# Drying out grass clippings in barrels



## Mystriss (Dec 26, 2018)

hmm I suspect that you are correct when it comes to holes drilled in the barrel. I think your center pipe would be a bit more effective, but it'd suffer a similar problem...

Perhaps you should look into composting bin construction as a solution? Perhaps something along these lines https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lifetime-65-gal-Compost-Tumbler-60028/202963958 A frame for the barrel so you can rotate it?


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## 3onthetree (Dec 7, 2018)

It won't dry out within the month unless you turn the clippings, it's actively composting. I suspect your shed, filled with a few barrels full, would be as hot as a sauna and pretty dank smelling.


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## l008com (Mar 7, 2015)

3onthetree said:


> It won't dry out within the month unless you turn the clippings, it's actively composting. I suspect your shed, filled with a few barrels full, would be as hot as a sauna and pretty dank smelling.


It doesn't smell great but I don't hang out in there so it's fine.


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## LawnGuyLandSparky (Nov 18, 2007)

Have you considered mowing with a mulching blade?


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## stick\shift (Mar 23, 2015)

The real answer is to quit bagging your clippings and mulch them instead - your lawn will thank you as well.


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## Drachenfire (Jun 6, 2017)

You are putting wet heavy grass in a barrel which naturally compresses over time cutting off air circulation. The bottom line is the grass will not dry out in the barrel even with holes in it.

When my lawn gets a little high, I have to bag the clippings. If I cut and bag at the same time, the wet grass often clogs the chute and makes the lawn bags so heavy that I cannot fill them to capacity thereby having to use more bags.

So I developed a system.

I cut the grass without the bagger attached and let it sit while I do all the edging and trimming. 

By the time I am finished the grass has dried in the sun. I then connect the bagger, set the mower blade to the same height I used to cut the grass and it is now effectively a vacuum as I drive over the now dry grass. I no longer have chute clogs and can fill the lawn bags to capacity.

Perhaps cutting your lawn in this fashion will provide you with the dry grass you desire.


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## stick\shift (Mar 23, 2015)

Some information on thatch:
https://extension.illinois.edu/lawntalk/weeds/managing_thatch_in_home_lawns.cfm


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## Yodaman (Mar 9, 2015)

+1 on the composting bin, and keep it outside where the air and sun can get to it.


Actually even plain old garbage bags might be easier to deal with rather than filling a barrel that is going to get too heavy to lift. Fill the garbage bags with a manageable amount of weight and then toss the bag in the barrel if you want.


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## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

l008com said:


> My town collects yard waste just once a month. And they have no place you can bring your own waste. So I have a bunch of barrels I dump my clippings into. These barrels stay in my shed, so they never get rained on, and they get "kiln dried" on sunny days. But that seems to have little effect. Even when they're in there for a few weeks, they still remain very moist and in turn, very heavy.
> 
> So the obvious thought was, well maybe I should drill a bunch of holes scattered around the sides of the barrel. Small ones so little if any grass will fall out. (3/8" maybe). None near the bottom so none of the potent grass juice will leak out. But before I ruin two barrels by turning them into Swiss cheese, will this even work? It seems like part of what happens is that the grass itself creates sort of a "vapor barrier" so only the very top of it will dry out. If I drilled all around the barrel, perhaps i'd only be drying the immediate vicinity of each hole and not really doing much at all to really dry out the clippings?
> 
> ...


Forgive if I didn't catch it . . .

What are you planning to do with the clippings?


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

I make a so called living mowing lawns.
In 10 plus years I've never once collected the clipping, and that includes getting stuck having to deal with lawns sometimes well over 12" tall.
Simple ansewer, mow it more often, do not mow it when wet.
A lawn will do far better if you mow it at 4" tall then cutting it to short.
The taller grass drowns out the weeds.


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## l008com (Mar 7, 2015)

joecaption said:


> I make a so called living mowing lawns.
> In 10 plus years I've never once collected the clipping, and that includes getting stuck having to deal with lawns sometimes well over 12" tall.
> Simple ansewer, mow it more often, do not mow it when wet.
> A lawn will do far better if you mow it at 4" tall then cutting it to short.
> The taller grass drowns out the weeds.


Easier said than done. It rains every other day this spring, my lawn is literally always wet and tall. And I don't have time to mow it more often.


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## l008com (Mar 7, 2015)

DoomsDave said:


> Forgive if I didn't catch it . . .
> 
> What are you planning to do with the clippings?


See sentence #1. Town collects yard waste once a month. I'd like it to dry out do the barrels aren't super heavy and also so I can fit as much as I need in there.


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## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

l008com said:


> See sentence #1. Town collects yard waste once a month. I'd like it to dry out do the barrels aren't super heavy and also so I can fit as much as I need in there.


Yeah, so you did say. This getting old stuff sucks, though I've heard it beats the alternative . . . . :vs_cool:

Given the rain you're getting, it looks like you'll have to just dump, and pray they'll take it. I'd suggest drying it, but that does not sound like an option if you can't leave it in the sun. I know there's things farmers use to dry otherwise too-wet hay, but that seems like an awful lot of trouble for a few grass clippings.

If you can, I'd try to find a way to use it for organic soil improvement, but I know that's not always an option for everyone, either. 

Thanks for your specific notation as to your location! Woburn sounds like a place steeped in history. If my experience with Ohio places so steeped is any guide, it might also be a place where tidiness is valued over practicality at times. Hope I'm wrong on that point.

I wouldn't let the clippings accumulate too much, because if you've got an anal-retentive garbage service you'll find yourself up to the neck in trash and no easy way to get rid of it.

If you have a bit of land, you might be able to start a composting area in your "back 40" as it were, which is in itself a very worthwhile thing to do.


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## joed (Mar 13, 2005)

Grass clippings are 85-90% water. Piling/packing them into a barrel is only going to make them compost. They need to be spread out and left on the lawn to dry before collecting.


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## l008com (Mar 7, 2015)

I hear you but I simply don't have the time to mow my lawn once, then mow it again an hour later. If adding a lot more venting to the barrels isn't going to help, then I guess i'll just have wet/heavy grass clipping barrels.


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## Drachenfire (Jun 6, 2017)

l008com said:


> I hear you but I simply don't have the time to mow my lawn once, then mow it again an hour later. If adding a lot more venting to the barrels isn't going to help, then I guess i'll just have wet/heavy grass clipping barrels.


Then you may want to rethink keeping in the garage. Decomposing grass stinks to high heaven.


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## l008com (Mar 7, 2015)

i tried a variation on the 'mow once with the chute then again with the bag" suggestion. I dumped every bag full on my driveway, spread it out thin, then once I was done with everything, I shoveled it into the barrel. It did seem drier but not significantly drier. And it was a lot of extra work and time.

I think I'll just go with the holes in the barrel and maybe ill do the swiss cheese pvc pipe. if it helps, that will be good. And if it doesn't do much, oh well at least I tried something. It sure would be nice if my town at least picked up yard waste every two weeks in the summer. Or if they had a place we could bring it ourselves.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

Be aware of heat build up. I have seen more than one barn burn because of baled hay stacked improperly and too soon after cutting. It self ignites in time. Yours could be worse due to absolutely NO air circulation. I would compost it in some way rather than sending it to the dump.


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## l008com (Mar 7, 2015)

chandler48 said:


> Be aware of heat build up. I have seen more than one barn burn because of baled hay stacked improperly and too soon after cutting. It self ignites in time. Yours could be worse due to absolutely NO air circulation. I would compost it in some way rather than sending it to the dump.


I live in the suburbs there is no way or no place to compost it. If we don't get much rain, I can mulch when it mows. But with the rain we've been getting, that's impossible. Also I've never heard of anyones grass clippings spontaneously combusting. The whole point is that they are soaking we so I don't see how thats even possible.


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## fireguy (May 3, 2007)

Yodaman said:


> +1 on the composting bin, and keep it outside where the air and sun can get to it.
> 
> 
> Actually even plain old garbage bags might be easier to deal with rather than filling a barrel that is going to get too heavy to lift. Fill the garbage bags with a manageable amount of weight and then toss the bag in the barrel if you want.


When I was mowing my lawn, the above is similar to what I did. I put the clippings in a black bag. When the grass rotted enough, I emptied the trash bag into a pile and it finished decomposing and end up in the garden.


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## Drachenfire (Jun 6, 2017)

l008com said:


> i tried a variation on the 'mow once with the chute then again with the bag" suggestion. I dumped every bag full on my driveway, spread it out thin, then once I was done with everything, I shoveled it into the barrel. It did seem drier but not significantly drier. And it was a lot of extra work and time.



It would have been better to let the grass dry on the lawn, more of it would have been dried by the time you collected.


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## l008com (Mar 7, 2015)

Drachenfire said:


> It would have been better to let the grass dry on the lawn, more of it would have been dried by the time you collected.


But it would have taken me an extra hour+ to mow it all up a second time to recollect it.


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## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

l008com said:


> But it would have taken me an extra hour+ to mow it all up a second time to recollect it.


Yes, you say you don't want to compost, but I offer below as a kind of public service announcement. 

Be careful in light of what @chandler48 said.

While some say that it takes a really big compost pile to catch fire, I'd be concerned if there's a much smaller pile in a poorly-ventilated or unventilated place. 

Yeah, it's counterintuitive to say the least! Heaven alone only knows I totally understand and respect the common-sense reasons one might have for that. Oh, yeah for sure. 

But . . . 

I once made a big grass pile in Ohio in the summer behind the garage, and an old guy says, "sonny better turn that over, might get hot on ya and maybe burn your [wooden] garage down'" or words to that effect, and I scoffed, I said, can't be that [expletive] hot" OWTTE, and, we stuck a long probe thermometer in there just to see and _holy expletive expletive_ it was 180F! :surprise: (Used Mom's meat thermo, didn't tell her . . . . :devil3 

So, I turned that thing over and it _steamed_ like the storied moose turd. Or maybe a post-meltdown nuclear reactor.

Exactly how hot it has to get in order to ignite, I dunno, but I'll bet that one was close. Cooked all the weeds, seeds, etc. that's for sure. You could feel the heat radiating off that dead stuff. (I told this story the other day to a young dude, now that I'm staggering toward old guy-dom.)


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## Drachenfire (Jun 6, 2017)

l008com said:


> But it would have taken me an extra hour+ to mow it all up a second time to recollect it.


At least it would have been dry. The greatest reward often require the most work. :wink2:


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## Smolenski7 (Feb 19, 2010)

It sounds like you have several options:


1. Mulch. This is the easiest and less time consuming option. I live in a town that doesn't not collect grass clippings ever! As a result, everyone either mulches, lets the clippings fly, or collects then dumps the grass in a wooded area behind their home. Personally, I mulch every time. I have to cut a bit more often, especially this spring, however, it is the easiest choice and the best choice for my lawn.


2. Leave the clippings on the lawn for an hour, then come back to collect. This will work, but it's more time consuming and you are not willing/able to spend more time.


3. Compost. This is a great option as long as you are willing to turn the pile. You could buy a composting barrel to place the clippings in and then rotate the barrel. When you are done, you can use it pretty much every where. You can even spread it over your lawn.....kinda ironic.



4. Do what you have been doing. You can add all the holes you want and pvc tubes, it's not going to work. The grass will just condense under it's own weight preventing air from permeating through-out the entire barrel.


Good luck on what ever you choose.


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## Highlander86 (Aug 14, 2017)

l008com said:


> It doesn't smell great but I don't hang out in there so it's fine.


You are creating your own hazardous air pollutant from the mold and fungus spores in the grass that are now incubating in the barrels of clippings in your shed. It would be better to buy a composter to use outdoors and create some soil amendment, or better yet install a mulch blade on your lawn mower and practice grass cycling. The extra nitrogen will help to green up your grass.


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## RockyMtBeerMan (Dec 12, 2018)

Since it rains a lot, me, I'd tear out the lawn and put in some sand, mulch, and pine trees or wildflowers.

or, pay a company to mow your lawn every week and haul off the clippings.

or, check the surrounding area for dumps.

You could also try one of these:

https://mantis.com/product/compost-twin/?nabc=1&utm_referrer=https://duckduckgo.com/


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## ron45 (Feb 25, 2014)

You can haul the clippings to the dump or transfer station for a minimum charge.

I haul my own trash away.

Recycle what you can and take the rest to the dump.

Cut your trash bill about 60%.

Even more if you scrap your metal etc..

We put in 300 FT. of chain link fence and got about $80 for the old at the scrap place.

Why pay when you can get money for it.


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## ron45 (Feb 25, 2014)

Here you go.

https://iscrapapp.com/prices/

Even refrigerator,s AC's, etc..


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## l008com (Mar 7, 2015)

So yesterday when I mowed my lawn, I dumped it out on the driveway again, raked out into a fairly thin layer. But there was no rain in the forecast for last night or today, so I left it overnight and scooped it up today. It looked dried out but the real test was once I shoveled it into my two barrels. The barrels weighed practically NOTHING. Turns out leaving it laying out on the driveway for ~24 hours really works wonders. Especially when its hot and sunny all day. 

So this method won't work all the time. It won't work if it's going to rain, and it will be unnecessary if it hasn't rained in a while. But of conditions are just right, this will be very effective. The grass was in the state that I was hoping it would get into by drilling the holes in the barrels... very dry and light weight.

Also I have no idea how a discussion of drying out grass clippings turned into bringing scrap metal to a scrap dealer.


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## fireguy (May 3, 2007)

RockyMtBeerMan said:


> or, pay a company to mow your lawn every week and haul off the clippings.
> 
> or, ch
> 
> ...


We bought one of the Mantis double drum things. That was 10 years ago. At that time, we mowed our yard and put the clippings in the double barrel thing. We also put other vegetation in the barrels. I do not think we have taken 2 wheel barrow loads out of the $500.00 composter since we bought it. But for the last 5 years, we have had a yard service mow the yard. 

When I had kids at home, I mowed the yard. The clippings were dumped on the vegetable garden. When the clippings did not rot soon enough, I put the grass in trash bags, with some water. Next spring, the bags were emptied on the garden.


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## ron45 (Feb 25, 2014)

l008com said:


> So yesterday when I mowed my lawn, I dumped it out on the driveway again, raked out into a fairly thin layer. But there was no rain in the forecast for last night or today, so I left it overnight and scooped it up today. It looked dried out but the real test was once I shoveled it into my two barrels. The barrels weighed practically NOTHING. Turns out leaving it laying out on the driveway for ~24 hours really works wonders. Especially when its hot and sunny all day.
> 
> So this method won't work all the time. It won't work if it's going to rain, and it will be unnecessary if it hasn't rained in a while. But of conditions are just right, this will be very effective. The grass was in the state that I was hoping it would get into by drilling the holes in the barrels... very dry and light weight.
> 
> Also I have no idea how a discussion of drying out grass clippings turned into bringing scrap metal to a scrap dealer.



If you read the message it tells you how to get rid of the clippings yourself.
It also tells you how you can save money by doing all the trash yourself.

Then at certain times things that could have cost you extra with a trash hauler could actually put money in your pocket.

Here it is again in case you or someone else is interested.

"" You can haul the clippings to the dump or transfer station for a minimum charge.

I haul my own trash away.

Recycle what you can and take the rest to the dump.

Cut your trash bill about 60%.

Even more if you scrap your metal etc..

We put in 300 FT. of chain link fence and got about $80 for the old at the scrap place.

Why pay when you can get money for it.""


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## l008com (Mar 7, 2015)

Interesting update. So for the past two years, I've been doing basically nothing. I just mow, dump the clippings in my barrels and put them out when its time for pickup. They're heavy, they stink, and that's just life. 

But yesterday I was in my shed. I had three barrels full of grass (pickup is this week). Two were filled with grass, one I had jammed a couple of large maple tree branches into, then half filled the top with grass. It's been pretty rainy and I've been watering when it's not so my grass is very green.

Well the half-sticks-half-grass barrel, I went to move it and heard water sloshing around. Like, a LOT of water. So I tipped it over out the door of the shed and after a little while, dirty grass water started pouring out right through the grass. A surprising amount of water came out. So I did the same with all three barrels ( I never did drill any holes in them ) and a whole lot of stinky water came out of all three. 

And just like that, I think I found my solution. Drill holes in the bottom of the barrels, fine some nice tray to store the barrels on, and hook up a little rubber hose to a drain in that tray and run it under the shed. As the clippings sit and compress, water will slowly drip out and water the ground underneath. 
Or alternately, when I build a new shed, I can make a little elevated rack to store the barrels on so the juice can leak out into the dirt. 

Once the water drains out, no more heat, no more stink, and no more heavy barrels. So I had the right general idea when I started this thread, but implemented incorrectly. I'll have to give it more time to think about what the best way to implement this will be. In the meantime, probably just tip the barrels over and let the juice drain out through the grass once a week. 

Also the quality of my lawn has been getting better and better and I've been getting fewer and fewer weeds so I may start doing mulching at some point anyway.


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## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

Thanks for sharing!

This will help everyone who reads it!


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## HotRodx10 (Aug 24, 2017)

Thanks for the update. You might find you need some sticks or something else in the barrel to get the grass off the bottom, so the water can get to the holes.


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## ObserverX2930 (Jan 19, 2021)

Why do you feel you must remove the clippings?

Better for your lawn and the environment to leave the clippings on the lawn. 

You will use less fertilizer and have a healthier yard.


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## l008com (Mar 7, 2015)

ObserverX2930 said:


> Why do you feel you must remove the clippings?


My yard has had a lot of weeds and particularly grabgrass. I bag so reduce the spread of weed seeds. But the lawn is getting better and better year after year so I may start mulching sometimes. We'll see how it goes. But I'm unlikely to mulch all the time and having a way to drain the clippings so they dry out will be very useful.


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