Dealing with brush: Homeowner Chipper?

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I just pile up the brush . . . figure it will make a good home for the rabbits . . . and will eventually break down and help fertilize the trees I've left behind.
 
Most municipalities in NH allow unlimited burning once there is snow on the ground. The trade off is that unless you can keep the brush dry, it inevitably fills up with snow and ice and is almost impossible to burn. If you can cover it over, it burns quick once lit.

I have a bunch of softwoods that I am getting rid of and find that is easier to start a fire with some dry wood when there is snow on the ground and then cut the green trees and burn them green. As long as you keep the wood piled on, they will burn but I expect that its about the nastiest way to burn wood possible.

I have used small chippers in the past and they take a lot of time to process much brush.
 
I picked up a used MTD homeowner unit late last fall. It might have had a couple dozen branches put through it. Paid $175 for it (they go for about $800) new. I took down one of the 50' maples in our front yard, a 40' blue spruce for my sister, and various branches and stuff from our small backyard.

It's slow, but it gets the job done. I think max size from this one is 2", and it's hooked to a 5.5HP engine.

I picked up a set of replacement knives for it the other day, and they cost me about $50.

Would I buy another one? Probably not, but it does what I need it to do, and the price was right. I looked long and hard at one of the BearCats, and will probably go with that or one of the smaller Wallensteins at some point.....
 
I have a chipper shredder like the one in the photo below and agree with those who said that a small machine will not handle your brush. The manual says not to load anything larger than 3 inches in the small chipper shoot and nothing larger than 1/2 inch diameter in the hopper shoot. I got it from my dad when he retired and use it to make mulch for our flower beds. It works best with green wood but it takes a long time to feed it into the shredder. It does not work with dead wood larger than twigs. Spruce and pine are easy to shred and make great smelling mulch. I don't own any wooded land and only use it a few times a year to clean up dead branches and tree trimmings.
 

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I pile mine where ever I drop the tree. The next spring or fall I drag them to the garden and burn them down to ash.
 
stejus said:
I pile mine where ever I drop the tree. The next spring or fall I drag them to the garden and burn them down to ash.

That's not a bad idea. I'm not opposed to dragging it out to the center of the lawn come Winter but I don't want to have to deal with the crop circle come Spring. I get so little sun it takes years for grass to grow back healthy (weeds are another matter). I've got a 10x50 strip of bare earth that would hold a lot of brush past the first freeze but its boarderd by a vinyl coated chain link fence. I'm afaid I'd end up melting the coating and it would just look bad.

I'm starting to like the look of brush piles in the woods. I'll deal with the inevitable rodent explosion and the cycle of predators it brings with it. Thanks everybody for setting me straight. I've got my mind right again.
 
I have a DR chipper 18 HP..IT about 4 years old now and love it .I had a troy built and kept breaking the belts...I would buy another DR...P.S. look on E bay thats ware I got mine
 
i have a mackissic 12PT-10. the shredder takes up to 1 inch branches. the 24 hammers are reversable so you get 4 times the life out of them. The chipper takes up to 3.5 inch branches. yes you have to manually feed them in, but it pretty much goes through the stuff pretty easy. It takes longer to gather up all the brush and branches and cut them down to size to fit in the chipper vs chipping them up. Yeah its not anything like what the pro's use, but its awesome for a homeowner. I'd use it more if I had more time to clean up my yard.
 
btuser said:
I'm working on 2014-2015 wood supply (if it stays mild like this!) and have a lot of brush from branches 2" and below for which I just don't see a future. I've been dragging them into the woods and piling them up but I think this is contributing to the chipmunk/mouse problem, which brings in the coyotes and fisher cats. The little cat-dogs wouldn't know what hit them. I'm also weary of large piles of combustible material within sparking distance.

I'm trying to limit any action that doesn't contribute to the total btus in the wood pile and would be content to let the material decompose on its own but the piles are starting to build up.

Is a 10hp chipper like Troy Built that's rated for 3" worth the trouble for brush under 2"? Next size up?
I go through a pair of loppers yearly. Is there anything out there that can hold up to 2" oak branches?

Why not just burn as you go?
 
I have a two-year old 13 HP DR Chipper that I will be putting up for sale this spring. It handles 3" limbs and plows through everything else. I used it for making high quality chips in my beds and paths but now have unlimited access to free chips via several landscaper friends I barter with (barter deer meat and fish :) Electric start, 13 HP Briggs & Stratton Vanguard. I bought the machine new for $1800 and if anyone is located in Southwest CT or drives by one day, I can demo. Make a deal or trade for a splitter.

Jim
 
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