Cleaning up brush you cut

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Freudianfloyd

Clinically Diagnosed with CAD
Joined
Aug 11, 2019
Messages
946
Reaction score
1,413
Location
My Farm
So I recently bought a brush cutter with a nice saw tooth blade to start clearing some of my overgrowth. Anyway, running the brush cutter is fun and makes short work of the brush, but then what? Maybe I should invent one, unless it already exists obviously, but it would be nice if they had a metal net or something similar that can be thrown into the pile of brush you just cut and drag it away with a tractor or 4 wheeler or whatever, instead of picking up all the tiny pieces and twigs and branches, you know because that part sucks.

Does something like that exist? What are your tricks to cleanup, especially when your burn pile is acres away from the brush you cut?
 
My tractor has a toothbar attached to the FEL. With it I can snag and drag brush into a pile, then snag and lift and carry the pile of brush almost as well as a grapple could do. When I bolted it on 16 years ago I planned to remove it when the digging project was finished, and to put it back on only when needed, but it has been so handy that it has never come off. I consider it to be the second most cost effective addition to the tractor (after welding 2 chainhooks on the FEL). As a bonus, the teeth make the little Kubota look mean. My tootbar is from https://www.ezattach.com/products.
1592591877361.jpeg
 
A 3 point landscape rake is a great tool. Also, a grapple on the front end loader is slick as snot. With the two of those on the same tractor, a guy could make real quick work of cleanup.
 
I do a lot of of storm cleanup with volunteers, where we cut up trees in the back yard and have to drag them to the front yard / boulevard for pick up. Not exactly 'acres away'. But one 'trick' we use is to lay out cheap tarps on the ground to drag brush / small branches with fewer trips. For trips to the county compost site, I will often lay out these tarps ('Free' at HF with the right coupons), then bring the edges together when full and wrap them with some clothesline type rope to make 'big brush burritos'' for transport. Easy to unload (like a burrito).

For a long time I eyed those fabric dumpsters / 'Bagsters' that some people use (about $30 each, plus pick up fees) with envy, since they are a heavier fabric, and have handles! Plus they just throw them away!!!! A neighbor recently snagged me one, once he convinced his friend that it would be cheaper to haul his load to the the dump site in his pickup truck (about $40 tipping fee) than to pay the hauler for pick up ($120+). Can't wait to try it!

This works for smaller amounts, but you can quickly see why commercial firms invest in (or rent) chippers!

Philbert
 
So I recently bought a brush cutter with a nice saw tooth blade to start clearing some of my overgrowth. Anyway, running the brush cutter is fun and makes short work of the brush, but then what? Maybe I should invent one, unless it already exists obviously, but it would be nice if they had a metal net or something similar that can be thrown into the pile of brush you just cut and drag it away with a tractor or 4 wheeler or whatever, instead of picking up all the tiny pieces and twigs and branches, you know because that part sucks.

Does something like that exist? What are your tricks to cleanup, especially when your burn pile is acres away from the brush you cut?
A panel of chain link fence. I haven’t tried it myself yet but I’m aiming to.
 
Back
Top