Options to dispose of tree limbs and tops - burning is tricky out here

[myusername]

Hello dear friends,

So we finally logged about 200-300 pine trees from our small property where we live. I only had a limited say in the decision as you know.

We are in the north Houston area in Texas

The logger was kind enough to make 5-6 piles, medium sized, maybe 10ft by 10 ft of the slash (tree limbs and tops).

We now understand that this may not have been a good idea i.e. to make piles.

Now we need to decide what is the best option to get rid of the slash.

We wanted to burn, but the County rules around it seem controversial, e.g. it cannot be a nuisance. Our neighbor, who lives several acres away on the adjacent plot already expressed his concerns about his trees dying due to the heat from the fire and or smoke.

What are some other options, affordable, that we can explore? If we leave the piles as is, it will take 3-4 years to decompose.

We thought about renting a bobcat which does mulching and use that? but that itself costs $3000 just to rent, and then we need to find someone to operate it, transport it to and from the rental company, and who knows, maybe that is not sufficient as some limbs are thick.

So, I am once again looking for help, and know I can find it here!!

Please do let us know. If someone on here can do it for a reasonable fee....please let me know too!!

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

How does your neighbor figure heat from a fire a few acres away will affect his woods?!

 

[myusername]

We have no idea, he warned us via text message even before we lit a match. He assumed we were burning them and told us his trees may die?

the neighbor has sued all the neighbors - one because their dogs went on to his property, another neighbor because the other neighbor had some soil, fertilizer along their fence, and it got washed on to the neighbors lake and his fish died so he sued them, he also sued the company that makes the wooden fence posts because they rotted in about 15 years, etc.

each property is 12-30 acres, so it is not like they are in 0.5 acre plots

so we do not want him to claim that burning our piles killed his trees http://www.*****************/board/Smileys/default/sad.gif

we are simple people who work hard and cannot afford the time and expense of frivolous lawsuits

 

[arathol]

You have three options pretty much. Burn it, chip it, or have it hauled away.
Burning is free and easy. Chipping it won't be too hard but quite time consuming. You can probably rent a fair size chipper for under a grand. The skid steer option won't work for what you want. Hauling it away is something you'll have to investigate on your end. It may be quite expensive.
How long is an acre??
If your nearest neighbor is more than a few hundred feet away don't worry about it. Light it up.

 

[myusername]

What sort of chipper would be suitable? Any ideas on makes or models? We can check on what is available for rent.

I would think the distance between the closest pile to his fence and the fence is several hundred or more feet, we can measure it in the am.

 

[arathol]

Get a copy of the rules concerning open burning. Talk to your local fire marshal. Have him provide something in writing (a permit would be ideal) if he says its ok to burn it.
How big are the branches? A fairly large chipper would be a lot faster, something that will take 10" diameter or more. A Bandit 250 or something similar would be ideal.

 

[myusername]

What about something like this chipper

Vermeer / BC1000XL

I am trying to see what is available for rent in my area - Houston, TX

I am attaching the guidelines for outdoor burning published by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality - they seem pretty rigid on outdoor burning, maybe one of you who knows much more than we ever will, can interpret the document better?

 

[arathol]

Not all that complicated. Burning plant growth generated on your property is permitted. Just get in contact with the local fire marshal as per the guidelines and have him approve it.
From page 2 under notifications:
1. Check local ordinances and notify any other government having jurisdiction over the area—for example, the county fire marshal, local fire department, or local law enforcement officials.

That Vermeer would work just fine.

 

[madhatte]

It's possible that you may be able to sell your debris as hogfuel, depending what your local market looks like.

 

[northmanlogging]

option A: burn it, if its more then 50' from the neighbors anything, it won't harm any of his crap, unless it gets out of control, in which case wait for it to rain for a few days and make sure there is at least 10' of dirt around each pile. Unless dude suddenly has adult onset sporadic asthma... Burning each pile should take about a day, or no more then a weekend.

B: Let it rot, it will take considerably more then 3-4 years and be ugly the entire time, but it is safe and "clean" (though burning releases equal amounts of c02, rotting releases massive amounts of methane... so?)

C: hire a tub grinder, not cheap at all, but it will be done and they might be able to use the hog fuel and reduce some of the cost.

D: chip it your self this option sucks... figure on 3 days for each pile at a minimum, of hard back breaking, noisy, angry, scratchy work, costing an average of $600 per day just for the chipper and fuel, assuming you have the ability to drag the limbs out of said piles (not likely).

E: Rent an Excavator and dig a big ole hole next to each pile, then move said pile into hole, and top off with dirt, sort of level the dirt off, and it will "appear" to have gone away over night. Figure on a weekend or so of constant use, at 60-80 an hour for a rental, or 120-150 an hour to hire it done. Down side is that you have a bunch of unbuildable spots afterwords, bonus is that it makes some pretty skookum dirt after 30 years or so.

 

[Little Al]

Hello dear friends,

So we finally logged about 200-300 pine trees from our small property where we live. I only had a limited say in the decision as you know.

We are in the north Houston area in Texas

The logger was kind enough to make 5-6 piles, medium sized, maybe 10ft by 10 ft of the slash (tree limbs and tops).

We now understand that this may not have been a good idea i.e. to make piles.

Now we need to decide what is the best option to get rid of the slash.

We wanted to burn, but the County rules around it seem controversial, e.g. it cannot be a nuisance. Our neighbor, who lives several acres away on the adjacent plot already expressed his concerns about his trees dying due to the heat from the fire and or smoke.

What are some other options, affordable, that we can explore? If we leave the piles as is, it will take 3-4 years to decompose.

We thought about renting a bobcat which does mulching and use that? but that itself costs $3000 just to rent, and then we need to find someone to operate it, transport it to and from the rental company, and who knows, maybe that is not sufficient as some limbs are thick.

So, I am once again looking for help, and know I can find it here!!

Please do let us know. If someone on here can do it for a reasonable fee....please let me know too!!

Put A Sign on it FREE TO A GOOD HOME.

 

[Odog]

Rent a mini excavator, dig a hole about 6-7' deep and 7' long, invite said neighbor over to inspect the hole, making him feel involved. While inspecting, bash him in the head with a limb, push him in the hole and cover with dirt. Invite the rest of your neighbors over for a bonfire and BBQ while you burn the piles.


Note, I don't usually condone murder, but I'm a little tired and crabby today.

 

[arathol]

So we finally logged about 200-300 pine trees from our small property where we live.

The logger was kind enough to make 5-6 piles, medium sized, maybe 10ft by 10 ft of the slash (tree limbs and tops).

D: chip it your self this option sucks... figure on 3 days for each pile at a minimum, of hard back breaking, noisy, angry, scratchy work, costing an average of $600 per day just for the chipper and fuel, assuming you have the ability to drag the limbs out of said piles (not likely).

3 days to chip a 10x10 pile is ridiculous. When I was doing that kind of stuff we could send a 10x10 pile through the 250 in less than half an hour.
5 or 6 10x10 piles can be done in a day if you are trying. If you have a tractor or truck and a length or two of chain or heavy rope its a lot easier to separate and drag the stuff to the chipper.
However, on the other hand, I don't see how 200+ trees could generate such a small amount of waste. I think some pictures of these piles are needed.

 

[northmanlogging]

3 days to chip a 10x10 pile is ridiculous. When I was doing that kind of stuff we could send a 10x10 pile through the 250 in less than half an hour.
5 or 6 10x10 piles can be done in a day if you are trying. If you have a tractor or truck and a length or two of chain or heavy rope its a lot easier to separate and drag the stuff to the chipper.
However, on the other hand, I don't see how 200+ trees could generate such a small amount of waste. I think some pictures of these piles are needed.

You're thinking of nicely stacked arborist piles not shoved together smashed up tangled mess that is the left overs from logging.

Also just a wild guess, but 100 trees would likely be at least 5 log loads probably more unless they are really small, which would equal roughly 10 end dumps of brush and tops. Or 500 yds of brush

 

[arathol]

You're thinking of nicely stacked arborist piles not shoved together smashed up tangled mess that is the left overs from logging.

Also just a wild guess, but 100 trees would likely be at least 5 log loads probably more unless they are really small, which would equal roughly 10 end dumps of brush and tops. Or 500 yds of brush

No actually I'm thinking of piles of broken branches and trees pushed up by a front end loader during storm clean ups following tornados, tropical storms etc. Doesn't get worse than that. If you do it right and use a chain you just wrap up a bundle, drag it out to the chipper and have at it. Even so, a 10x10 pile isn't very large no matter how you do it.
And yes, it seems to me that there should be a lot more to this than is being described unless the guy who did the job actually removed the majority of the waste. A few small piles of leftovers is nothing.

 

[JTM]

Where’s the pics of the piles? 5 or 6 10’x10’ piles from 200 trees? No way.

 

[Husky Man]

I don't have a solution for the OP, but boy I sure do feel for him, I think his neighbor's brother must live up here on MT. Hood in Oregon, and was one of my former next door neighbors. Oh the (Horror) stories I could tell.

My Sympathies,

Doug