ruffdog
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Gordon G.....thanks for the pictures. Interesting....
Brush, what to do with it?
- Thread starter Smokeydog
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WranglerX
Super Member
Jinks myself by talking about the good gully. Storm last night smashed 100s of trees. Wind rotation, hail and torrential rain. Many damaged next to the house but no house damage. Spring/pump house and several out buildings not so well. Neighbors and friends helped me chainsaw a path to civilization. Then we helped them. Counting our blessings. Got months of cleanup. Lots of trees with widow-maker busted tops. Be one of 10-12 house size brush pile years. The M59 with grapples and wife on the B26 with grapples earned their keep today. Early bedtime tonight.
ruffdog
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Thank goodness you didn't have "house piles". It could have been worse. Stay safe. :drink:
I have 25 wooded acres here that we live on. Every year there are brush piled that build up from dead trees and selective pruning. I usually burn a couple days during burning season to keep the mess to a minimum.
Gordon Gould
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That much damage all at one time is hard. Gives you a kind of sick feeling when you look and take it all in. Glad you and the family are good. Working with friends and neighbors helps a lot. Stay safe working on all that clean-up.
gg
shooterdon
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Glad your family is safe. Be careful with the widow makers.
hslogger
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Gordon's got the forest stewardship award from me.
BrokenTrack
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I clear a lot of land, for me as well as for others.
My preferred method is to find a ravine and push the stumps and brush into, then regrade.
If I cannot do that, then it is burning it. Chipping just takes too much time, and fuel to get anything measurable out of. And digging a hole and burying it does not make much sense either as the size of the hole needed, and time it takes to dig the hole, is just way too much for how much has to be buried.
As for saving topsoil, which no one has talked about. Here in the north we got it made because we can pull the stump with an excavator, then let it sit over the winter. Frost will freeze the dirt, and let it unstick from the roots, then when you move the stump to burn it, all the dirt falls off and they burn cleaner.
On my own land, I do something a bit different because I have time and do not mind looking at the clearcut for awhile. I just wait for 5 years before clearing. That allows the stumps to rot down, so it takes half the time, and half the equipment size to clear the land. That is because in 5 years time, most of the stump is rotted because stumps rot from the ground up, and not the ground down. I am left with some saplings to clean up, but they are easy to push.
My preferred method is to find a ravine and push the stumps and brush into, then regrade.
If I cannot do that, then it is burning it. Chipping just takes too much time, and fuel to get anything measurable out of. And digging a hole and burying it does not make much sense either as the size of the hole needed, and time it takes to dig the hole, is just way too much for how much has to be buried.
As for saving topsoil, which no one has talked about. Here in the north we got it made because we can pull the stump with an excavator, then let it sit over the winter. Frost will freeze the dirt, and let it unstick from the roots, then when you move the stump to burn it, all the dirt falls off and they burn cleaner.
On my own land, I do something a bit different because I have time and do not mind looking at the clearcut for awhile. I just wait for 5 years before clearing. That allows the stumps to rot down, so it takes half the time, and half the equipment size to clear the land. That is because in 5 years time, most of the stump is rotted because stumps rot from the ground up, and not the ground down. I am left with some saplings to clean up, but they are easy to push.
Sorry to hear. As long as no one got hurt, the rest is (unfortunately) just more stuff to do. The never ending story, you get things the way you want, then Mother Nature comes in and changes all your plans :mur:
kthompson
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Smokeydog sure did not know your area had such a storm. Do some what of paying attention to your general area as we enjoy vacationing east of you. Glad the damage was not people. When our state was hit so hard by Hurricane Hugo in Sept of 1989 saw forest lost know would not grow back in my lifetime. Oh it is back to trees but not the massive ones. We drove out of Pigeon Forge the Wednesday morning hours before the wildfires really went wild. Last time there it was good to see the buildings that had been rebuilt, but scars of the fire were there.
I have spent many hours over the last twenty some years cleaning up my wife's family farmland. Only about forty acres but plenty rain and trees will take back a yard quicker then you can clean up a foot. It is amazing how fast trees will rot here left just piled. Early this spring did the most massive burn of cut trees have ever, as clearing up last of the over grown field land. Had local saw mill person hauThl off one load of fine hardwoods up to 30 inches in diameter and several loads of pine many 24 inches. Truck bed was maybe 20 feet and 8 ft wide with logs rounded over. Had that much of trash trees left to burn. Amazed me how well they burnt that size and only cut for 2 to 4 months. My typical cut and clear back method is cut or pull up the trees and place them back to let them rot and also the roots left. Has served me well. Just have to spray the brush that sprouts there so it does not become another item to clear.
I have spent many hours over the last twenty some years cleaning up my wife's family farmland. Only about forty acres but plenty rain and trees will take back a yard quicker then you can clean up a foot. It is amazing how fast trees will rot here left just piled. Early this spring did the most massive burn of cut trees have ever, as clearing up last of the over grown field land. Had local saw mill person hauThl off one load of fine hardwoods up to 30 inches in diameter and several loads of pine many 24 inches. Truck bed was maybe 20 feet and 8 ft wide with logs rounded over. Had that much of trash trees left to burn. Amazed me how well they burnt that size and only cut for 2 to 4 months. My typical cut and clear back method is cut or pull up the trees and place them back to let them rot and also the roots left. Has served me well. Just have to spray the brush that sprouts there so it does not become another item to clear.
Update on the storm damage. Insurance pays to remove and dispose of trees on buildings. So I’m going to have arborists cut the trees insured and some out of pocket high bucket truck widow makers around the house. For me to grapple and transport the debris to the gully I make about $500/hour. Sadly insurance only covers $3,000 debris removal of the estimated $50-60k for someone to clean up the rest. Winched down the last leaning tree toward the house yesterday so we are safe. Slowly working on the rest as the heat, weather and yellow jackets allow. Some will wait for cooler weather.
Once again the gully tree debris composter proves it’s value.
Once again the gully tree debris composter proves it’s value.
Diggin It
Super Star Member
That all sucks big time, but it just illustrates why I will not allow trees taller than the roof line within 30' of the house. I trimmed all of that out long ago. The little bit of shade a tree provides does not outweigh the potential for significant damage.
I have one very large Oak tree over the shed, but it would cost more than the shed to have it cut down. There is another very large Oak out front, but I **think** it's beyond the range of house damage. I can't afford to have that one cut either though.
I have one very large Oak tree over the shed, but it would cost more than the shed to have it cut down. There is another very large Oak out front, but I **think** it's beyond the range of house damage. I can't afford to have that one cut either though.
Richard
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I live in Greenback so am not so far from OP.
We've got a dry pond area that is dry 99% of the time until it rains HARD, then it will fill up to maybe 5' deep.....and slowly seep away.
I've got access to this area from all sides with my loader/backhoe so we just pile it up and burn.
You can see my backhoe (full sized industrial) in background for some scale.
(this large isn't common anymore, I try to keep them much, MUCH smaller)
I've had some decent sized fires here.
We've got a dry pond area that is dry 99% of the time until it rains HARD, then it will fill up to maybe 5' deep.....and slowly seep away.
I've got access to this area from all sides with my loader/backhoe so we just pile it up and burn.
You can see my backhoe (full sized industrial) in background for some scale.
(this large isn't common anymore, I try to keep them much, MUCH smaller)
I've had some decent sized fires here.
This wasn't brush, but stumps and roots. In fall 2009 I had a 2 acre field reclaimed; first they cut the trees and chipped them, then came through with an excavator pulling the stumps and piling them.
Because the stumps were green, much of the top layer of topsoil went with them.
This year I finally bought a grapple and went into the first pile, expecting to find a bunch of stumps. Instead I found it all was nicely composted with a bit of rotten wood mixed in.
Every few days I spread a layer in my poultry pen. After the birds migrate to the freezer I'll work some lime in and plant a cover crop... next year I will use it in raised beds.
Because the stumps were green, much of the top layer of topsoil went with them.
This year I finally bought a grapple and went into the first pile, expecting to find a bunch of stumps. Instead I found it all was nicely composted with a bit of rotten wood mixed in.
Every few days I spread a layer in my poultry pen. After the birds migrate to the freezer I'll work some lime in and plant a cover crop... next year I will use it in raised beds.
crazyal
Super Member
Decades ago we had an ice storm that broke a lot of tree tops. I can't remember exactly but it was like 4 or 5 days straight. I still see damage to the trees from the storm. Glad you're ok but it does suck that you lost that many trees. That's what usually happens around here when you clear a lot in the forest. The trees didn't have to resist wind so they grew taller and faster than if they were out in a field.
I'm kind of like Gordon when it comes to branches. I've tried almost everything and now just make piles. Between the nutrients going back into the soil it also makes for great habitats for the creatures. Turkeys love to next in them and chipmunks also move right in. We have lots of owls, hawks and even Peregrine falcons so they keep the chipmunks in check.
I'm kind of like Gordon when it comes to branches. I've tried almost everything and now just make piles. Between the nutrients going back into the soil it also makes for great habitats for the creatures. Turkeys love to next in them and chipmunks also move right in. We have lots of owls, hawks and even Peregrine falcons so they keep the chipmunks in check.
compact
Silver Member
Stack and burn. Had a bad windstorm, took 70 cord of downed trees, brush left at edge of drive. We stacked it with the mini-ex, 4 piles 15 feet high and 30 around and burned them one at a time. Guessing 70 foot flames. Lit from center with a non osha approved method (quart mild jug FULL (very important) of gas with paper plug, like a big moltoff, jug melts, flaming gas runs to bottom of pile, works on dry piles). Growing good grass where piles sat.
For those without the luxury or space of relaxed burn bans, many roll-off places have a cheaper rate for "yard waste" that you can fill over a few weeks. I found this option cheaper and easier than a mega-chipper rental, especially with 20"+ half-rotten deadfall and lots of poison ivy in the mix.
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