Chipper Since we're talking about chippers...

[adegiulio]

Since we\'re talking about chippers...

I am quickly accumulating a large pile of brush from the land clearing we are doing. We are allowed to burn up here, but I have given some consideration to chipping all that brush. A few questions....

1) is it easier to chip fresh (green) or dried wood.
2) How long after I cut down trees and brush should i wait till I BURN??
3) Everyone says tilling ash into the ground is good, what about all those chips. I have lots of clay and could definately use the organic material, but how long does it take to break down??
4) All things being equal, would you rather burn or chip?

Thanks for the input...please add any info not covered by those questions...

I am thinking about the DR 3ph model for 1799. Any other ideas (besides the chinese model mentioned on another current thread)

Anthony

 

[Docsknotinn]

Re: Since we\'re talking about chippers...

Personally in the woods or agricultural area I'd rather burn. Its faster and far cheaper. Near the homestead for landscapeing can be a whole different story as then the chips might be usefull. Dave

 

[RonR]

My experience.......

Our city lot has a row of HUGE Hedge (Osage Orange) trees behind it. Having not been trimmed in quite awhile, I got energetic and did it a couple summers ago. Thinking I could chip the stuff for home use, I rented a medium size chipper for $45.

Had the brush cut and started feeding it into the chipper. Problem was the opening in the chipper was so small, I had to keep trimming the bush to feed it in. Hedge grows so crooked, it was a mess.

In the end, I had about 4 trash cans full of mulch, and had done a lot of work. Found out later I could have taken it to our city recycle place (intact) and hauled home other mulch already done......

Lesson learned........
Ron

 

[adegiulio]

Re: My experience.......

LOL, I wish I could do the same Ron. I'm talking about brush from clearing about 2 acres of overgrown woodland... Limbs from the countless trees we are cutting down, not to mention all the saplings I just rip out of the ground. ITs a huge pile and its only getting bigger /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Thanks for the responses so far....

Ant

 

[BillG_in_TX]

Re: Since we\'re talking about chippers...

Anthony,

fyi - I am on the DR mailing list, since I ask them so often about this chipper. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif I got a card last week that says this special price and free shipping ends on Aug 28. You might want to check with them about the deadline.

 

[Docsknotinn]

Re: Since we\'re talking about chippers...

I would think a PTO chipper superior to any of the standard household free standing chippers. Bearcat makes them as well as vermeer. You might rent a much larger one with a hydraulic feed from the home depot once you have a pile but a mtach is a whole lot faster if you have a safe place to burn. Dave

 

[sleepyhollow]

Re: Since we\'re talking about chippers...

Adegiulio,

In answer to question number 3... Chips take a long time to break down depending on how wet your climate is.

Another point to consider (if you are adding chips to an area with plants) is that when the chips break down they will pull nitrogen out of the soil as the bacteria that break down the chips require nitrogen. Unless you add nitrogen your plants will compete with the bacteria.
Sleepyhollow

 

[cbh]

Re: Since we\'re talking about chippers...

Anthony,

I faced a similar situation to yours about a month ago. Over the last year, I collected the brush and limbs from 30-40 trees I had cut down. The brush pile was enormous! I thought it would be nice to have some wood chips, so I rented a 30 hp Salsco chipper for a day.

The machine worked fine, but it was slow going because every limb had to be brought to the chipper by hand. Sometimes limbs would get tangled with others and slow things down even more. Finally, the limbs needed to be fed large end first, which added even more work turning a bunch of them around.

The next day I got a burn permit, and, using my homemade bucket forks with the loader on my B7500, fed fork loads of limbs into the burn pile. This worked great, was much, much faster, and I got to use my tractor! It was also less expensive because I owned the tractor but had to rent the chipper.

For fire safety, I chose to gradually feed a separate burn pile rather than burning that massive pile all at once. The bucket forks make this process fun. One should use care when feeding to avoid burning the tractor, though with the forks, that's easy to avoid.

I have attached a picture of my bucket forks. They are shown on a JD2210 but I now have a B7500. Aside from the loader itself, the forks are my most used attachment.

 

[adegiulio]

Re: Since we\'re talking about chippers...

Thanks for all the responses. CBH, how long did you let the brush dry before you burned? A few weeks, months? I love the idea of burning, but I dont want to wait till next year to do it...

Ant

 

[cbh]

Re: Since we\'re talking about chippers...

The only reason I waited a year is because it took that long to collect it all. Since brush and limbs are relatively small diameter, I would think they would burn okay a few months after cutting.