Contact your local electric utility and find out who trims and removes the
trees from around their power lines. Generally, these contractors are always
looking for a FREE spot to dump the woodchips they've generated from the
branches they have to chip into their trucks. Most of the land fills will
not/cannot take this material, so they're generally always looking for a site
to get rid of the chips.
Another source of wood chips is the commercial/residential tree care
companies found in the Yellow Pages. Although you might find that they charge
a delivery fee, especially if they have to travel any distance. Yet, it's
certainly cheaper than sand or crushed gravel, which some of our more astute
contributors will surely explain the reason to avoid sand (i.e. sand colic if
they are fed hay from the ground).
This time of year, deciduous trees (those with no leaves) make the best chips
for horse paddocks. Evergreen trees provide to much fine materials (the
needles) which don't allow for proper drainage and decompose rather quickly.
Spread the chips in the paddock about 6" deep. The larger the chips, the
better and longer they'll last. In the land of liquid sunshine (Western
Washington), we find a nice thick layer put down before the fall monsoones
(sp?) will suffice until spring. The following summer you can drag, disk, or
rottotiller the paddock to help the chips decompose. Repeat with fresh chips
in the fall.
We've found this technique really helps with mud management, and it's pretty
cheap if you can find a free/low cost chip source. Your biggest investment
will be in sweat equity from manual labor involved to spread the chips. Hope
it helps with your problem.
; ,-^; ;
; / /\| ; cowboytex@worldnet.att.net
; _--'' ) ~ ;
; ,;`( )_--''--; ; You know your an endurance rider,
; // // __ ;
; ' | __ / ; When your personal injury history,
; ____/ \_____/ ;
; ; Exceeds that of your horse!!!!