Etiquette

[mbcijim]

Surprised this hasn't been mentioned. A leaf blower gets rid of the sawdust in a few seconds. Its so easy, why wouldn't you?

 

[RORY12553]

Surprised this hasn't been mentioned. A leaf blower gets rid of the sawdust in a few seconds. Its so easy, why wouldn't you?

Have enough stuff to bring without a leaf blower going too! Thankfully as I mentioned the tree was on the edge of the property in the woods and the homeowner just wanted it out of there. I'm sure a tree company would have charged him a fortune due to location and size.

 

[SolarAndWood]

I'm in and out, don't split anything unless I have to. The least amount of time spent there the better.

 

[ecocavalier02]

I'm in and out, don't split anything unless I have to. The least amount of time spent there the better.

yep get in and get out is right. this summer i cut up some oak for a guy who was a pain in the butt. i had to drag the brush about 500 feet to his brush dumping spot. it was off a limb that had fallen. this was the agreement and i said ok. never again will i do that. guys a jerk. here i did him a favor getting it off his property and then i had to clean all the chips with a leaf blower. probably spent 2 hours cleaning up. waist of time. then come to find out his wife comes to our church. now he calls me always asking to come cut stuff up and get it out of there. i always tell him no thanks.

 

[firebroad]

I don't have to scrounge anymore but when I did the clean up was situational. If there are able body kids that live in the house or the owners are capable of brush removal I just cut the wood.
The sweet little lady down the street got the full service of wood removed then the brush was hauled away and the yard was raked.
Next day when I got home from work there was a 12 pack waiting on my door step. I miss her.

That's what I call sound advice.

 

[Wood Duck]

Take nothing but wood.................Leave nothing but footprints

This is the "Leave no Split" philosophy on scrounging.

 

[firefighterjake]

Oops . . . I inadvertently lied. There was one time when a very good friend called me up to say that a black locust had fallen over near one of the stores he maintains and he wanted to know if I wanted the wood. Since I have not burned black locust and have had very good things said about it I told him I would take all I could get.

I stopped by to see him that day while he was working . . . there was a heaping pick-up (neatly stacked) that he was piling into his pick-up to haul to my house. He did ask if I could pick up the brush the next day as a favor to him and burn it (I burn every spring and always have a burn pile that I'm adding to) . . . I figured that since he had bucked up and hauled the wood right to my house and it was primo wood and he is a good friend I could do him a favor and haul the brush home and take care of it for him. This was the only time I have done that though.

 

[kettensäge]

I have never bought wood, always manage to get 8 cords a year from scrounges. I have never ran into anyone that complained about the sawdust, even in a neighboring lakefront gated community. I make it clear I don't take the brush from anything I fell and if it's felled by the tree guy I work with, he grinds the small stuff. I don't see where he cleans up any sawdust either from felling or bucking the wood.
I don't split anything on site, I think that would be stretching it a bit. I store rounds for at least a season and split them in the spring to reload the shed.

 

[peakbagger]

If its on some elses property, I usually cut to a smaller diameter. If its on my property, I prpbably cut to 2" dia but if its some elses I usually go down to 1". For hardwoods that usually gets it down to individual branches versus clumps.

 

[muncybob]

I also make it known to the owner what I will or will not do. Disposing of brush and sawdust is on my "I don't do that" list and so far everybody understands and accepts that. I do leave the property as neat as I can since I would expect that myself. I will also ask if I can use them as a reference for possible future jobs in case an owner wants verification that I stand by my word....so far, so good.

I have yet to work with an elderly or disabled person but I think I probably would go the extra mile for them.

 

[TreePointer]

As mentioned, always agree to terms before you do any work.

For me, it all depends on the situation. If it's a nicely manicured yard, the homeowner usually wants everything addressed. Take all the firewood, clean up all splitting splinters and sawing chips. Take a rake, shovel and blower with you to get the chips. Sure the chips will decompose, but they often stand out on a nice lawn (especially noodles) and the homeowner doesn't like them. Whether chips and brush are left in piles or removed from property depends on the homeowner's wishes, and whether you want to do it. If you don't want to do it, then don't take the wood.

Personally, I don't take jobs that require brush & chips removal. The good jobs are ones in which there is a younger homeowner who says, "Just take the wood, and I'll clean up the rest." Even better are the scrounges from wooded areas that allow you to leave brush & chips where they fall.

Having a Stihl Kombi unit (or similar) with blower & power saw attachments is a great for residential scrounges. It separates into smaller pieces for transport, and the blower has good power.