I'm clearing the trash (pepper trees and wild grape vines) from 5 acres in Florida; leaving all the native growth. Still, that is a
lot of brush. I considered (1) hauling it away; (2) chipping it; and (3) burning it. After looking at the cost of hauling and land fill fees, and the cost of buying a
chipper, I went with burning. Renting a
chipper was not a viable option, because I'm spreading the job out over weeks and would need the
chipper many times.
After several weeks of work, I have some thoughts on the subject. First, burning was the right thing to do. I have a landowner's number from the Div of Forestry and can call any morning for a permit, no charge, which they will grant if conditions are OK (not too windy, moist enough). A Ranger came out to the property first to make recommendations. We have to be 100' from roads, 100' from powerlines, and 300' from any dwellings not our own.
The Ranger suggested diesel to start the fires. I was shocked at first, but then thought about it - the diesel is going onto the brush fire, never gets a chance to soak into the land, and is burned up immediately. We borrowed a portable tank (the kind that equipment maintenance guys mount in a pickup) with a 12v electric pump to apply the diesel, but you could do it from 5 gallon cans - use off road diesel; no point burning up road tax money.
If you have any appreciable amount of brush, you will need to pile it in several manageable piles, not one big one. The conflagration would be too great, otherwise. I can tend about 3 piles at once with my TC18 and FEL. I only had one get away from me a little, and I had it out in about 2 minutes by dropping dirt over it and dragging the FEL bucket through it (this was about a 6" high grass fire, not a roaring forest fire). The FL Div of Forestry requires a loader to tend the piles.
I suppose a grapple would be nice, but you can use a brush rake (also called a root rake or grubber) just as easily, and it's faster - no waiting for the grapple to close and open. If your FEL has a skid steer quick attach and enough capacity, you can rent a brush rake from many skid steer stores. My little TC18 doesn't, so I rented a
big tractor to do the rough clearing (attachment). I'm building a bucket-mounted brush rake that's more appropriate to my little tractor to clean up after the big tractor.
Brush grows fast in Florida, and I expect continuing work to stay ahead of it in the future. Once the landscaping is done and the house is built, I won't want to burn. At that point, it will be a much smaller job maybe once a year, and I plan to rent a
chipper.
The chipped wood is good for compost and mulch, but ash is good for the land, too.
{edit} I thought of a couple of more things. If, in your clearing, you are pulling things out by the roots, you're going to have a lot of dirt in your piles. You have to get rid of all that before you can chip. To chip, you have to cut things up to manageable sizes. To burn, just pile and light. If you cut and chip, you'll still have big stumps/roots to burn or haul away. Burn, baby, burn.
Have fun.
