Access road using wood chips

Im reporting in after 18 months using woodchips for my driveway.

Benifits so far:
No mud
No dust
No runoff

Chips make great driveways and access roads, but not all chips are the same.

Here in TX, we get a lot of cedar, and thats what you want for roads and paths.  Save the hardwoods and leafy stuff for planting areas.

The best material ever are these cedar shards ...created by a giant tree shreddar that crunches whole trees.  We got this from land cleared to put in a cement plant ...large project which lead to free deliveries of quanties sufficient to build roads.

Here im top dressing because the bottom layer here doesnt have much cedar.

A super helpful tip:  plan ahead and have each load dropped exactly where you want to spread.

Another tip:  it takes waay more than you think by the time it compresses down into the soil below.

Do expect to reapply every couple years, but rock drives often require that also

That sounds like it is standing up fairly well. I'm guessing from Texas, you must have a fairly dry climate? My experience up here has been needing to add woodchips every year on paths... our wet climate likes to eat the woodchips quickly.

James, I am impressed that you can get wood chips to last so long, but I assume that is a result of a relatively arid climate.  Around me, wood chips on the ground would be decomposed well before the year was up, but they work for you so congratulations.

Eric

Matt McSpadden wrote:That sounds like it is standing up fairly well. I'm guessing from Texas, you must have a fairly dry climate? My experience up here has been needing to add woodchips every year on paths... our wet climate likes to eat the woodchips quickly.

Yes, arid for at least 6 months in a year.  Also, cedar is particularly slow to decompose around here.

Do y'all have any conifers around that are known for resisting rot?  You never know what is on any particular truck, but its good to notice what kind of wood it is.

Also, that big machine grinder ...its not what the arborist use.   It makes shards from grinding up the larger branches so its solid wood ...not many leaves.  If you ever see such a thing in use on a land clearing project, its worth a stop to ask for some.

These lemon rinds are super squishy, same asthe mud here, but i get isntant access back to my garden as soon as i get the shards down.

I put in a side access road on my hilly property, and covered it with wood chips. It worked brilliantly for mud control, and I do refresh it with a top dressing on occasion.

It is usually moist and harmless -- plus there is a big old maple where the dogs and I can hang out in the summer heat.

Except, in times of extreme heat and drought and wind-driven wildfires, this can become a highly flammable material. It's too close to the house. I need a plan to scrape it off to dirt on short notice.

James Bradford wrote:...Do y'all have any conifers around that are known for resisting rot?...  

We have the eastern Cedar which resists rot just like the ones down south. Also hemlock is fairly rot resistant around here. Probably some others, but those come to mind. They take longer to break down than others... but when you add water and ground contact... you still get composted woodchips before you think you would.

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:I put in a side access road on my hilly property, and covered it with wood chips. It worked brilliantly for mud control, and I do refresh it with a top dressing on occasion.

It is usually moist and harmless -- plus there is a big old maple where the dogs and I can hang out in the summer heat.

Except, in times of extreme heat and drought and wind-driven wildfires, this can become a highly flammable material. It's too close to the house. I need a plan to scrape it off to dirt on short notice.

Yes!  good point ... I was pretty nervous the 1st summer I had spread chips on the whole 1/4 acre ... road, grassy ditch, then 12" of dry as bone wood chips ... then 100 days of 100 deg temps and no rain.    I was worried about anyone just throwing a cig butt out the window.

Here's a picture of the machine that processed the "wood shards".   It  was operating on a JL Gray construction site.   The contractor was behind on getting the material hauled off the site.   Our site in Salado was an hour closer (round trip) than where the contractor was taking it all back to.  So, just for stopping to ask, I got over 40 rollback dumpsters delivered for free.   I figure it saved him a work week in man hours of driving time, not to mention the diesel for that.  win win

Eric Hanson wrote:James, I am impressed that you can get wood chips to last so long, but I assume that is a result of a relatively arid climate.  Around me, wood chips on the ground would be decomposed well before the year was up, but they work for you so congratulations.

Eric

Thats about right for what im seeing ...18 months 6 were dry ...and now im adding material

James Bradford wrote: So, just for stopping to ask, I got over 40 rollback dumpsters delivered for free.   I figure it saved him a work week in man hours of driving time, not to mention the diesel for that.  win win

Absolutely brilliant! Well done sir.

Talk about shards! Those pieces are huge compared to the chip I am used to.

Do you spread the piles out by hand and if so with what tools? I imagine that the wood shards of various sizes lock up pretty well to stay where you lay them?

Just have to mention--I love seeing your Supervisor (kitty) in that last photo. Looks good!

I am impressed by your efforts to get and use scrap wood. Bravo!

Timothy Norton wrote:Talk about shards! Those pieces are huge compared to the chip I am used to.

Do you spread the piles out by hand and if so with what tools? I imagine that the wood shards of various sizes lock up pretty well to stay where you lay them?

Haha, I have a couple funny stories from friends trying to handle this material with regular front end loader bucket on a tractor.   You really have to get right along the ground to get a scoop, and so we've just been handling it with pitchforks lately.  

We have literally tons of this stuff tho ...looking to rig up some sort of pitchfork blade for the tractor.

Even on one of my hand pitchforks, the tines are too close and this stuff clogs them.   I can work it pretty fast with my 5 tine, fiberglass handle pitchfork ... that I paid $74 for at the hardware store ...one of my few investments on tools, but so worth it.

Rachel Lindsay wrote:Just have to mention--I love seeing your Supervisor (kitty) in that last photo.

That's kiki CT ... short for "Crouching Tiger"  

James Bradford wrote: We have literally tons of this stuff tho ...looking to rig up some sort of pitchfork blade for the tractor.

I'm wondering if something like manure tines on a skid-steer might work well. The spacing might be tricky depending on the brand or what you can weld up.

...for sure, that looks perfect!

We have a bolt on pallet fork for the bucket to move pallets ...gonna work with that 1st.  Ill report in when we test that