Disposing of wood

[PCTREE]

OK for years now I have had a big fire in the winter when it snows, however due to increased volume of work we are producing a lot more wood and the burn site I have leased is not going to renew my lease. In my area there are no Biomass incinerators (crazy) and no large mulch operations who will take biomass so we are stuck PAYING $55 per ton to dump. This expense would cripple me.

We end up with lots of huge logs that are not usable for lumber and lots of junk wood. I need to get rid of this biomass so wanted to start a discussion about the topic.

My best idea so far is hugelkultur. Thinking about approaching local farms and offering a service of digging a 200' x 20' trench 6' deep and filling it with wood then covering it back up to form a hugelkultur bed.

Ideas?

 

[Mick!]

I just googled it, doesn't it use chip or shreddings rather than big rings?

 

[PCTREE]

No big wood is preferable and makes the bed last longer.

Im wondering if I couldn't even charge for the service! Right now though I just need to get rid of shit tons of wood

 

[Mick!]

Ok right, I also have a burgeoning pile of crap wood! Interested to see if your Golden Goose starts laying!

 

[Altissimus]

On a smaller scale in New England the popularity of outdoor boilers for heat and hot water are great. Some people only burn good hardwoods , most people are more than happy to mix in crap species. Makes good giveaways.

 

[flushcut]

I give most of it away to the wood burner boiler guys in my area and have two different services that come and pick it up when I have a load for them. One is a firewood whole seller and one is a mulch/pallet outfit. I even have a guy that will show up on site load him up as it comes down. But your ideas sounds promising.

 

[chris_girard]

Same here.

 

[matdand]

I've heard of guys stock pile logs for periods and the auction it off to sawmills or wood buyers.

 

[Raj]

Nice idea. Fire wood is easy to get picked up here, even crap wood. In Brantford I have a place to dump off brush for free, they chip it and makr coloured mulch, and an old family friend from the old country. Used to be a mulch and firewood drop off in Mohawk park just across the road from my house, but it's gone now.

 

[lumberjack]

Is it possible to find another place to stockpile wood or buy your own? The place I've been dumping for 7-8 years for free started charging (allegedly, I haven't paid anything yet). My last 10 tree jobs generated 10 loads of debris, the dump fee I heard third hand would equate to 3.25% of our gross going to dump fees (couple of nice storm jobs in there lower the percentage). Not unbearable, but it would certainly add up.

I've gone back to piling on my property, the downsides are I need to put a road in for access during the wetter periods of the year, and my property is 8 miles from my shop vs the former dump being a few hundred yards from the shop and an alternate site on the opposite side of town. My future theory is back to buying some additional land in the county around town for dump sites.

 

[BlackSmith]

Ever think of doing a "demo" on a tub grinder Paul ?

 

[lumberjack]

He will need property to stock pile the material is the main problem I see.

I assume property prices there are quite high.

 

[woodworkingboy]

That Covington, VA pulp mill I guess is too far away to consider making occasional runs?

 

[cory]

A pulp mill wants 4' straight pulp lengths afaik. Nobody wants big ugly gnarly stuff.

 

[BlackSmith]

I forgot about Covington.

 

[woodworkingboy]

4', that's short. Two meters here. It can be curved to whatever, but no stubs.

 

[PCTREE]

Carl I have been looking for property but it is pretty expensive around here. Anything close to town is going to be $1ooK per acre.

I thought about making a huge rocket stove type incinerator that would have say a 6' dia tube 15' deep as the fuel chamber. Light it in the fall and let it burn all winter and heat house and shop. Biggest concern is a neighbor complaining to the county and I would be in trouble for running a business out of here etc etc..

 

[Altissimus]

Outfit in Brattleboro set up their yard w a whole Tree chipper and the screening coloring machine. Sells biomass loads without the dye. Not cheap to set up though.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Feeling tub grinder here. Hopefully sell the mulch to offset the cost. You are in about the same boat as I am in Paul. We burn a lot during the winter. I have a free wood sign on the corner right now. Help your self. BYOS... It is disappearing.

 

[Raj]

Insurance greatly frowns on BYOS for those situations up here.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Not too concerned. Wood is actually on the county easement
I'll let the ins companies duke it out.
We have a standard W/C on our HO ins policy anyway.

 

[Chris E]

Ever think of doing a "demo" on a tub grinder Paul ?

that's a good one

 

[NickfromWI]

It's crazy to think of people NOT factoring in disposal of wood into the pricing. It's just part of the (insane) way of life in LA. Basically everyone in the city pays a LOT to get rid of stuff. The small time guys with no chipper get screwed the most. We pay $50-75 for a load of chips. $100 if it's palm. Dude pulls in with an f150 stacked full of branches will also pay $50 to dispose of it. It's probably 500lbs or less.

But it's a level playing field. We're all factoring it in and passing the expense to the client so it works here.

I just checked: We spent $9,000 on dumping/disposal in 2015. The thought of dumping for free... 😍


love
nick

 

[MasterBlaster]

That's why you need your own property and dump area.

The most successful guys around here have that.

If I woulda had that, I'd have started my own biz ages ago!

 

[Merle Nelson]

If Nick had that in his area he would be rich enough to have the option of not being in the tree business at all.