We’re ready to start building our home on a up-sloping, wooded, 2 acre lot (~ 25% slope).  Are there any alternatives for clearing the trees from the 300’ long winding driveway and home site besides having them bulldozed and hauled off to a dump?  (In which case I then have to turn around and purchase mulch for erosion control.)

We’re looking for some type of on-site mulching option. The slope will prevent large grinders from being located anywhere but at the street level, in which case logs would have to be hauled down to the grinder and then mulch hauled back up the hill.  Is that do-able? Was hoping to use the woods that we have to take down for something, even if it’s just mulch.

You might want to try contacting an onsite portable saw mill company.

Here are some folks that might be able to help you out:

http://www.wncgreenbuilding.com/directory/site%20work

Whole logs should definitely go to a sawmill instead of just being used for mulch.

Good luck.

We consulted an arborist and there were only a few trees on the lot that were large enough to mill.  (We are preserving the largest trees on the lot and working the driveway around them.) We ended up contracting w/ an on-site mulching company advertised on the WNCGBC website (http://www.erhservicesllc.com) and were very pleased with the results.  ERH Services mulched the trees directly where they fell, providing very effective shredded mulch that is great for preventing erosion on our slope during contruction.  The picture shows the mulched area after the machine (a large CAT with a mulching attachment in front) came thru and took down the trees and brush in it’s path.

Hello,
I am owner/operator of Green Forestry Solutions and we specialize in eco-friendly land clearing methods.  We do not burn or dump in land fills.  With the use of mulchers and chippers we can mulch everything up to 10"s

Our web site is http://www.greenforestrysolutions.com and I can be contacted through here or there and you can also call me directly at 828-719-5629

I hope this is helpful and please contact me if I can do anything else for you.

Micah

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On behalf of (company) I herewith request a Low Hazard Grant of Exemption from
regulation for the storage, processing and/or use of ground new construction
engineered wood scrap for the purpose of landspreading it as an erosion control
material at new home construction sites.
Normally discarded material, such as scrap wood left over from construction
projects, is a solid waste as defined in s. 289.01(33), Wis. Stats., and exemptions
to allow for the recycling of low hazard wastes are allowable under s. 289.43 (8),
Wis. Stats., and NR 500.08(5), Wis. Adm. Code.

We Rarely Have any wood from clearing that gets wasted. Anything straight over 12” in diameter, 10” if it’s really nice, gets sawn into lumber for trim and cabinets, we have to haul the logs to the mill. Anything under 10” will fit into the chipper that we use, to make plenty of mulch to ensure that no disturbed dirt is left unprotected. Anything rejected for either of these uses is readily cut for firewood.  This is a simple way to utilize resources, and helps bring homes closer to the land that they belong to.