How to recycle trees
March 4, 2011 8:09 AM Subscribe
We are having trees in our yard cut down, and are unsure how to dispose of them.
The contractor tells us he takes them to them the dump. This seems like a waste of good wood and unnecessary use of land fill space. The city tells me that they accept yard waste for mulch only if it is less than 4" in diameter. Where around Olathe KS can we dispose of these trees more responsibly?
The contractor tells us he takes them to them the dump. This seems like a waste of good wood and unnecessary use of land fill space. The city tells me that they accept yard waste for mulch only if it is less than 4" in diameter. Where around Olathe KS can we dispose of these trees more responsibly?
Do people use wood-burning stoves in your part of the world, and is the wood you've got suitable for them? If so, Craigslist or Freecycle: I see "bring your chainsaw, splitter and truck" ads around my way all the time.
posted by holgate at 8:11 AM on March 4, 2011
posted by holgate at 8:11 AM on March 4, 2011
Yeah, if you don't mind a stranger coming by with a chainsaw (and the potential liability issues involved with that) I've seen "Free tree, come get it" type ads on Freecycle and Craigslist.
posted by bondcliff at 8:13 AM on March 4, 2011
posted by bondcliff at 8:13 AM on March 4, 2011
just don't be one of those jerks that post "firewood: you come, you cut, $50" .. Make it free, they are doing you a favor.
In my experience, the cost to haul away a tree is equal to the cost to take the tree down (+/- tricky issues dropping the tree).
Around here, we have a massive recycler that the tree folks take the logs to. They mulch the wood. So you pay to have the tree taken down, pay to have it hauled off, then pay again to have it brought back as mulch for your garden ;)
posted by k5.user at 8:17 AM on March 4, 2011
In my experience, the cost to haul away a tree is equal to the cost to take the tree down (+/- tricky issues dropping the tree).
Around here, we have a massive recycler that the tree folks take the logs to. They mulch the wood. So you pay to have the tree taken down, pay to have it hauled off, then pay again to have it brought back as mulch for your garden ;)
posted by k5.user at 8:17 AM on March 4, 2011
You may want to confirm whether taking them to the dump actually means they are going to the landfill. In my town, brush and trees are collected at the recycling center. The town takes all of that and creates mulch that is then made available, for free, to township residents.
posted by tommccabe at 8:18 AM on March 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by tommccabe at 8:18 AM on March 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
If there is a possibility that the trees are diseased then the best practice is to landfill them. In some areas that is the law.
posted by JJ86 at 8:41 AM on March 4, 2011
posted by JJ86 at 8:41 AM on March 4, 2011
Get a different contractor. Most tree specialists will have a huge chipper that would make the Coen brothers jealous. They should chip most of the tree on site into a dump truck, and take the larger trunks to be split into firewood.
posted by Gungho at 8:52 AM on March 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Gungho at 8:52 AM on March 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
Arborist here. Yeah, a halfway decent tree company will have either their own chipper or will rent one. Green waste disposal is a major part of the job, too, make sure they include that in their quote.
That being said, large wood - over 4" in diameter - doesn't go into the average chipper, and has to be separated out. The tree guys love it when they can leave the wood for you to use in your fireplace - they should be very happy to cut the wood into 18" lengths or so and stack it for you. That's because they have to take large wood to the dump or the recycler. A wood recycler will smash the wood with an enormous hammer mill or drum mill.
Branches and smaller limbs should be chipped. For one thing, it's a LOT easier and faster to load the tree truck with a chipper than it is to load by hand, and you can get four times the waste into one load. The dump/recycler will charge small trucks by the load, large trucks by the ton, so there is no advantage to taking several light un-chipped loads to the dump. It's always better to chip the material. If your tree guy doesn't have a chipper, that's not a good sign. Even a couple of high school kids can run down to the rental yard and get a decent chipper.
The cost to take the wood to the recycler or the dump can be about the same, so the tree guys don't care. One thing, sometimes schools or farmers will take chipped wood to use as mulch, and they won't charge you to take it like the recycling company will. If you or the tree guy can find a place to dump it for free, that's a huge plus.
As for not having a local wood recycler, look in the phone book for landscape materials, specifically wood mulch, wood chips, organic soil amendments (in bulk), that kind of thing. The people that sell that are the people who take wood to recycle. There may not be one close to you, so it could be cheaper for the tree guy to take it to the dump.
Re-reading your post, I see the City will take wood chips under 4". Yeah, just have the guy chip the material, it'll make 1"-3" chips depending on the chipper. If he won't chip it, get someone who will. He really, really, really doesn't want to load branches into the truck by hand.
posted by Xoebe at 9:24 AM on March 4, 2011 [2 favorites]
That being said, large wood - over 4" in diameter - doesn't go into the average chipper, and has to be separated out. The tree guys love it when they can leave the wood for you to use in your fireplace - they should be very happy to cut the wood into 18" lengths or so and stack it for you. That's because they have to take large wood to the dump or the recycler. A wood recycler will smash the wood with an enormous hammer mill or drum mill.
Branches and smaller limbs should be chipped. For one thing, it's a LOT easier and faster to load the tree truck with a chipper than it is to load by hand, and you can get four times the waste into one load. The dump/recycler will charge small trucks by the load, large trucks by the ton, so there is no advantage to taking several light un-chipped loads to the dump. It's always better to chip the material. If your tree guy doesn't have a chipper, that's not a good sign. Even a couple of high school kids can run down to the rental yard and get a decent chipper.
The cost to take the wood to the recycler or the dump can be about the same, so the tree guys don't care. One thing, sometimes schools or farmers will take chipped wood to use as mulch, and they won't charge you to take it like the recycling company will. If you or the tree guy can find a place to dump it for free, that's a huge plus.
As for not having a local wood recycler, look in the phone book for landscape materials, specifically wood mulch, wood chips, organic soil amendments (in bulk), that kind of thing. The people that sell that are the people who take wood to recycle. There may not be one close to you, so it could be cheaper for the tree guy to take it to the dump.
Re-reading your post, I see the City will take wood chips under 4". Yeah, just have the guy chip the material, it'll make 1"-3" chips depending on the chipper. If he won't chip it, get someone who will. He really, really, really doesn't want to load branches into the truck by hand.
posted by Xoebe at 9:24 AM on March 4, 2011 [2 favorites]
You might do a search for "firewood" in Olathe and contact someone who sells firewood to see if they would come to your house to pick up the huge pieces so they could cut it themselves and sell it.
posted by CathyG at 9:39 AM on March 4, 2011
posted by CathyG at 9:39 AM on March 4, 2011
What kind of trees are they?
Important question here, recalling the hilarity from the guys in the pub who were paid to take away a nice big oak trunk. They made their money back twice.
posted by ovvl at 4:32 PM on March 4, 2011
Important question here, recalling the hilarity from the guys in the pub who were paid to take away a nice big oak trunk. They made their money back twice.
posted by ovvl at 4:32 PM on March 4, 2011
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Buck them up into foot long logs and someone will take them as firewood, especially if they're a good hardwood or something.
posted by Stagger Lee at 8:11 AM on March 4, 2011