Chipper Services

Providing woodchipper assistance for wildfire mitigation projects.

First Steps

  1. Are you within Montezuma County? 

    • If not, we can connect you with local contractors. We only work within Montezuma County.

  2. Determine if the material you have is Chippable. 

    • Our chipper can only accommodate trees and woody material 1-7” in diameter. 

    • Woody vegetation only, no sagebrush or willows.

  3. Set up a quick meeting to -

    • Let us know approximate number and size of piles for an estimate of how long the project will take

    • Schedule a site visit

  4. Before MCD is on-site to chip -  

    • The landowner is responsible for ensuring that piles are accessible and chippable. We are happy to provide information and instruction on this

How to Stack a Pile:

  1. Large ends facing the road. Place slash with larger, or cut end, facing the road so that it is easy for operators to grab.

  2. The chipper wants to work facing downhill. Loading slack uphill into the hopper will wear out workers quickly. Plan for the chipper to progress in a downhill direction if at all possible. This means- start your stack at the top of a hill and work downwards if you are on a hill. On level ground, make a note of which direction the chipper should travel.

  3. Stack no higher than 4 feet. The pile will compress over time, the higher it is, the more entangled it will become when this happens.

  4. Absolutely no lumber, rocks, stumps, or metal in piles. These might end up in the chipper if they make it into piles and can damage blades.

  5. See well-stacked slash pile example (Right)

Well-stacked slash pile example

 FAQs

  • Our cost is $125 per hour. This cost factors in an expectation that landowners help during chipping activities.

  • Yes, we are asking for landowner participation in this service. This means landowners will be responsible for stacking piles beforehand, and hauling slash while MCD Operators feed the chipper. If you are looking for someone to do it all, there are contractors in the area who provide this service. We are happy to provide their contact information.

  • Please follow the pile-stacking guidelines listed above. Piles are accessible if they are next to a road, or are in a place that we can drive easily with the towable chipper. If your property is very large we can potentially do a site visit to designate a landing to place slash piles for easy chipping, but it will be your responsibility to transport slash and build piles at that accessible location.

  • No, landowners will be charged by the hour, so more piles mean more hours, but we don’t have a pile maximum. If the number and size of piles is very large, we may only be able to help with a portion, as we are limited by availability to provide this service.

 Interested in Chipping?

  • rowan@mancoscd.org

    970-739-1510