During the rush of harvest there seems little time to clean up fallen limbs and other grove debris. Sure most growers run a stick rake over their groves before harvest, but the piles of sticks and grass remain in the grove all winter long while we concentrate on nut harvest. With the onset of nice spring weather, its time to clean up pre-harvest stick piles and collect even more wood that fell out of the trees over the winter. In the photo above, a stick rake (on the right) is being used to collect the wood that has fallen since harvest and a skid-steer (on left) works to pile the collected wood on a burn pile (note the smoke).
It is important to get your brush piles burned as soon as possible. With all that nitrogen fertilizer we apply to native pecans, the ground cover is really growing. It won't be too long until the grass hides chunks of fallen limbs that can rattle both you and your brush hog.