Necrotic Beaks

[lazy gardener]

Your wife must be a lot cuter than I am. I've stopped even when they are working on my 1/4 mile road, and they will not deliver. And I've offered free eggs. Yes, I've resigned myself to the fact that I must pay. Any idea what a reasonable price would be for a full load. I know that a full load is somewhere between 7 and 14 cu. yds.

 

[ageranger361]

Your wife must be a lot cuter than I am. I've stopped even when they are working on my 1/4 mile road, and they will not deliver. And I've offered free eggs. Yes, I've resigned myself to the fact that I must pay. Any idea what a reasonable price would be for a full load. I know that a full load is somewhere between 7 and 14 cu. yds.

It’s hard to put a figure on it because you’re in a different area than me, but I can tell you what I would do in my area.

First, you need to make sure that you’re finding a company that does not have access to their own staging yard, so they have to take it to a mulching yard to dump it, which means they PAY to get rid of it. These are usually the smaller guys that are still chipping materials, not loading whole materials (obviously), unless you want to rent a chipper and run it through yourself, which IS an option.

Next, you need to try to find out where they are dumping their materials. Around here there’s a place called Michaels Tree and Loader, which has the market sort of cornered on tree debris. They have a huge $100K tub grinder that takes bucket loads of branches, chips, and stumps, and it grinds them up. If you can figure out where they take it you can find out how much they are being charged. Once you know that you’re in a good place to offer them some money, especially if it’s very conveniently located to drop it at your place instead of taking it elsewhere. Around here, a 30 cubic yard trailer costs them about $100 to dump. Assuming your location is the same, you could offer them anywhere from $50-100 to dump it. If you’re in a convenient location compared to the loader place then offer $50. If you’re not, then offer $100. Just know what your top number is and be willing to walk away. There’s plenty of wood chips out there, you just have to find the right company.

When you do offer, first offer the foreman on the job site, which may also be the owner, but not always. You’ll know typically if they refuse to dump on your place without going through the boss, but maybe not. You should start low, but pay attention to the size of the truck or trailer. If it’s only a 15cy truck then only go up to $50. If it’s a big old 30cy trailer then go up to $100.

The biggest thing is just not getting discouraged and quitting though. If you keep trying different places you will eventually find someone who mutually benefits from your place.

If you only need one dump, then you may have to pay a bit more. If you can take the whole job then you might be able to get them to dump the whole job for $100. Which could be three or more dumps.

Also, you’re going to be getting a load that was meant to be taken to the loader to grind, so it’s going to have some branches and knuckles in it, which can make it hard to get your pitch fork through.

When you do get a dump, take some time and spread it all flat at 12” deep. Being close to the soil helps it stay more wet which speeds up decomposition. You’re essentially composting materials for a year or more, which is why you really need a dedicated place for it.