feeling stumped--advice needed

   / feeling stumped--advice needed #1  

BLSXJ

Gold Member
Joined
May 26, 2016
Messages
270
Location
Pembroke, Ontario
Tractor
Kubota L3400
I just had 2 acres of forest cleared with the goal of pasture. My contractor was supposed to use a mulching head on his excavator (18ton) to mulch everything 4" and smaller down to the ground. Pull the larger trees, mulch the tops, bury the stumps and leave me with log piles.

Well.... due to the abundance of rock... mulching stopped 6-8" above ground and burying the stumps was a no go.

What I have now is 2 acres clear, all the stumps have been pulled (for better or worse). and piles of brush, stumps and logs.

He did offer to mulch the brush piles.... but in fear I now would have to burn the stumps I told him leave the brush.

What do you recommend now for piles of pulled stumps?
I'm on a limited budget and have 30hp tractor, 6" wood chipper, pallet forks.

from what I can tell my options for the stumps are
hire a tub grinder ($500/hr)
truck them to the dump ($100 per ton or ~$20 per stump form experience)
burn them (almost free but very time consuming due to fire limitations)

We went way over budget with contractor #1.... I should have sent him away after day 2 and bought my own excavator.... but focusing on moving forward...

NOW WHAT?
 
   / feeling stumped--advice needed
  • Thread Starter
#2  
just to clairify
I have piles of stumps, piles of brush and piles of logs. each separated... multiple piles of each scattered
 
   / feeling stumped--advice needed #3  
I’d pile everything and burn it. It’s by far the most cost effective option. If they did a decent job piling it and it’s not half dirt it should burn pretty easily.
 
   / feeling stumped--advice needed #4  
I burn them, then find a ditch to bury the stuff that won't burn. If you put them in a brush pile and it burns well, you can move them to the next one, and they will burn a little more.

If you have tons of rock and stumps, a dozer might be better than an x. If you could only run the mulcher down to 6-8 inches it will be tough if not impossible to brush hog, seed, or anything?
 
   / feeling stumped--advice needed #5  
I burn them, then find a ditch to bury the stuff that won't burn. If you put them in a brush pile and it burns well, you can move them to the next one, and they will burn a little more.

If you have tons of rock and stumps, a dozer might be better than an x. If you could only run the mulcher down to 6-8 inches it will be tough if not impossible to brush hog, seed, or anything?

I understood the post to say they mulched the stumps and then pulled them. If the stumps are in the ground the op has a big mess.
 
   / feeling stumped--advice needed #6  
Burn the brush piles. Stack the stumps/root balls in a far corner and forget about them. My experience with root balls - they don't burn. I bury them or push them into a pile out of sight.

What's the plan for the two acres? If you're building a house you'll have plenty of spoils you can use to bury your root ball pile.
 
   / feeling stumped--advice needed #7  
Burn the brush piles. Stack the stumps/root balls in a far corner and forget about them. My experience with root balls - they don't burn. I bury them or push them into a pile out of sight.

What's the plan for the two acres? If you're building a house you'll have plenty of spoils you can use to bury your root ball pile.

Smaller ones like 12”-16” inches that you can get the dirt out of will burn pretty good. Big ones that are full of dirt won’t burn.
 
   / feeling stumped--advice needed #8  
On mine, i dug a huge pit and placed all the stumps in there. Then i burned pit over a year, adding dead trees and brush. This burnt the roots down considerably. then i buried pit. That was maybe 10 years ago. Pit settled a bit, i added some dirt. Now i csnt recall where pit exactly was.
 
   / feeling stumped--advice needed #9  
I can't seem to find the links, but I recently read some articles on open burning that said larger piles were more dangerous, the fires may not be completely out for days, and the level of risk varies with the dryness of the materials nearby. As I recall, the articles said it was less risky to burn after May when vegetation was in full growth and full of moisture. You'd need to carefully assess your situation and what is around you to come up with a plan that's safe for you.
 
   / feeling stumped--advice needed #10  
Burn it.

anything that is not otherwise useable (firewood) ... just burn. It will take time, start with the smaller piles so that it feels productive over time. Do the larger burn piles when you have more time. To reduce the occupied space, maybe amalgamate the piles as you can.
 
 
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