What to do with ‘yard’ waste?
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jyoutz
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MX6000 HST open station, FEL, 6’ cutter, forks, 8’ rear blade, 7’ cultivator
I burn my brush piles in the winter when they have a few inches of snow covering them.
I used to do burn piles but since the entire state has burnt over the last few years they have cut back on that. Now you are severely limited in the size and you must stay there or you will be fined heavily. Got tired of that and got a dump trailer…they have a dump site that is very cheap where you can take all the slash and things that are burn able….they bury it. There is also a bio power plant that will take clean wood as well.
Leaves get chopped/blown to the fence row on the West or into the creek to the North with the RFM. Big parts of trees are given away for firewood or tossed on a permanent pile at the SW corner at the fence row.
Donystoy
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LX2610HSDCC, B/H, Loader, plus numerous other attachments. B7200 sold
We are allowed to burn piles of brush about 20' x 20' x 6'. I probably do about 10 of these every year as I clear brush along my 4000' driveway as well as other areas. I obtain a burn permit every year which stipulates all requirements. I abstain from burning due to wind direction or if dry material is close by. I frequently hold off burning long before any burn ban is issued. Cannot burn after dark. I remember as a youngster on the farm we set on fire a huge pile of raspberry canes that we had pruned from 10 acres. We did this after dark and cars came from miles around to see who's barn was on fire.
Interesting. We are only allowed to burn between 5p-9a. Theoretically because 1) wind is typically lower at night and 2) volunteer firefighters are in town back from their day jobs. Permission required (permit) and must call dispatch at start of burn so they are aware if someone calls it in. Can burn during day if 1) it is actively raining or 2) ground is snow covered.
Blue2Orange
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BX2380 with LA344S & QH05. SB1051. SG0554. BB1248. RB0560, Vassar dirt bucket
Personally when it comes to wood and brush piles I let nature deal with them. Occasionally salvage some of the sticks for wood stove "kindling" . Just in from cutting a few of those sticks with the battery powered had pruner. The pruners that look like a mini chainsaw.
Mid 90's had a logger harvest the pulp wood and any damaged hardwood. 40 acre project. 185 logger cords later I had a few large brush piles scattered over the 40. Still dense forest. All were out of sight and out thought. Moisture, sun, time. They all disappeared.
3 or 4 years ago had a logger come in to do some woodland forest management. Selective cut to enhance my lake view which had mostly disappeared since the 90s cut. Also to improve conifer growth. The climax species for this region. Removal of some gigantic red oaks that were too close for comfort to the house and garage. We have red oak wilt an hour or two south of here. Just a matter of time. Gigantic harvester. Logger just basically crushed the slashing as he moved thought the woods. Contract noted no more than 3ft high slashing. Ended up more like knee high in the thick areas. Today, more or less gone.
Mid 90's had a logger harvest the pulp wood and any damaged hardwood. 40 acre project. 185 logger cords later I had a few large brush piles scattered over the 40. Still dense forest. All were out of sight and out thought. Moisture, sun, time. They all disappeared.
3 or 4 years ago had a logger come in to do some woodland forest management. Selective cut to enhance my lake view which had mostly disappeared since the 90s cut. Also to improve conifer growth. The climax species for this region. Removal of some gigantic red oaks that were too close for comfort to the house and garage. We have red oak wilt an hour or two south of here. Just a matter of time. Gigantic harvester. Logger just basically crushed the slashing as he moved thought the woods. Contract noted no more than 3ft high slashing. Ended up more like knee high in the thick areas. Today, more or less gone.
Daren Todd
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Massey Ferguson 1825E, Kubota Z121S, Box blade, Rotary Cutter
Mine gets chopped, burned, or both depending on what it is.
Burned some brush piles last week. And then cleared any metal (lot's over barbed wire) and then filled in low spots and spread the ash pile.
Burned some brush piles last week. And then cleared any metal (lot's over barbed wire) and then filled in low spots and spread the ash pile.
Lil Foot
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1979 B7100DT Gear, Nissan Hanix N150-2 Excavator
We are lucky enough to have a Forest Circus run slash/waste pit just 3 miles down the highway.
We can deposit logs, slash, pine needles, leaves, and manure for free. NO trash or building materials, only natural stuff.
When it gets full, the Circus bulldozes it into a pile, and when the pile gets big enough, they burn it.
They keep threatening to close it, because a$$hole people keep dumping prohibited stuff, like building materials, garbage, scrap metal, furniture, tires, and even a body once.
We can deposit logs, slash, pine needles, leaves, and manure for free. NO trash or building materials, only natural stuff.
When it gets full, the Circus bulldozes it into a pile, and when the pile gets big enough, they burn it.
They keep threatening to close it, because a$$hole people keep dumping prohibited stuff, like building materials, garbage, scrap metal, furniture, tires, and even a body once.
dirtydeed
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Stop with the excavator pix. It's like showing crack to an addict.
This is a little late and not really yard waste but some may find it interesting. Several years ago I cut all the junky softwood out of a small area. I just left it where it fell and lopped it up a little. As an experiment I went back and took the same picture of the area every years just to get a feel for how it changes with time . Here is the results.
Stand before
Stand after cut
After 2 years
After 3 years
After 4 years
After 5 years
It goes away but it takes a while. In the meantime though, it it makes for good habitat diversity, helps retain soil moisture, and adds nutrients as it rots. Maybe not something to do in the backyard but my preference for handling slash in the woods.
gg
Stand before
Stand after cut
After 2 years
After 3 years
After 4 years
After 5 years
It goes away but it takes a while. In the meantime though, it it makes for good habitat diversity, helps retain soil moisture, and adds nutrients as it rots. Maybe not something to do in the backyard but my preference for handling slash in the woods.
gg
Thanks for all the replies. I am just about to purchase a PTO wood chipper for the L6060, so I am think that will help with some of it.
@mikester - what kind of machine is that? I only ask because I am clearing some bridle paths through several acres and that machine looks like it would do the job even faster!
@mikester - what kind of machine is that? I only ask because I am clearing some bridle paths through several acres and that machine looks like it would do the job even faster!
we burn in winter. no permit required.
we can take to the dump for free and once their piles get big enough they burn. no permit required. but that's a lot of work for me.
I used to chip / mulch but found it takes way more time and effort. maybe 10x?
i guess it all depends on what you are allowed to do where you live.
around here if you don't burn people usually leave it where it lays to rot and feed the mushrooms, worms, and all those other natural things.
if you have access to a BH you could always bury it and create character mounds around the property.
I guess a complicated equation of a matter of preference, energy/enthusiasm level, local laws, time and budget.
we can take to the dump for free and once their piles get big enough they burn. no permit required. but that's a lot of work for me.
I used to chip / mulch but found it takes way more time and effort. maybe 10x?
i guess it all depends on what you are allowed to do where you live.
around here if you don't burn people usually leave it where it lays to rot and feed the mushrooms, worms, and all those other natural things.
if you have access to a BH you could always bury it and create character mounds around the property.
I guess a complicated equation of a matter of preference, energy/enthusiasm level, local laws, time and budget.
jyoutz
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MX6000 HST open station, FEL, 6’ cutter, forks, 8’ rear blade, 7’ cultivator
Lil Foot
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1979 B7100DT Gear, Nissan Hanix N150-2 Excavator
johnjk
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B3200 w/loader, Woods RC5 brush hog, 4' box blade, tooth bar, B1700 MMM,
I either leave it where it dropped, pull it back in to the tree line or add to the burn pile. No permits needed where I live but you need to know what times of the year there is a burn ban in place. They usually lead to an obscenely large burn pile that takes 2 cigars and a few glasses of brown liquid to tend to