We had 3 wooded acres and cleared a half acre out for the house. We ended up with a pile about half the size of yours. We builder burned it. We waited for a clear day just after a rain, doused it with deisel fuel and lit it at sunrise one morning. It was down to a very managable level before nightfall.

I felt comfortable that it wouldn't spark any unwanted fires, due to the recent rain. It didn't cost us anything, and was able to go to sleep that night knowing that the blaze was down to a low simmer.

We were still left with a dozen or so large rootballs that got buried in a bury pit. I wasn't happy about that, but it was cheaper than hauling it all off.

Could you ask the local fire department if they'd like it for a fire exercise or maybe ask what the rules are for burning it.

We cleared a little over 2 acres of our land to build our home. We traded excavation for all the hardwood taken and they chipped the huge branches. The wood chips were recycled by being sold to a company that burns them for heat. You might want to check in your area to see if there is something similar. The stumps were ours to deal with. We have many acres and the state allows you to bury. That is where they ended up back in the ground.
Will your dump charge you for a fee for taking your stumps?
If you can find a chipper big enough to rent that handle large branches that might be a better option than burning.
Good Luck.

Coincidentally, I was biking yesterday and noticed that the parks service had recently cleared a lot of fallen trees on hiking/bicycle trails with a mobile chipper.

Chippers capable of handling 9" diameter material run $210 and up daily. It's cheaper than starting a forest fire.

Be very careful about using the chips for mulch. There is a very high risk of spreading termites in that manner.

We rented a chipper and turned it into mulch. You won't get nearly as much mulch as it looks like from judging the size of the piles! We made walking trails through the remaining acreage that we didn't clear. Helps keep the poison ivy and weeds down too.

That is what our local nature center does too. Better for the environment than burning.

If you can burn in your area, contact the fire department and find out if they want to use the burn for training. Around here, the fire departments do prairie burns that are adjacent to woods for homeowners to practice for brush fires (and to prevent near by woods from catching on fire).

Thanks to all who have responded.

In my area, open burning can be done but only after 4pm. It must be monitored by the home owner and water trucks must also be present. There are also restrictions on the time of year when they allow open fires. I was told that they could dig a pit about 10' x 10' x 10' and line the edge with large boulders and that would contain the fire from spreading BUT you cannot stop the hot ashes from blowing into an area that might catch on fire. That is what I fear the most - taking out an entire forrest.

I prefer to chip the limbs and brush. There are not too may stumps, maybe a dozen or so , that could be hauled or burried.

The chipper they used when they cleared my lot could take up to a 10" tree - but the excavator told me that it would not take large brush piles like the ones we have - issues with clogging I think. He said we needed this super huge chipper - about the size of a sea/land shipping container - to grind the stuff up. This thing can apparently take a 20 inch tree with stump and chop it into tiny pieces without any issues. It also has a large converyor belt to allow large piles to be dumped on it - then it automatically feeds the pile into the chipper blades. Anyone out there ever used one of these machines and know what they cost to rent? Could my 5 bus pile be grinded in a day or two? Thanks

We rented a chipper, $50 per day and we were able to chip an acre of branches and brush in a day and a half. We did burn the stumps after letting them dry out for 6 months.

We chipped like crazy. Ours was 75 per day for one that could handle a branch 6 inches in diameter. It didn't take nearly as long as we thought it would. We went thru about 1 greyhound busload (LOL) in about 2 hours.

Is your brush pile filled with large diameter logs or with viney stuff like grapevine? We cut up the big stuff and saved it for firewood. Then you will need a much smaller unit. The poison ivy and grapevines we kept out to the side because we didn't want it in the mulch and it would jam it up. We won't burn it because you don't want to burn poison ivy, but there isn't that much of it.

We burnt it a little at a time over the period of construction.

Columbus Day weekend we host a bonfire each year so now we save what we clear from the remaining 9 acres and then have a massive party. We even have people that bring stuff that they can't get rid of easily like broken old ladders and chairs.

I'd be leary of burning unless you could wait until winter.Prescribed burns have accounted for some major forest fires out here in the west that got away from the "professionals",(forest service).

The cost for the chipper sounds reasonable. We were quoted a much higher fee for the large chipper that could take the large trees. We used the mulch for paths in ur woods and it worked well as we horseback ride so the mulch helped with muddy trails during the rainy season.

Teresa

To all - thank you for the responses. I have a better understanding on what others have encountered. The pile looks so large right now. It is a combination of brush, vines, weeds, and tree limbs.

The good wood from the trees we cut down has been piled seperately and we will use for firewood.

It sounds like the chipper is the way to go - but it also sounds like I might not need the massive chipper one of the excavators mentioned. We could separate the stumps and any large logs and just chip the rest.

I can't risk buring this pile. If I was on flat ground and in a wide open field - I might consider it. But up in the mountains - within a forrest - just sound slike to big of a risk. I know that people burn up there - but I donlt want to be the one who burns down the Blue Ridge.

Thanks for the info - it has been very helpful.

There's some good material in those piles if you have poor soil elsewhere. My land has three large piles made six months ago by bulldozer, composed of stumps, dirt pulled up with the stumps, and lots of brush and tree-limbs, and topsoil scraped away from the slab site.

I had 50 loads of slab soil brought in to raise my building site and a year from now, the piles full of rich topsoil will be pushed around and up to the slab.

After I spread it around, anything that hasn't rotted,... stumps etc, ... will be picked out and burned. I have some open space for safe burning.

The man we hired to take down the trees on our building site was great. He took down the trees, cut everything to 16" lengths, put it in the dumptruck and dumped it out back for us to split. The branches, scrub, and brush were chipped and he hauled them away where they will be composted.

The stumps were removed by the excavator and we paid him to dispose of them (not very much money); easier than burning and less unsightly than simply parking them to rot naturally on a remote part of our massive 3 acre lot...

vancleaveterry

I was wondering this too - if I let the pile rot long enough (a few winters) - would most of the material just break down naturally - and then be crushed further by running over it with a good size loader? Any large logs and stumps could be seperated - but the smaller stuff could just be spread out into the rest of the lot like mulch?

I had an excavator estimate that I have around 100 tons of stuff. It costs 60 dollars per ton for dump charges - plus labor and truck fees. So hauling it off seems like a big expense that I can avoid. Renting the chipper is not expensive - but do I even need a chipper?

Do you think spreading and crushing with a dozer would work? I do have plenty of room on my lot to spread the material.

Many thanks

SDog-

We used a chipper on our pile. It was cheap and quick even though our piles were massive.

I wouldn't recommend letting it sit. Our sat for a year while we added to it. Our pile was mainly vines, scrub, sage bushes, and cedar limbs. It was (such a great way to measure!) about 2 1/2 buses long. In that time, it didn't decompose any... but it was a haven for snakes. I don't think a few years will make any significant difference. I would get rid of it now, before snakes make your place their home....

Sounds like you already have your answer, but here in Oklahoma, I recently priced renting a chipper and it costs $275 a day for the largest I could find (handles up to 12" logs) down to $120 a day for one that does up to 6" logs.

We too are concerned about burning even though we've got quite a bit of room, and we've had our excavator put all the brush in smaller piles and we've pulled out most of the good firewood.

Also, some of the places I called had "weekend specials" where you could rent the chipper from Friday afternoon until Monday for the cost of a one day rental if you only actually used it for 8 hours (it had a meter). Seemed like a good deal for a homeowner doing it himself. Might be worth asking about.

where we live out in the country in upstate new york, we have been burning stuff for YEARS with no problem. the only time you have to watch for stuff blowing away is any type of paper or other thim material. branches and stuff wont blow away very easily.

the last 3 houses my FIL built we burned all the excess wood from the projects.

if you decide to burn and are nervous about it dpreading, then do a little at a time. tackle part of the pile each saturday or something. keep it small and it greatly reduces the chance of something spreading.

burning where i live is VERY common, from trash to trees.

Sniffdog... My three piles have a good bit of dirt mixed in and that helps decompose the limbs, stumps and such mixed with it. Even pine LOGS will rot a fair amount if covered with dirt.

Burning is common here as well. Just have to pick a day with no wind, two or three days after a rain. Mow the grass down and have the hose ready.

A friend placed his burn piles where he intended to plant trees. He swears his trees are growing twice as fast due to the nutrients.

All - burning is really not an option for me given the proximity of my neighbors house to my 5 bus loads. Open burning is allowed - but there are rules that prohibit burning in this case due to proximity to other structures - it is just too dangerous.

I will probably wind up spreading and crushing some, chipping and spreading some, and burrying large stuff. It does help to hear others who have tackled these large piles and to hear that they aren't as bad as they look.

Thanks to all for the info.

Are there houses on the perimeter of the clearing or is there woods inbetween? IF you dont live in a development where their are restrictions, we used our branches etc to make a fence to keep out deer, and its working. Because we have a larger property its taking longer but we see the deer going around the fence instead of over it.(some areas are 8-10 ft high)
It also makes great habitat for birds and other wildlife.
I agree about the burning, and mulching is time consuming and noisey.
Well its one way to put the stuff to good use instead of the alternatives.
cindy

whoever posted the tidbit on SNAKES - thanks. DW is now pertrified about moving in :) . She spies on my posts.

Yes - a wood pile is a great place for habitat to frolic in, but it is going to go since a walking trail is going in that spot.

Maybe I will leave a small bus load (mini school bus size) for the animals.