Brush pile debris help

[Prelude8626]

just curious what you all normally do with brush piles. I just got done expanding a food plot and have a couple brush piles that I need to either move or get rid of. What do you all normally do with your brush.

 

[OkieKubota]

just curious what you all normally do with brush piles. I just got done expanding a food plot and have a couple brush piles that I need to either move or get rid of. What do you all normally do with your brush.

Use it to funnel deer into the plot where I want...

 

[T-Max]

Like Okie said. If they aren't in the right spot for that, we usually wait for a little snow cover on the ground and then burn...

 

[j-bird]

Yep....use it to block the deer from certain areas or use them as tree cages or even just to screen the plot from the woods to create a softer edge. It's a pain to do it...but it far more productive use of it then just burning it. You can just leave them as well, rabbits and other critters will use them as cover.

 

[Drycreek]

I'm kinda OCD about brushpiles. I used to burn them all, but now I leave some for the small game. I'm on Wildlife Exemption for property tax purposes and one of the recommended practices is brushpiles. I have a bunch of little ones that I'll keep but two humongous ones that I'll burn when conditions are right. Coons are probably denned up in them anyway and me and coons don't gee-haw.

 

[FL Plotter]

Pile em up and let em rot
Pile em up and burn em
Pile em up, then back the bushhog into them and pulverize them!

#3 is the most fun.

 

[MattJK]

How flat is your farm? While not ideal for wildlife, lots of my brush ends up in ravine points or drainages. It is surprisingly effective for erosion control.

 

[Mennoniteman]

84" titan root grapple on FEL, move the brush piles where you want them with no sweat equity involved.

 

[MarkDarvin]

It should really depend on what you have for brush, how it’s laying, and where it is. I’ve got all kinds of different uses for brush, both scattered and piled.

This mess of bigger ash trees was intentionally jenga’d as high as I could stack them to be a deep woods cover/bedding area.

This one is mostly softwoods that will rot in a few years. I left them all over right where they fell to help hold up the grass for a couple years.

Sometimes I drop it right on top of stuff I’m trying to protect or release.

 

[snowracerh]

I leave em where they fall - the more the merrier. Winter browse, cover for small critters, ground level cover for deer bedding, natural sapling protection and eventually rot into organic matter.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[Brushpile]

Believe it or not, I burn all of mine. Brush piles attract rodents that girdle small trees and attract predators.

 

[George]

I don't mind small brush piles for bunnies where I will not be burning in the future but I do not need them to direct deer movement so they are burned.

G

 

[BenAllgood]

If you have a lot of open areas, create funnels with them. If you have food plots or fields that need funnels across them, string them in a line for screening growth or stand access walkways. Birds will perch on them and drop seeds and naturally plant you a screen.

 

[Mennoniteman]

Believe it or not, I burn all of mine. Brush piles attract rodents that girdle small trees and attract predators.

And the wood ash has a PH value similar to lime.

 

[Bowhunter]

I typically burn all my trees and tops when I either expand or create new food plots. Like @Mennoniteman mentioned it also benefits the soil. The stumps that I push out with the dozer I’ll leave on the edge for a few years to rot and break down, and then I’ll incorporate it back into the plot when it’s ready to do so.

 

[Prelude8626]

Believe it or not, I burn all of mine. Brush piles attract rodents that girdle small trees and attract predators.

Any tricks to burning brush piles in the woods. I only have about a 1/4 acre opening and have never done any brush pile burning and I'm scared to death that I'll set the woods on fire.

 

[Mennoniteman]

Any tricks to burning brush piles in the woods. I only have about a 1/4 acre opening and have never done any brush pile burning and I'm scared to death that I'll set the woods on fire.

I've set the woods on fire. No major damage and It's only a $400 fine. I had good fire breaks and a controlled burn, everything was good, the fire was out. Fully eight days after the burn when I wasn't around a big wind came along and relit it where it was smoldering under a stump, blew burning leaves across the fire break, and the neighbors called the fire co. Burning is just too much trouble for me anymore, and I was never quite on board with the air pollution, air quality is important to me. I use logging, discing, glyphosate, and bushhogging as my habitat tools now. Just let your brush piles rot away, they aren't doing any harm. Some extra rodents and rabbits are all a part of the food chain in a balanced ecosystem.

 

[Prelude8626]

I've set the woods on fire. No major damage and It's only a $400 fine. I had good fire breaks and a controlled burn, everything was good, the fire was out. Fully eight days after the burn when I wasn't around a big wind came along and relit it where it was smoldering under a stump, blew burning leaves across the fire break, and the neighbors called the fire co. Burning is just too much trouble for me anymore, and I was never quite on board with the air pollution, air quality is important to me. I use logging, discing, glyphosate, and bushhogging as my habitat tools now. Just let your brush piles rot away, they aren't doing any harm. Some extra rodents and rabbits are all a part of the food chain in a balanced ecosystem.

This is exactly what I was thinking would be the best bet haha