Some kind of long term dumpster without heavy rent charges? Buy one cheap?

[quicksandfarmer]

Like a lot of other posters I think your best bet is to process it on site somehow. But failing that...

Simplest thing would be to pile it up next to where the dumpster will go, when the pile gets big enough bring in a dumpster and fill it from the pile. But that means handling it twice. If you don't want to do that, you have to figure out some other sort of container to put it in that you can then move with the tractor to the dumpster. I don't know how much brush weighs, but let's say it's about the same as mulch, which is about 800 pounds per cubic yard. My tractor can lift about 1600 pounds so that's two cubic yards. Let's say you go with a 20-yard dumpster, you'd need ten containers, each two yards. Of course anything that doesn't fit in the container would have to be cut up, which means it's more work.

Another option is to call the dumpster company and ask them if they have any ideas. They may be willing to work something out.

 

[BadDecisions]

It’s actually easier to burn in the desert because of a lack of continuous grass cover to carry fire.

. Right....might have something to do with the fire ban that runs from May 1 to September 30. It's also listed clear as day on the county's website that burning yard waste such as tree trimmings is strictly prohibited.

Digging through this stuff isn't easy either. This is from dragging the bucket with front wheels hanging off the ground. Barely got an inch into the surface. Even my neighbor's backhoe has a hard time getting through the caliche.

People who don't live in these areas really don't understand how different it is than other areas of the county that has loose soil. I could dig a hole deeper and faster by hand with a shovel in Michigan than the small tractors do here. You really need full size construction equipment for digging here.

At the end of the day though, piling it up isn't the end of the world, just annoying to have and annoying to have to touch it twice. I just thought maybe there might be a simple, cheap, solution that I hadn't thought of.

 

[jyoutz]

There’s a lot of months between September and May. If it were me, I would go and personally talk to the wildland fire manager at your local or county fire department and ask about solutions. My wildland fire coordinator at our county FD worked with me to prescribe burn 20 acres even though the burn permit limited burning to a few piles. Doesn’t hurt to ask.

 

[BadDecisions]

"Hey, so I know you just got done dealing with a 1,000 acre wildfire a couple weeks ago caused by people burning stuff, Maricopa County specifically bans burning this stuff year-round, and I already know about all this because it's part of my job....but the guy on the internet from a different state said it would be OK because the desert doesn't have continuous grass coverage, so I'm good to go, right?"

Burning Activities | Maricopa County, AZ

A list of the types of burning activities and the regulations on them, including how to apply for an open burn permit and how to burn responsibly.

www.maricopa.gov

 

[jyoutz]

"Hey, so I know you just got done dealing with a 1,000 acre wildfire a couple weeks ago caused by people burning stuff, Maricopa County specifically bans burning this stuff year-round, and I already know about all this because it's part of my job....but the guy on the internet from a different state said it would be OK because the desert doesn't have continuous grass coverage, so I'm good to go, right

I’m out of this discussion. I used to be the situation unit leader for the eastern Arizona incident management team and a certified prescribed burn boss. Been involved with millions of acres of wildfires and burning throughout the Southwest and elsewhere in the west. I gave you my best advice. Take it or leave it. There are always solutions when you sit down and discuss techniques and ideas with the right people.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

In keeping with the process on site theme. What I have been doing lately has been making use of the bush hog. You talked about the small brush and cuttings. What I do on small stuff like branches, small limbs, vines, and the like is to cut or pull them down then push them out into the open enough that I can go over it with the bush hog. Works like a poor man's chipper. The larger stuff I typically burn, I understand that's not an option for you. But bush hogging it will at least cut down on the volume of stuff you have to deal with. I don't know how the left over mulched up stuff would brake down in a desert though? Most of the scrub around me brakes down in no time with this method, like within a few weeks you would never have known it was ever there.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

If you are just peeling the entire ground to get rid of the stinknet, is there no type of herbicide that would kill it and then it could just decompose without having to deal with piles of dirt and organics?

 

[quicksandfarmer]

Here's a thought: could you build a ramp, stack the material on the ramp, and when you have enough put the dumpster below the ramp and just push everything off the ramp and into the dumpster? Do you have a hill or other elevation change that would help you?

 

[aczlan]

"Hey, so I know you just got done dealing with a 1,000 acre wildfire a couple weeks ago caused by people burning stuff, Maricopa County specifically bans burning this stuff year-round, and I already know about all this because it's part of my job....but the guy on the internet from a different state said it would be OK because the desert doesn't have continuous grass coverage, so I'm good to go, right?"

Burning Activities | Maricopa County, AZ

A list of the types of burning activities and the regulations on them, including how to apply for an open burn permit and how to burn responsibly.

www.maricopa.gov

Sounds like you want to do a "Fire for prevention of fire hazards" which is specifically allowed with a permit:

Burn Permits | Maricopa County, AZ

The Maricopa County Air Quality Department regulates the use of wood burning in residential fireplaces, woodstoves and outdoor burning devices during periods of high particulate matter (dust), carbon monoxide or ozone pollution, when air quality monitoring or forecasting indicates that air...

www.maricopa.gov

Aaron Z