Mulcher for sagebrush on rocky ground?

[scootr]

Don’t get chips too deep. They don’t break down very fast if they’re deep. Once we had a project in a ponderosa pine forest where we thinned small trees by chipping. The chips were 10-12” thick after the thinning. After 6 years, there was nothing growing under the trees so we did a prescribed burn to reduce the fuels. The depth of the chips caused the fire to smolder, unlike how pine needles and coarse slash burn. The heat was driven deep into the soil and it cooked the roots of mature trees. A disastrous outcome because a low severity smoldering fire killed the mature stand. Once you get deep chips, it’s nearly impossible to get rid of them and you have to hope that the stand doesn’t experience any fire activity for decades.

I did a small area of very deep chips and found that small animals found them to be a great place to live. Plus the don't stay put on a slope in heavy rain... Took about 5 years for them to really break down. By then weeds were popping through. I'm over the chips.

 

[Sierraau]

Don’t get chips too deep. They don’t break down very fast if they’re deep. Once we had a project in a ponderosa pine forest where we thinned small trees by chipping. The chips were 10-12” thick after the thinning. After 6 years, there was nothing growing under the trees so we did a prescribed burn to reduce the fuels. The depth of the chips caused the fire to smolder, unlike how pine needles and coarse slash burn. The heat was driven deep into the soil and it cooked the roots of mature trees. A disastrous outcome because a low severity smoldering fire killed the mature stand. Once you get deep chips, it’s nearly impossible to get rid of them and you have to hope that the stand doesn’t experience any fire activity for decades.

Good to know, as the chips seemed to have blended into the soil pretty nicely so far and I was thinking about adding more to keep the depth. I like the fact that the chips prevent the cheat grass from growing. I'll take your advice on this and hold off on getting more chips on top of the ones I have. It's hard to turn down free chips delivered though.

 

[Sierraau]

Good to know, as the chips seemed to have blended into the soil pretty nicely so far and I was thinking about adding more to keep the depth. I like the fact that the chips prevent the cheat grass from growing. I'll take your advice on this and hold off on getting more chips on top of the ones I have. It's hard to turn down free chips delivered though.

The other good news of 10 acres of chips surrounding my house is I don't have any issues with the carpenter ants in the woods invading my house- my guess is they have plenty to choose from right where they are.

 

[Sierraau]

Don’t get chips too deep. They don’t break down very fast if they’re deep. Once we had a project in a ponderosa pine forest where we thinned small trees by chipping. The chips were 10-12” thick after the thinning. After 6 years, there was nothing growing under the trees so we did a prescribed burn to reduce the fuels. The depth of the chips caused the fire to smolder, unlike how pine needles and coarse slash burn. The heat was driven deep into the soil and it cooked the roots of mature trees. A disastrous outcome because a low severity smoldering fire killed the mature stand. Once you get deep chips, it’s nearly impossible to get rid of them and you have to hope that the stand doesn’t experience any fire activity for decades.

Was your forest where the chips were under snow for long periods of time? Just curious...

 

[jyoutz]

Was your forest where the chips were under snow for long periods of time? Just curious...

Yes. Sangre de Cristo mountains (southern Rocky Mountains) on the Santa Fe NF. Lots of winter snowpack. And the Truckee/Tahoe area does have native grasses. I recommend that you speak with your local cooperative extension service about what native grasses are suitable and how to establish it after removal of the sage. Yes, your area has summer drought, so establishing native grasses will probably need to be seeded in fall, overwinter, then germinate during the spring. Deep wood chips are usually only beneficial as a mulch in flower beds and gardens where you don’t want anything to germinate; they are not beneficial on a widespread landscape basis, unless all you want to see is wood chips. They can make a good cover mulch for seeding grasses and forbs if the chips are kept to a depth of 1” or less.

 

[jyoutz]

Good to know, as the chips seemed to have blended into the soil pretty nicely so far and I was thinking about adding more to keep the depth. I like the fact that the chips prevent the cheat grass from growing. I'll take your advice on this and hold off on getting more chips on top of the ones I have. It's hard to turn down free chips delivered though.

The best cheatgrass prevention is to establish native grasses and forbs to compete with the cheatgrass.

 

[Fixastuff]

The chain bush hog is the only answer that makes sense to me.

 

[Sierraau]

Don’t get chips too deep. They don’t break down very fast if they’re deep. Once we had a project in a ponderosa pine forest where we thinned small trees by chipping. The chips were 10-12” thick after the thinning. After 6 years, there was nothing growing under the trees so we did a prescribed burn to reduce the fuels. The depth of the chips caused the fire to smolder, unlike how pine needles and coarse slash burn. The heat was driven deep into the soil and it cooked the roots of mature trees. A disastrous outcome because a low severity smoldering fire killed the mature stand. Once you get deep chips, it’s nearly impossible to get rid of them and you have to hope that the stand doesn’t experience any fire activity for decades.

I kicked some of the chips away and noticed that the lower layers were not wet. Would there be any benefit to plow the chips into the soil to mix it up a bit and get the wood matter mixed into the soil?

 

[Sierraau]

I don't hear the chains hitting the deck. I think the speed that they are spinning keeps them straight out

So the next question is what sized chain do I use and how do I attach it to the rotating axles? I was thinking of using a quick link to attach it, but my guess is the quick link probably won't last very long with that kind of abuse. Today I will flip over the mower and see how the blades are attached. I would assume the chain links will wear down and will need to be replaced occasionally. Also how close should I make the two rotating sets of rotating links come to each other?

 

[jyoutz]

I kicked some of the chips away and noticed that the lower layers were not wet. Would there be any benefit to plow the chips into the soil to mix it up a bit and get the wood matter mixed into the soil?

I think it would help to decompose the chips faster. Keep in mind that the chips will tie up the nitrogen in the upper soil and it won’t be very fertile for plant growth until the chips are decomposed. I still recommend that you talk with local cooperative extension service people to see what they recommend locally for your situation before starting out on a big project that may not be successful.