

So, I decided to take a vacation day to heal up. That turned into 7 days and I think with 3 more days I'll be back to normal.

Next time I am going to haul them to the branches to the city dump.

Any body want to buy a chipper?

 

[Smokeydog]

Smokeydog, I had one just like that by drive. I did not park anything under it. I got lucky, paid a guy $300 to cut it and two others. He had a large bucket truck and knew how to do it. Cut it down 4 feet at a time.

Exactly. Got to know your limitations. It would take 90’ bucket truck to take down that oak. I would suspect $1-2K to lay it all on the ground.

 

[mred2]

This guy just cut down the other 2, pulling with rope. Cut the one on the drive from the top down. But for $300 did not clean up anything. Not a problem with grapple on tractor and dump trailer. He is cheap and has insurance. But doesn't like to clean up.

 

[Bullwinkle123]

Hey, so back to that termite thing. I was hoping that if I chipped a decent pile of wood I'd have enough chips to let the pile heat internally when I let it sit for a year, hopefully killing things like termites. Wishful thinking on my part? (Since I can never get my small garden compost pile to heat, I clearly don't have a talent for it).

 

[Smokeydog]

Hey, so back to that termite thing. I was hoping that if I chipped a decent pile of wood I'd have enough chips to let the pile heat internally when I let it sit for a year, hopefully killing things like termites. Wishful thinking on my part? (Since I can never get my small garden compost pile to heat, I clearly don't have a talent for it).

A little bit of ammonia nitrate or regular fertilizer like 18.18.18 or any manure will help with compost digestion to bring the heat up. Always can find free for hauling nitrogen ie zoo poo, stable cleanings, coffee grounds or hulls from roasting.

If you compost well you break down the wood food for the termites. Takes the right amount of water and pile rotation. Good for trails, blueberry patch, etc. Got to be careful with raw sawdust and wood chips for mulch as they can draw nitrogen from soil while they decompose. There is a difference between mulch and compost. Been practicing organic farming since 1943 here. Lady I bought this farm from hauled 55 gallon barrels of blood from slaughter house and dump truck loads of coffee hulls to augment compost. The coffee smelled good, the blood not so much.

Had a chipper for awhile. Just wasn’t worth the effort or termite risk around the buildings for us. You might do better.