Wood chip dispersal methods? HELP PLEASE.

Hi, i have 3x 10foot piles of WOOD CHIP that needs to be dispersed around in garden which is just under acre. Q. What would be manually the easiest, quickest way to disperse this around my garden. Is there a method or gardening appliance anyone can reccomend-for a chick on her own with a mending fractured wrist? Please help, any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanku kristi

Hmm, I'm not sure about the wrist part but I use a garden fork to get the chips into my wheelbarrow or 5 gallon buckets. I can fit three buckets in my radio flyer wagon. The buckets are great for getting to areas that would be awkward to get to with the wheelbarrow or just need a more careful touch. Maybe it's an idea that can help you!

Kristi Campbell : You did not give us a location, is -' the arrival of''cold weather'' your time keeper, or is there a more demanding timekeeper, your local neighborhood association,
or a Nasty-gram from a nosey Code Enforcement Office ? Is this likely to happen?

Identify where your potential problems might be -a spiteful neighbor- a school bus driver worried about his line-of-sight!

You should be able to convince everyone that you have good intentions, and you are temporarily disabled, and had a good plan for the dispersal of the chips !

Talk To your doctor and get something in writing, usually this can be a few words written on an Prescription sheet!

If you can afford to see a physical therapist do so, they can quickly tell you don't do this,or else ! They can give you strengthening exercises and work arounds
if you can work your schedule to their less busy times or offer to take them to lunch you will find that they really want to be part of your health recovery team
and will work with-you even to just giving you an outline of a patent (you) care plan that would span months.

Most high schools now have a community service requirement to achieve before graduation, if you can get through to the right teacher you MIGHT find a football
team complete with coaches in your yard saying were do you want this stuff moved lady ?!, or just a 98 pound nerd from the chess club, but more help than
you've got now

Is there a local garden society ! Think permiculture, the problem IS the solution !

Short version, make sure you have time, don't make the problem worse, be creative ! Yeah TEAM ! Hope this helps and is timely Big AL

Kristi,
I did 1 acre of tomatoes this year. I used wood chips for mulch on part of it. I found it pretty easy with a front end loader on the front of the tractor. Don't know if you have a tractor with a bucket? If you do, simply get a scoop of chips and drive the tractor to the rows you want to mulch. Tip the bucket forward 1/2 way and rake out enough to mulch the row you need covered. Alternately they actually do make manure spreaders that can handle wood chip animal bedding. What you have shouldn't be too different. I haven't used one before, so I wouldn't know how easy it would be to use for an injured person with no experience, but it is a shot. Maybe find a local farmer with one?

I'm not sure of your time limits, or just how far you need to move the chips (but with one acre, it can't be tremendously far). The main problem seems to be your busted wrist, which would seem to make shovels or forks problematic. Have you considered a hoe?

One-handed operation shouldn't be a problem, and the job shouldn't be too strenuous at any given time. It will be slow, though. As others have mentioned, the easiest and fastest approach is to get someone else to do it for you, but I'm assuming that isn't feasible right now. So, a light hand-tool like a hoe or maybe a rake seems to be your best bet. Good luck!

kristi campbell wrote: What would be manually the easiest, quickest way to disperse this around my garden. Is there a method or gardening appliance anyone can reccomend-for a chick on her own with a mending fractured wrist?

Welcome to permies kristi
Yeah, is there a time frame due to er, 'societal pressures',
protecting the soil over a Northern hemisphere winter or a Southern hemisphere summer, etc?
Here's a useful thread if you'd like to add your location.

The only way I've moved chip is with a wheelbarrow, fork and shovel-
it is not the kind of thing I'd suggest for someone with a broken wrist.
I agree with others that it's a 'calling in the troops' scenario if the chip needs to move.
Do you have a local timebank? If you're involved with a community group, religious organisations etc...
I've been doing stuff with intellectually disabled adults for ages, and they often do this kind of stuff where I am.

If lacking wheelbarrows/tools but not helpers, you can just lay cheap tarpaulin(s) at the pile's base,
push chips onto it, carry it two corners each, dump and kick it around to spread

If you get helpers, the chip's been sitting around and the weather's been dry,
I suggest being prepared to either provide those basic dust masks, or water the pile as you go.
I don't do it for myself, but a pile can get some impressive fungal activity and the spores can apparently be a bit hard on some.