What do you do with the bark that falls off?

[CountryBoy19]

This topic was spawned by my own curiosity while splitting some maple that has all the bark falling off, and by the "sawdust log" thread.

I was wondering what everybody does, because it seems that I'm going to have lots of maple bark laying around if I don't find something to do with it. I would like to burn it, but don't want to overfire my fireplace, and don't want to deal with the hassle/mess if it's just not worth it (BTU content vs. mess).

So what do you do with the bark?

Do you burn it? How? All at once in a large fiery glory in an outside pit? A little at a time in your stove/fireplace/boiler etc? A lot at a time inside? Does the bark leave more ash to clean up?

Do you compost it?

Or just leave it lay where it is?

 

[thewoodlands]

This topic was spawned by my own curiosity while splitting some maple that has all the bark falling off, and by the "sawdust log" thread.

I was wondering what everybody does, because it seems that I'm going to have lots of maple bark laying around if I don't find something to do with it. I would like to burn it, but don't want to overfire my fireplace, and don't want to deal with the hassle/mess if it's just not worth it (BTU content vs. mess).

So what do you do with the bark?

Do you burn it? How? All at once in a large fiery glory in an outside pit? A little at a time in your stove/fireplace/boiler etc? A lot at a time inside? Does the bark leave more ash to clean up?

Do you compost it?

Or just leave it lay where it is?

We use it on the low spots on the trails in the woods. Some will use it for kindling.

zap

 

[sksmass]

I leave it where is falls around my chopping block. Over time it builds up a nice dry "floor" around the block. That keeps it from getting muddy . Plus, if you ever miss with your maul, it will go into bark rather than dirt.

 

[smokinj]

I have a furnace so it gets sholved into it.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

use as mulch, kindling, or burn in the campfire

 

[billb3]

Mulch, although the termites seem to like thick layers of it.

I've busted it up and put it in the compost.
It's a component of many potting soils so I like putting it back in the woods or earth somehow.
I don't take any effort to debark, though.

I've burned it and if a bit wet it makes not a lot of heat and a smokey steamey stench.

 

[Wood Duck]

I use it as mulch. Seems to work fine and not cause insect problems. Large pieces last a long time as mulch, but smaller ones look tidier.

 

[BucksCoBernie]

i lay it on the path to the compost pile. keeps the weeds down.

 

[ChrisNJ]

Tired of watching my wife spread 10 yards of triple shredded around the yard each year, I have almost covered a large area with Locust bark, looks nice actually and will hopefully last longer than the mulch.

 

[Jags]

So what do you do with the bark?

Kill it with FIRE. :coolgrin:

 

[Highbeam]

Set pallet on floor of firepit, load bark into the tractor bucket, dump into the large fire fit until heaping, stuff 500,000btu propane burner under pallet, smokey bark pile begins to burn, then no smoke, then firetruck arrives since neighbor called in smokey fire, firemen tell me its totally legal since there is no smoke. Drink beer and watch fire for a long time. Repeat as needed to piss off lousy neighbor. I split the wood on a rough lawn area so I must clean the bark

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I recently cleaned up an area that had a large amount of wood stacked for several years. Also with the ash dieing we have more bark than usual as it falls right off. In this particular area which was about 15' x 50' (no grass) or so I just used the blade on the atv and pushed it into a pile. Once you have the wood in a pile it is simple to take a scoop shovel and load a trailer or wagon. Then we take it into the woods to use in wet spots on the trail. Sometimes we use some for mulch around trees, which I have some now that needs it so some of it will go there.

 

[stint9]

Makes great kindling along with 'splitter splinters'

Even wifeeee like to show her girl scout fire starting skills when she has such good kindling

 

[jghall]

I stack the larger pieces randomly through my pile as I am stacking, and when I get to them, I burn 'em just like everything else... The smaller stuff I spread out in my garden rows as mulch...

 

[Slow1]

I was tossing into my compost pile but since I don't have a shredder it was just not composting fast enough - but it did help build a nice base for me to put some new compost piles on and worms seem to love it.

Now I am 'dumping' it into some low areas I found in the woods that may some day be useful or not... i.e. I don't care, probably not good landfill but at least it will fill in some puddles and reduce mosquito breeding areas over time.

I like the suggestion of using it for trails. I'm starting to clear a couple areas in my 'little woods' to put a couple stacks of wood in. Perhaps I'll spread some on the access trails, but I'm not sure if that will make it harder or easier to roll the wheel barrow of splits over there....

 

[billjustbill]

This topic was spawned by my own curiosity while splitting some maple that has all the bark falling off, and by the "sawdust log" thread.

I was wondering what everybody does, because it seems that I'm going to have lots of maple bark laying around if I don't find something to do with it. I would like to burn it, but don't want to overfire my fireplace, and don't want to deal with the hassle/mess if it's just not worth it (BTU content vs. mess).

So what do you do with the bark?

Do you burn it? How? All at once in a large fiery glory in an outside pit? A little at a time in your stove/fireplace/boiler etc? A lot at a time inside? Does the bark leave more ash to clean up?

Do you compost it?

Or just leave it lay where it is?

As I cleaned up a three year old wood pile, there was a lot of bark and some punky wood that was the old bottom row. I took a 12'x14' plastic tarp and put my 8hp chipper/shredder to one end and ran all the bark through it, thinking it would be both a good compost and mulch....

The tarp laid over 3" grass made using a flat shovel easy to scoop it up and load a 6cu.ft wheelbarrow and dumping it in the raised beds. I had about 12 loads. After turning it under, I mixed in some 20/5/10 fertlizer and let it stay mixed until it was warm enough to plant the garden....

The good thing is that "NEXT YEAR", it ought to be great for the garden. This year, my 14 tomato plants, and the 15 more that came up volunteer, must have really liked the Nitrogen I thought was put there to help breakdown the finely shredded bark.

Had a nice crop of cucumbers and enough of two kinds of squash to freeze, but not that many tomatoes as the plants went to vine and grew up to 8ft high....;>)

 

[fire_man]

Nothing goes to waste around here - even the sawdust becomes garden mulch. Bark gets used to start all of the shoulder season fires and to quickly re-light after an all night burn.

 

[wendell]

I don't have the room so all of the bark, sawdust and splitter trash goes to the local compost facility.

 

[PapaDave]

Bark is fine to put in the stove. I use it as kindling and during times when I just want a quick warmup. Not too much at once though, it can burn hot.
Would be nice to have a chipper, I'd use it all over the yard.

 

[ansehnlich1]

Mine goes onto the mulch pile, and whatever is left over goes onto the mulch pile.

I have a stream running through my property, and I've embarked on a streambank erosion control task where large limbs, tree tops, punky stuff, yard waste, bark, and such gets thrown into a tangled heap along the stream to rebuild the bank and control erosion. I've had great success with the method and it keeps from burning a lot of stuff.

 

[ckarotka]

I put it and the splitting remnants into a pallet bin to get dry and crispy, then the stove for getting things going in the shoulder season. My wife also likes it, but this year I have some cedar scraps that just for the "Momma" to use only

 

[firefighterjake]

Well by now you see that folks use the bark that falls off for kindling, burning in fire pits, composting in the garden and yard or they simply use it as fill for their wood working area, trails or low spots . . . really it's up to you as to how you think you can best use it.

For me personally I have plenty of kindling . . . and plenty of junk wood for the fire pit/camping . . . and plenty of compostable materials . . . and so I just load up the mess and dump it in the woods . . . I figure it will slowly compost (along with the leaves I dump there) and in time will feed the trees nearby.

 

[basswidow]

I dump mine in the woods too.

I collect up all of the larger wood splinters for kindlin, but once I fill a big bench size tupperware container, I throw all the rest of it into the woods.

If I need it - I know where it is.

 

[70marlin]

In to the swamp.

 

[Ratman]

I break apart the bark by hand and rake it into my parking spot / wood processing area.