What happens to the limbs and the stump in Fort Worth

The city will take a fair amount if you cut it to its limits, but a whole tree is unlikely to fit them, and its drop-off stations do not take commercial vehicles. So settle haul-off with the company before the work starts, and use this page for the limbs you handle yourself. These rules come from the city's pages as we read them on 2026-11-05. Check them before you stack anything, or ask 817-392-1234 (the city's number, not ours).

Weekly pickup: limbs and small brush

The city's yard trimmings page says to stack limbs at the curb on your weekly pickup day. Its limits are:

The page says trimmings are turned into mulch, which is why trash in the pile is a problem. Collection runs 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays. Carts need to be out by 7 a.m., and overstuffed ones get left behind.

Monthly bulk pickup: stumps and the big stuff

The bulk page is where a stump may end up. The yard trimmings page says stumps and root balls up to 18 inches in diameter may go in the bulk pile, and the bulk page bars "root balls or stumps over 18" diameter with dirt". Its other rules:

• Monthly, in the week given on the city's 2026 schedule map. Out by 7 a.m. Monday of your week, and no earlier than 6 p.m. the Friday before. Crews have until 5 p.m. the following Saturday.
• One pile per household, limited to 10 cubic yards, which the city describes as about eight feet long, six feet wide and six feet tall. Bigger piles draw an extra charge. The city can tell you the fee.
• At least two feet from trees, mailboxes and water meters.
• "A bulk pile located under trees or where tree branches block access will not be collected." On a street lined with big trees, look up before you pile.

Limbs thicker or longer than the weekly limit are the gap. The current pages do not say where they go. A 2022 city article said limbs over 4 inches or over 8 feet should be stacked separately and collected on your bulk week, but it is older, so confirm that first.

After a storm

The city has handled storm limbs through these same routes. After heavy rains in September 2023, its cleanup bulletin told residents to bundle small limbs for yard pickup, pile large ones for bulk, and consider drop-off stations for the excess, "If possible and safe to do so". Its November 2025 newsletter said large branches go in a yard waste pile kept "separated at least two feet from bulk waste piles", because the two go to different facilities.

The city has warned that storm debris can change collection schedules, so check before you plan around a date. Leave anything near a wire alone, as the storm damage page explains.

Drop-off stations

The drop-off page lists four: Brennan at 2400 Brennan Ave., Southeast at 5150 Martin Luther King Fwy., Old Hemphill Road at 6260 Old Hemphill Rd., and Hillshire at 301 Hillshire Dr. Hours are Tuesday to Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. to noon, closed Sunday, Monday and listed holidays.

• You need a water bill from the last six months showing sanitation charges, and a matching driver's license. The stations are for residents with active solid waste accounts.
• Brush and yard waste "Must be securely contained or bagged in Kraft bags." Ask what that means for a load of limbs.
• A single-axle trailer is fine up to 8 feet long and 6 feet wide, with a load no higher than 3 feet, which the city puts at about 5 cubic yards. There are visit limits too, shown in a table on the page that we could not read, so check it.
• No dual-axle trailers, box trucks or commercial vehicles, labeled or not.

What this means for a hired job

The drop-off page says "Landscapers and construction contractors must dispose of waste" at permitted mulching or compost sites or the Southeast Landfill. It also says you "cannot send anyone else to the Drop-Off Stations with your water bill or driver's license" without going along yourself. So a company cannot just use your station. Its limbs and logs need somewhere else to go, and that belongs in its quote.

The yard trimmings page does not say whether limbs cut by a hired company may go out with your weekly pickup. If a company offers to leave everything at the curb, ask the city first, and ask the company what happens if the city leaves it there. When you get a quote, ask for these in writing:

• Do the logs, limbs, chips and sawdust all leave, or do some stay?
• Is the stump included? How far down, and do the grindings leave too?
• Where does it all go?
• Is your drive or lawn repaired if the truck damages it?

Ash wood has its own limits on moving, covered on the ash trees page, and oak wood on the oaks page.