Getting rid of scraps and bark

I was curious to see what folks are doing to get rid of the bark that comes off of fire would they process and a small bits of wood created when processing firewood. I’ve gotten to a point where I really don’t wanna keep on throwing it in the back woods any longer. I’ve looked into getting a wood chipper and then utilizing the shredded up bark for gardening and what not, but after talking with a person at a nearby equipment shop, they were saying that if I’d be using it for tree bark, then I would probably need a larger machine to a comedy The width of the bark.
I should mention that I really don’t have the space or mechanism to save the bars and scraps as kindling. I mentioned that, because I imagine that would be a lot of folks’s responses.

 

Throw it in your trash can every week? Assuming you have weekly trash pickup.

 

Some of it goes in the fire pit pile. The rest goes in the burn piles throughout the winter.

 

I toss bark onto the dirt road through my property. It began as an effort to slow storm water. Between my truck and tractor driving over it, it breaks down pretty quickly. I have also stacked firewood on a layer of bark. It does a good job of protecting the firewood from moisture and termites. If I had enough of it I would stack all my wood on bark.

 

I toss it in the woods. I just dump piles of bark and scraps from when I clean up. Bark is high in nutrients from which the next generation of trees can benefit. Mycorrhizae (fungus) grows into the organic material on the ground, breaks it down and transports the nutrients (and water)to the living plant life and in exchange the plants provide glucose to the mycorrhizae to allow it to grow more. More organic material on the forest floor helps with drought resistance. It also provides a place for small animals such as salamanders, newts and frogs to shelter and find food from insects that feed on the organic material. Dump it back in the woods I say. After it decays for a couple years, you can scratch up the decayed material that may also be rich in worm castings to use in your garden. I do the same with brush. I pile it to let it dry and decay. The rabbits love to hide under them.. If I need sticks for a campfire or for my stump burning operations, I have piles of dry brush ready to go.

 

Exactly this....mix with some grass clippings or green material and it will produce rich compost and soil.

 

I use it around the stacks and PA area for mud control. Im to the point that I now rake it up, scoop with a coal shovel and will either disperse into the woods on the property or across the street by the wheelbarrow full. I'm a firm believer of returning it to the Earth as my late mom used to say. It's a common sight to see me "frisbee"bark chunks into the woods.

Ill usually have an empty feed/cat litter bag next to the hydro when I'm using it and toss splitter shards into them. Makes great kindling. I also toss smaller chunks (too small for selling) into the PU and use them here in there firepit after they dry a bit.

Can you use the brown leaf bags and dispose of at your local dump/compost center Steve?

 

Splitter trash that is kindling-worthy gets saved for fire starter and I compost the bulk of the bark I generate. I add to the pile year-round: tree bark, coffee grounds, leaves, food scraps, etc. I turn the pile with a pitchfork from time to time to incorporate everything together. I'm continuously amazed by how much everything breaks down volume-wise. My compost pile started as a way to fill in a low spot in my backyard that I had excavated some fill material from years ago, and just evolved into an ongoing science project.

 

Thanks for all the ideas/insight everyone. I think I will continue spreading out the firewood “waste” in to woods in the back. I though of the idea for a chipper to perhaps utilize everything in could in the yard and flower area but i honestly rather not spend a bunch of money on that.
Thanks for the help!

 

Mine goes to the town stump-dump. We are lucky to have this.

 

I do the same with mine.

 

Dump some on the ground in the woodyard and trail. Some gets burnt or used as kindling, some gets put in raised beds, some gets burned making maple syrup.

 

I started with putting it all in my stump dumps, and then moved onto using it in the wood yard. I separate any kindling wood, and the rest gets driven over, back dragged with rock bucket, and generally worked into the ground. It’s helped with erosion and keeping grass from growing in that area. Needs several more years of wood bark to really complete surfacing the wood yard with it, and then it’s probably time to start the process over again.

When our property was logged I built an 800’ long gravel road, and asked the loggers about a hammerhead style turn around. I would have built one with gravel, but they offered to use wood chips so it wouldn’t be permanent. It worked well for 244 tractor trailers to turn around on, they smoother it up as needed with a skidder. Well that turnaround has become the wood yard, and I’m glad I didn’t use gravel there.

 

I sort fire starting size pieces while splitting, then put that in a plastic 55gal drum that goes in the basement. All the rest has been getting put on piles around trees as mulch, so it eventually breaks down into dirt. I also save contractor bags of noodles when I can to do the same. I used to burn it all but realized after a couple years it becomes useful.

 

I've done everything that has been said above, except take it to the dump or put out for garbage. Mostly I will put around trees, compost or use for mud control Real thick bark, I save and have a bark fire in the woodstove.

 

I don't have to go very far to throw it in the woods.
Further into the woods there is a small sink hole maybe 20 feet across and about 4 feet deep. Convenient place to throw pine branches if I am near it working.
I also have a thirty foot cliff I dump anything that will decompose that is too big for a compost pile.

 

Get a burn barrel and burn it as you make it or depending on your set up, use it as a barrier between your wood and the ground.

 

I put bark in my garden rows and in my chicken run, in time they will return to the earth. in the meantime, they help stop soil erosion, suppress weeds and keep the chicken's feet out of the mud which results in cleaner eggs. to me the bark is treasure not trash.

 

I do all the above (except take to the dump/trash)
Leave what I can in the woods, some gets thrown in garden/landscaping areas, some gets burnt...