Getting Rid of Live Oak Leaves?

The Junk Drawer is for those Off Topical discussions where we can ask questions of the community that we feel might have the ability to help out.

Moderator: Harold_V

spro
Posts: 8016
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2006 11:04 pm
Location: mid atlantic

Re: Getting Rid of Live Oak Leaves?

Post by spro »

Hey Mauro, this makes too much sense. I wanted to line Steve up with this one.. https://baltimore.craigslist.org/grd/d/ ... 00093.html
User avatar
SteveHGraham
Posts: 7788
Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2009 7:55 pm
Location: Florida

Re: Getting Rid of Live Oak Leaves?

Post by SteveHGraham »

Baltimore Craigslist? What are the chances I'd come home alive?
Every hard-fried egg began life sunny-side up.
User avatar
warmstrong1955
Posts: 3568
Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2010 2:05 pm
Location: Northern Nevada

Re: Getting Rid of Live Oak Leaves?

Post by warmstrong1955 »

You're Iron Man right?
Bullets hit ya, and they go tink tink tink.
Today's solutions are tomorrow's problems.
User avatar
SteveHGraham
Posts: 7788
Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2009 7:55 pm
Location: Florida

Re: Getting Rid of Live Oak Leaves?

Post by SteveHGraham »

I came up with a strategy. I found out my mower was not set up for mulching. I ordered a mulching kit and 3 Gator blades. Supposedly, these blades do a better job. I may also get some kind of rake to drag. The idea is to loosen up the leaves so I can go back over them and mulch them.
Every hard-fried egg began life sunny-side up.
spro
Posts: 8016
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2006 11:04 pm
Location: mid atlantic

Re: Getting Rid of Live Oak Leaves?

Post by spro »

Hi Steve G. You probably already investigated that. Many garden tractors have a cut-out switch so you can't mow backwards. Not an issue ? okay. It is still, literally, a pain in the neck. Your tractor is set up for front attachments which can be raised or lowered. A tine type, spring tine dethacher would dislodge the leaves in front of your mulching deck. You can raise/ lower it while mulching etc.
User avatar
SteveHGraham
Posts: 7788
Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2009 7:55 pm
Location: Florida

Re: Getting Rid of Live Oak Leaves?

Post by SteveHGraham »

First I have to get past the fun of removing the 345-pound deck from the mower, installing the kit and blades, and reinstalling the deck. I can hardly wait.

This mower mows in reverse.
Every hard-fried egg began life sunny-side up.
spro
Posts: 8016
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2006 11:04 pm
Location: mid atlantic

Re: Getting Rid of Live Oak Leaves?

Post by spro »

That is a heavy deck. The procedure would be probably one of the hundreds available on the net now. I have my own ways but they are not particular to your machine. BTW none of my smaller tractors are limited against mowing in reverse. It was only when they got to lawn mowers which looked like tractors. They were too pathetic to even mention,....however... the automatic fuel cut off and ignition cut off saved my bacon one time. Mowing too close to irregular ditch, it ended with me under the mower. I had some gasoline in my clothing while scrabbling out from underneath it but it could've been worse. If it had been heavier garden tractor, well you imagine. I don't usually pump 300 lbs , forget 600 lbs. Pinned into a crevice with a fair lawn tractor on top, dripping gas, is quite enough. :)
stephenc
Posts: 311
Joined: Sat Jul 05, 2014 6:13 pm
Location: youngstown ohio

Re: Getting Rid of Live Oak Leaves?

Post by stephenc »

This entire conversation makes no sense to me .

I must be missing something, let's see if I am following along correctly .
So if I have this right you want to do a whole lot of work only to create yet more work for yourself ?

A much simpler solution that makes sense to me would be to leave the darn leaves where they are and let them kill the darn grass giving yourself less grass to mow .... it's a win win situation !
spro
Posts: 8016
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2006 11:04 pm
Location: mid atlantic

Re: Getting Rid of Live Oak Leaves?

Post by spro »

I would have said the same. There was enough "bait" that I was hooked to reply. In clear sense, trees are wonderful things as the leaves reconstitute the soil they need. I was too anal about the removal situation and will try to restrict any humor or events of no purpose.
User avatar
SteveHGraham
Posts: 7788
Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2009 7:55 pm
Location: Florida

Re: Getting Rid of Live Oak Leaves?

Post by SteveHGraham »

I don't want to live on a lot full of dirt.
Every hard-fried egg began life sunny-side up.
User avatar
SteveHGraham
Posts: 7788
Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2009 7:55 pm
Location: Florida

Re: Getting Rid of Live Oak Leaves?

Post by SteveHGraham »

Live oak leaves are the leaves from hell.

I got myself a lawn sweeper, and it picks the leaves up fairly well. Unfortunately, there is Spanish moss growing in my grass. I don't mean on the trees. I mean in the grass. It winds around the sweeper's axles every so often, and then I have to cut it off with a knife. I tried a plumber's torch and learned how flammable Spanish moss is. Went back to the knife.

I dump the leaves on my burn pile. In an hour or so, I can dump maybe 500 pounds of leaves. They're only leaves, right? If I set fire to them, they'll go POOF and burn in two or three minutes.

Wrong. They burn forever. I mean THREE DAYS. They never go out. And there is no way to extinguish them. I stood over the pile and poured what must have been 200 gallons of water on it with the hose. Got up the next day, and it was burning. Got up the day after that, and it was burning.

If you want the best kindling in the universe, let me know, because these leaves are IT. In fact, you probably don't need firewood. Just jam your fireplace with leaves. The light instantly, and they WILL burn until they're gone.

I put 6 or 8 loads on the pile the other day, and then I had to wait a week to burn them. It rained, and then I couldn't get a permit because the humidity was low. Set them on fire today, with a permit. Turned my back on the pile, drove maybe 200 yards on the tractor to pick up some brush, came back, and saw that the pasture was on fire. I was probably gone less than 5 minutes.

The wind had started gusting. My guess is that a burning leaf took flight. A hundred feet from the pile, the grass was on fire. I had a 150-foot hose, and the farthest extent of the fire was about 170 feet from the faucet. Thank God I was able to spray 20 feet. I spent most of the afternoon hosing down the burned area, which was probably 3000 square feet.

So now I have a burn pile, and a hundred feet away, I have a big area of black dirt.

After saving the pasture, I did my best to put out the burn pile. The wood that had been on top of the leaves was no problem. Most of it was gone. The leaves were still there. They would not go out.

Drove to Tractor Supply. Bought a longer hose and a sprinkler. I set a sprinkler up to rain on the pile. After about 90 minutes, it was still smoking. I stirred it up with the tractor, and it went out, but I know it's just playing possum. I am leaving the sprinkler on all night, and I fully expect to find the pile smoldering tomorrow.

These leaves were wet when I lit them, by the way. Last week we had torrential rains. Leaves didn't care. They burned anyway.

Maybe Steve is right and I should just let them kill the grass.
Every hard-fried egg began life sunny-side up.
User avatar
warmstrong1955
Posts: 3568
Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2010 2:05 pm
Location: Northern Nevada

Re: Getting Rid of Live Oak Leaves?

Post by warmstrong1955 »

Burn barrels? Not sure, but you can check if they are acceptable to the local burn Gods when brush piles are not.
That's mostly what I do, other than the one big pile in spring, but tumble weeds & knapweed burn pretty quickly. Either way, if the wind picks up, no worries. can't burn everything in one big swoop, but who needs to?
Today's solutions are tomorrow's problems.
Post Reply