Leaving chips onsite

[macrocarpa]

I figure this topic relates closely to the “what’s your small equipment set up” post where we talked about small chippers and small scale operations that mostly focus on pruning.

I’m wondering how many out there are successful with leaving chips on site. I know this isn’t applicable to tree removal unless the customer wants a truckload of chips, but for those of us focusing on pruning, it seems totally doable to find a place to dump a pile of chips/mulch on just about any property.

My question is how receptive are customers to the idea?

And also where they want the chips might not be accessible with the chipper so is there a solution to that like a large wheel barrel to chip into?

 

[Merle Nelson]

Of the places where I ask to leave chips on site I would say between half and 2/3 say yes. I have lots of people close who want chips and I'm often giving them away as a favor.

I'll get a picture of a 90° elbow of culvert pipe I sometimes use to shoot chips into a trash can or right beside the chippers wheel when that's called for.

 

[RyanCafferky]

We live in a somewhat rural area and we have a huge list of people who want chips for using in their yards. We often have clients keep multiple loads of chips. We’ve got one client who always keeps his chips and we dump around 10 loads a year at his place. Demand for chips has been so high that I’ve been considering selling them rather than just treating them as a liability. We tell folks that we will dump where we want for free but if you want to be prioritized and have us make special trips to your place even if it isn’t our closest dump site you have to pay for the chips.

 

[evo]

It comes and goes in waves. The biggest problem is most folks want the chips in difficult places and the volumes make it a pain in the butt. Such as if all the work is in the front yard they almost always want the chips in the back yard far corner.
Then there is the quantity issue, which is fickle, many want much more or much less. I’ve thought about adding a hauling fee as incentive to keep chips on site.

 

[evo]

We live in a somewhat rural area and we have a huge list of people who want chips for using in their yards. We often have clients keep multiple loads of chips. We’ve got one client who always keeps his chips and we dump around 10 loads a year at his place. Demand for chips has been so high that I’ve been considering selling them rather than just treating them as a liability. We tell folks that we will dump where we want for free but if you want to be prioritized and have us make special trips to your place even if it isn’t our closest dump site you have to pay for the chips.

I’ve always sold my chips unless it’s more convenient. What I tell folks is the chips are free but I charge for delivery and if I were more organized I would have a list of x2-3 times of people who want to buy chips than I can produce.

Just got a email from someone looking for 1000 yards. Over 1 hour away without accounting for the boat. Either they are casting a wide net or clueless by contacting me

 

[Matias]

I like to give a price with full disposal and one without. Sometimes the choice is obvious, other times not. One guy I work with has a pile in the front of his property and lets people come and get their own chips. I live way off the main roads so I struggle to get people to drop chips at my place. There is a big operation here that offers lower cost wood waste disposal and they sell the chips in various stages of composting, and not for cheap. One man's trash...

 

[Mick Dempsey!]

We live in a somewhat rural area and we have a huge list of people who want chips for using in their yards. We often have clients keep multiple loads of chips. We’ve got one client who always keeps his chips and we dump around 10 loads a year at his place. Demand for chips has been so high that I’ve been considering selling them rather than just treating them as a liability. We tell folks that we will dump where we want for free but if you want to be prioritized and have us make special trips to your place even if it isn’t our closest dump site you have to pay for the chips.

That’s getting to be my situation.
Up to recently i was glad to get rid, but now I’m starting to expect a few quid, especially in winter when it’s largely clean stuff.

 

[Alec A.]

I do pruning and removals, but I don't haul anything off site. I will however work with the property owner to find a solution that recycles the shredded material back into their landscape i.e. mulching specific areas, pile it where they can distribute it on their own, and/or move wood to a usable area or the curb for Gleaners/ junk-haulers to haul it away. Sometimes this means using both my mini skid and shredder so I can forward material to another part of the property where it is processed.

I've brought it up before, but the Eliet shredder creates a product that is much easier to spread and composts more readily. I think this is often overlooked when discussing leaving chips: are you creating a value-added product with your services? Blocking a driveway with a pile is a much less enticing sale than refreshing garden beds and paths with the tree that was just removed.

 

[RyanCafferky]

I do pruning and removals, but I don't haul anything off site. I will however work with the property owner to find a solution that recycles the shredded material back into their landscape i.e. mulching specific areas, pile it where they can distribute it on their own, and/or move wood to a usable area or the curb for Gleaners/ junk-haulers to haul it away. Sometimes this means using both my mini skid and shredder so I can forward material to another part of the property where it is processed.

I've brought it up before, but the Eliet shredder creates a product that is much easier to spread and composts more readily. I think this is often overlooked when discussing leaving chips: are you creating a value-added product with your services? Blocking a driveway with a pile is a much less enticing sale than refreshing garden beds and paths with the tree that was just removed.

I need to come work for you for a day and see this machine in action. That might be a good option for us if we start a small pruning crew.

 

[Brando CalPankian]

I can't seem to hang on to chips. I get calls every week about giving chips away. Folks around here charge for them.

As for dumping on site, I tend to target places with easy dump spots. Time is money. I don't want to bugger around with getting stuck or moving chips by hand. We are mostly rural too, so it's different than in big cities.

 

[Matias]

I can't seem to hang on to chips. I get calls every week about giving chips away. Folks around here charge for them.

As for dumping on site, I tend to target places with easy dump spots. Time is money. I don't want to bugger around with getting stuck or moving chips by hand. We are mostly rural too, so it's different than in big cities.

Rural life makes this whole subject easier for sure. It's why I don't even own a chipper. Folks around here know how to burn things.

 

[southsoundtree]

I very rarely haul chips, particularly from anything sizable. I have a 12 yard chip truck.

I'll haul small loads of brush from small pruning jobs at times.

Some places, it's easier to get a trailer in with the pickup/ tool truck that I'm already driving.

 

[Alec A.]

I need to come work for you for a day and see this machine in action. That might be a good option for us if we start a small pruning crew.

Come visit anytime Ryan

 

[flushcut]

Maybe 1 in 30 will take chips. I’ve got a job coming up, medium sized silver, that the whole tree is going thru the chipper, Atom splitter to the rescue, I’m thinking 25-30 yards of chips.

 

[27RMT0N]

What happens to chips, as I people are pointing out here is so dependent on your location and clients, and there is no one solution of course, but lots of options I think depending on your business model.

I've mentioned it before but to put it in this thread: I'm in a rural area where most people have acres of land, we are in the woods as opposed to landscaped/designed space, many customers are also retired and often outdoorsy or gardeners, I'd guess I haul chips away maybe 1 out of 25 jobs. Sometimes I just make a mess and they cleanup/burn if they are into that kind of thing, most of the time I shoot a pile of chips off to the side somewhere or broadcast the chips back onto the forest floor, and maybe 1-2 out of 10 I shoot them into a truck to dump them on a different part of their property. Of the chips I haul away, I of course charge extra to do that since it takes an extra truck I wouldn't otherwise bring, and the time to dump them somewhere. I've got a few people in good locations I just give them to. I don't bother selling chips, because I want them out of my truck so it's empty and available for the next tree job. Sure I might make a few extra bucks doing it, but since I'm rarely taking chips away, I almost never have any TO sell, and people would then be waiting months for a load and I don't want to deal with that. Plus, with the timing and logistics of living and working on different islands and relying on ferry boats, I just don't have the extra time to deal with it all.

Wednesday I left brush where it landed for the customer to drag and burn themselves, Thursday I shot into the truck and dumped the chips uphill at their garden, Friday I shot into a pile. I think I've hauled chips away once in the last month.

 

[SeanRuel]

are you creating a value-added product with your services

A local farmer has been chipper shreading invasive green crabs to use as fertilizer. I think that's a cool idea and have been wondering about feeding in N sources as you chip too make a nice fast compost blend

 

[Neill]

There’s a guy I’ve dumped for at least 5 times, and I know for a fact over the last few years has taken over 50 drops, most over 15 yards a drop. ..Just one lunatic homeowner with horses to maintain

Check out getchipdrop.com as a starting point

Free arborist chips is like greenwashing marketing here. Get rich and pretentious and then get some free wood chips. I dumped ina neighborhood the other day and I swear every other house had a pile of chips

 

[Merle Nelson]

Not too germain to a lot of what is being talked about here but, this 45° elbow is something I put on the end of my 90XP chute to place chips closer to the side of the machine or right down into a garbage can. I have a smaller one that I used on my 60AW chipper and I had a awning company sew up a tubular skirt for me to keep chips from bouncing back out of can as much.

 

[27RMT0N]

Oh yah, Reg made a video about his little portable chipper/shredder thing a while back for shooting piles in back yards and whatnot:

 

[Serf Life]

Making trails eats up tons of chips and super enjoyable.