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ever try this?

6K views 26 replies 20 participants last post by  peteo 
#1 ·
i bought the 3 acres surrounding my shop. there is about 1 acre of BIG cottonwood trees, for those not familiar, a pretty soft wood, not very desireable for firewood. i want to clear the property, and put up rental/storage units. hauling these to our landfill is cost prohibitive. 2 cents a pound plus cost of trucking.

i took the excavator, and knocked them all down and have them piled up. now to get rid of them. about once a year, a guy comes in with a BIG horizontal grinder to take care of the city's tree waste. i can hire him, but it's damn expensive.

young competitor friend of mine bought an excavator mounted carbide tipped asphalt/concrete milling unit. it will fit on my hyundai. he claims it'll work slicker'n snot on a doorknob to turn the trees/strumps into chips, and he's offered me a damn good rental rate on the unit.

have any of you ever tried this? does it work?
 
Discussion starter · #5 ·
Are you not allowed to burn it? Not as firewood in a fireplace or camp fire....just burn it to get rid of it. No can do??

To answer your question, I have no idea how the grinder would work, but I would think if it can mill concrete, etc. some soft wood shouldn't be a problem.

thanks!
i'd love to burn them
problem with this is....i'm out of the city limits, by only 33'. there are homes 200' away, NICE homes...we're seperated by another bunch of trees. i start throwing smoke their way, they'll have a fit, and rightfully so
 
Discussion starter · #6 ·
Are there no pulp mills close to you? Usually I can get rid of scrap timber for free as the pulp mill rate will usually cover the cost of the trucking.
bad thing here is...you can literally go for MILES here without seeing a tree. i think the nearest pulp mill would be about 300 miles away in northern minnesota.
 
Discussion starter · #7 ·
My only concern would be the Cottonwoods shredding and bogging up the concrete mill. Can't place the machine so I'm not sure.

What diameter sre the trees? abut 3'-4' at the base of the trunk

How about a tree outfit with a big chipper? that's "kinda" what i'm looking at

We have an outfit called Tree Inc. out here that chips up some good size stuff.

If nothing else chip the slash and limbs and haul the logs to the dump or offer them as free firewood.

my thought here is if i can get rid of the stuff from 4' diameter down to 1' diameter....and run an ad in the paper for free campfire wood..come cut as much as you want, it would be gone. it's just getting rid of the big stuff.

griz, this mill is excavator mounted. i'll try and find the link to the manufacturer. my shop sits along a river bank, and i'm allowed to build a leveee to protect my property...i can't bury the tree as a whole, but chips can "disappear" in my fill if you know what i mean. that's why i'm thinking if i can get it down to 4" diameter chunks or less, i can take the dozer and cover them with topsoil and they'd be gone. i just thought one of the excavator guys had tried their mill on a tree and could tell me if it worked or not.
 
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