Tying brush bundles

[bochnak]

My city collects unlimited brush if it is ******* in bundles no more than 4 feet long and under 50lbs.

I have to cut my hedges every year and usually have 20+ bundles.

I currently lay 2 strips of twine down, stack the brush, and then tie it up. It *****. Bending over a million times *****.

Any ideas of making this job of tying bundles any easier?

 

[SteveCh]

Build some sort of outdoor work table and then not have to bend over.

 

[gemniii]

My city collects unlimited brush if it is ******* in bundles no more than 4 feet long and under 50lbs.

I have to cut my hedges every year and usually have 20+ bundles.

I currently lay 2 strips of twine down, stack the brush, and then tie it up. It *****. Bending over a million times *****.

Any ideas of making this job of tying bundles any easier?

Well my county does the same.
When I have a bunch of "stuff" like apple branches (which take up a lot of space per unit length because they fork all over the place) I use 2 strips of twin and a ratchet in the middle. Then I'll make a big mound, wrap the strap around them and ratchet it down. Jump on it a couple of times, ratchet it down some more. When I get the bundle as tight as I can I tie the twine around and reuse the strap for the next bundle.
I also take a cheap patio chair along to sit on.

But check if your area does

Special Collections: Your base service includes 5 special collections per fiscal year (July 1 - June 30).
You must schedule special collections in advance.
The cut off time for next day pickups is 2:30 PM
the day before your collection day.
Special collection piles are limited to: • 12 cubic yards of material (a pile about 5 feet x 6 feet x 10 feet)
• Piles of heavy/dense materials are limited to 6
cubic yards.
• Materials must be no bigger than 6 feet long and 6
inches in diameter.

I got a LOT of bamboo in piles 5'x6'x10'.
/edit - tying that stuff up in 4' long < 50lb bundles was a non-starter.

 

[Stuart in MN]

I've had some success using an empty trash can to hold bundles of sticks while I tie them up, but your results may vary depending on how 'bushy' your hedges are.

 

[bochnak]

Build some sort of outdoor work table and then not have to bend over.

I was thinking of building two "X" frames at 3-4' apart. Stack the brush in the top "v" part. This would bring up the working height and allow me to run twine underneath.

 

[SteveCh]

I was thinking of building two "X" frames at 3-4' apart. Stack the brush in the top "v" part. This would bring up the working height and allow me to run twine underneath.

I actually do have one of these "sawhorses" made from cedar 4x4s; a friend made it for cutting firewood and then moved into a neighborhood where wood burning isn't allowed and gave me the thing. It would work great for your bundling, and it could be made of smaller-dimension wood [2x4s, etc.]. They can also be made collapsible for storage.

Another idea I did in the past is to set two posts in the ground somewhere out of the way [next to a fence?] and attach a 2x4 "arm" to each post, sticking out. After bundling finished, removed the arms and store. I did this for, again, cutting firewood and it worked great. Would work fine for bundling and is low-tech and basically free if you have scrap wood.

 

[Kevin54]

Find out where the city takes the brush, and see if the local citizens can take it directly there for recycling. If so, buy a truck or a small trailer to haul it there. Most counties around my area all have places to dump yard waste. Then once a year they come in with a huge grinder and turn it into mulch. Or you could even buy your own grinder and mulch your own yard waste. You can buy them for $600 and up. Just do a search for "wood chipper"

 

[Bretny]

Cant burn it in a "camp fire"?

 

[toolmiser]

Use an upside down sawhorse laying your rope in it before filling. The legs will keep it together until you tie it up.

 

[rlitman]

I've had some success using an empty trash can to hold bundles of sticks while I tie them up, but your results may vary depending on how 'bushy' your hedges are.

My town collects bundles of the same description as the OP.

I believe they just want the brush bundled to make it easier to load onto the truck. Because of they, they've happily taken brush stuffed into empty trash cans. And now that I have a few trash cans dedicated to gardening debris, I don't bundle any more.

 

[Rory Bellows]

Ever see a christmas tree go through the machine that wraps it? Seems like a great idea. Find one, use it, report back.

BTW, I too hate wrapping bundles for trash. Don't use cheap twine to wrap it because it always seem to break at the curb. That's my only semi-pro tip. I do at least 40 bundles a year.

 

[johnnyradiant]

Cant burn it in a "camp fire"?

To get away with camp fire in a lot areas around here you have to roast a hot dog, or wrap a tater up in tin foil and toss it in. It is amazing how big and how long you have to burn for just one rotten potato, or in worst case followed by another, but never at the same time.

 

[bochnak]

I was thinking of building two "X" frames at 3-4' apart. Stack the brush in the top "v" part. This would bring up the working height and allow me to run twine underneath.

Use an upside down sawhorse laying your rope in it before filling. The legs will keep it together until you tie it up.

Haha that is exactly what I was trying to describe. I don't have a sawhorse, so I'll just build this thing.

 

[bochnak]

Cant burn it in a "camp fire"?

Tried that. Too fresh and smokes like crazy. Don't have room or care to dry it.

 

[BuffettFan]

View media item 91396
A pic of me carrying a bundle from a few years back...

 

[kj_mustang]

Right after you had that talk with ole Buddy Bear.

 

[e462001]

You sir, need a wood chipper. You're throwing away good compost/mulch.

 

[bczygan]

Fargo!

 

[RKA]

The X braces would be my first thought as well. One suggestion, use a light duty tie down strap with a cam locking lever to compress the brush before you tie it off with the twine. The twine has sufficient strength to hold the brush, but it snaps half the time when I'm trying to compress the bundle.

 

[rburke65]

There can’t be too many ways around this. The X frame sounds the most simple.

 

[TXpintail]

We have to do the same thing. No tips from me as to avoiding the bends. I will say that though that the bundles are one of the best applications for a truckers hitch when you tie them off. Keeps them nice and tight.


Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[akasrick]

I will say that though that the bundles are one of the best applications for a truckers hitch when you tie them off. Keeps them nice and tight.

I knew this bookmark would come in handy one day.

https://www.animatedknots.com/truckers/index.php

akasrick

 

[bdbecker]

I'll take some pics of the setup I built a few years back and post them here. Its nothing fancy, but it works really well and breaks down for easy storage.

EDIT:
Okay, here are some pics. Pretty basic setup made from scraps I had laying around the garage. The 2x4 frames screw into the plywood base, and the plywood base gets screwed into the sawhorses. The spools of twine are held on by a couple dowels and are centered 16" in from each end so that the bundles are fairly evenly tied and stable. The end caps for the spools of twine are just some hole saw drops, again, from the scrap box. I believe our town has a bundle length and diameter limit, which is why the 2x4 frame is sized as shown. The plywood base is 4' long so when loading, any limbs that stick out past the ends of the base get trimmed down or folded back into the middle. Make sure to pull out the twine before starting to load - you'll only make that mistake once or twice!

View media item 91422
When not in use, I keep the frames assembled and use a scrap board screwed to the middles to hold them together. I just keep the pieces stashed in the rafters ready for the next storm. Setup only takes a few minutes and it saves a ton of fiddling around.

View media item 91420
You're welcome to use this idea as long as its not for commercial purposes (I wrote that on there probably 3 years ago, haven't seen the papers from the gov't show up yet ).

View media item 91421

 

[rburke65]

On other simple tool that does all one coil$need. Nice job!

 

[Mattlt]

The X braces would be my first thought as well. One suggestion, use a light duty tie down strap with a cam locking lever to compress the brush before you tie it off with the twine. The twine has sufficient strength to hold the brush, but it snaps half the time when I'm trying to compress the bundle.

This. Another thought would be a heavy log chain to compress the bundles. Feed the chain through a slip hook so the chain wraps tightly around the bundle. You may even be able to figure it out so you can step on the chain to tighten around the bundle. Wrap the twine around the bundle and tie it, and release your foot from the chain.

 

[Mandres]

I knew this bookmark would come in handy one day.

https://www.animatedknots.com/truckers/index.php

akasrick

That's a great site, I've had it bookmarked for a long time too.

 

[akasrick]

That's a great site, I've had it bookmarked for a long time too.

I chip down till the chipper starts to bog down. Throw those into the small branch pile. Bundle them with slip knot on one end, wrap bring the twine down the bundle, wrap that end tie off so I have a handle, makes it easier to pick up Have put those out to curb during the camping season. the curb is clean afterwards. It's been awhile the pile is getting bigger.

akasrick

 

[BuffettFan]

Right after you had that talk with ole Buddy Bear.

That is the song that got me started on the downward spiral of Buffettism....

 

[mikegt4]

My Dad had a couple of garden carts that he used for just that task. He built them from kits that were advertised in all the DIY magazines back in the 1970-80's. They supplied the hardware and wheels, he supplied the plywood. He would lay string across the cart bed, up and over the side then load the clippings as he cut them. When the cart was full he would tie the strings to form the bundle that he set at the curb. They were very easy to roll around. I still have what is left of one cart (plywood has rotted) so they lasted a long, long time. It was similar to this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002A3TXJY/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

Use an upside down sawhorse laying your rope in it before filling. The legs will keep it together until you tie it up.

I was kind of thinking along the same lines. You could turn a picnic table upside down and then could wrap either length or width wise. Depending on the supports.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Same rules in my suburb, but town, but usually I only have a couple of bundles per year.

Start with a large ball of decent twine. Do NOT pre-cut ! Make a small fixed loop on the end and then pull the standing part through it so you have a large loop. Make this loop large enough to go around the end of you bundle with no leaves. Pull tight ! Roll the bundle over the twine. It will take 3-6 rolls. Cut the twine and pull tight. Tie off the lose end.

Yes, you still have to bend over, but it is pretty quick and easy.