Abilene Brush Pickup and Tree Limb Disposal Guide

Curbside brush pickup runs in odd-numbered months, the Brush Center on Sandy St. is free for residents, and hired crews must haul their own.

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Abilene picks up brush curbside once per residence in odd-numbered months, and residents can drop limbs free at the Abilene Brush Center, 2149 Sandy St. Brush from a hired tree crew can't go on the curb.

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This guide sums up the city's published rules as of October 2026. Rules change, so check the City of Abilene's Solid Waste page or call (325) 676-6053 before you set out a big pile.

Curbside brush and bulky pickup in Abilene

The City of Abilene's Solid Waste Services runs brush and bulky pickup on this schedule:

Rule	What the city says
When	Mondays, once per residence in odd-numbered months: January, March, May, July, September, November
Setting it out	No more than 48 hours before the crew is scheduled in your neighborhood
Where	No more than 5 feet from the street
Tree limbs	Cut to 4-foot lengths
Pile size	Items for standard pickup must fit within 8 feet by 4 feet by 3 feet
Off-schedule pickup	Call (325) 676-6053 to schedule a collection on Wednesdays or Fridays; hourly rates may apply
Holidays	No pickup

To find your collection day or the location of crews, use the city's collection-day lookup or call (325) 676-6053. The city says it is the only agency authorized to collect solid waste inside Abilene city limits, with short-term construction debris as the only exception.

The contractor rule: hired crews haul their own brush

This one catches people. The city's Solid Waste page says hired construction workers, tree trimmers, grass cutters and similar workers are classified as contractors, and residential curbs can't be used for their disposal when they're hired to work at your home.

What that means in practice:

If you hire someone to trim or remove a tree, the brush they create shouldn't go on your curb for the city to collect.
Ask any tree company, before you agree to a price, whether hauling the brush is included. If it isn't, ask what it costs.
Limbs you cut yourself are ordinary residential brush and follow the curbside rules above.

To report illegal dumping, the city lists (325) 676-3867.

The Abilene Brush Center on Sandy Street

The city runs a dedicated drop-off site for brush.

Address: 2149 Sandy St., Abilene, TX 79601
Phone: (325) 677-2149
Hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.; closed Sunday and city-approved holidays
Free for residents with a driver's license and a current City of Abilene municipal services statement
Fees apply for commercial accounts

What it takes: leaves and tree limbs from residential customers. Limbs must be 6 to 8 feet long with a maximum diameter of 18 inches. Bagged grass or leaves must be emptied in the designated areas.

What it doesn't take: larger tree trunks and root systems. A big trunk or a stump has to go another way, which is usually part of a tree company's quote.

Mulch: the Brush Center also offers mulch. Regular mulch is free if you load it yourself, or $5 per yard loaded by city staff. Premium mulch is $7 per yard. Bring your own containers. Delivery inside city limits costs extra.

Note the length difference: curbside limbs are cut to 4 feet, but the Brush Center wants limbs 6 to 8 feet long.

Can you burn brush in Abilene?

Not casually. The Abilene Fire Department says a fire code permit is required for open burning, with a completed application submitted 10 days before the burn. Its published requirements include:

A site drawing showing distances to property lines, public ways and nearby structures
Wind gusts under 15 mph and relative humidity not below 25%
No burning within 50 feet of any structure or other combustible material, including vegetation
Piles no bigger than 15 feet across and 10 feet high in open areas
Burning only between sunrise and dusk, constantly attended, with a garden hose or other approved extinguishing equipment on hand
A call to the fire department each day before burning, at (325) 673-8331 or (325) 676-6434

For most Abilene yards, the Brush Center or curbside pickup is simpler.

Burn bans outside the city

Outside city limits, the rules depend on the county. The Texas A&M Forest Service says that when drought conditions exist, a county judge or county commissioners court can put a burn ban in place, prohibiting or restricting outdoor burning. Abilene and Tye are in Taylor County; Clyde is in Callahan County, so its ban is set separately. Bans go on and off with the weather, so check the Forest Service's burn ban map or the county's website the day you plan to burn.

Moving firewood

Oak wilt is a reason to think about where firewood goes. A 2019 KTXS report quoted an Abilene tree worker who said oak wilt likely reached Abilene through imported firewood, and who advised people cutting oaks for firewood to clean their equipment and know what wood they're bringing into their yards. If an oak died of oak wilt, ask the tree company what it recommends doing with the wood.

Limb options in Tye

The City of Tye picks up limbs for residents within the city that have an active water account:

When: the third Thursday of every month
Rules: limbs cut to 4 feet or less, so one person can load them; large or multiple trunks need a call to Public Works
Time limit: loading should take five to ten minutes; bigger piles need other arrangements
Roll-off container: $50 rental for limbs and brush only, placed on your property to load. Other garbage in it can raise the cost to $225
Drop-off: the brush pile at the City Maintenance Yard, at the south end of Morgan St., open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Questions: (325) 692-8588

Limb options in Clyde

The City of Clyde moved its trash service to CWS beginning October 5, 2026, and its convenience center is permanently closed. The city's Public Works page lists:

Weekly on-demand bulk curbside pickup every Wednesday, $25 per pickup, added to your city utility bill. Call City Hall by noon Tuesday to get on the list.
Free quarterly bulk curbside pickup from CWS, with the first scheduled for January 8, 2027.
A free citywide cleanup twice a year, the first on November 14, 2026, with containers at the City Yard.

The page doesn't spell out limb lengths or limits, so call Clyde City Hall at (325) 893-4234 before you set out brush. Free disposal at the Abilene Brush Center requires a current City of Abilene municipal services statement, so it isn't an option for most Clyde residents.

When to let the tree company handle it

Hauling it yourself makes sense for a trimmed shrub or a few small limbs. Let the company handle it when:

The job is a removal, with a trunk too big for the Brush Center
There's a stump or root ball (neither the Brush Center nor Tye's crews take those)
Any part of the tree is near a power line. AEP Texas says never try to trim or remove trees near power lines yourself
The pile won't fit the city's 8-by-4-by-3-foot curbside limit

Sources (8)

Last updated 2026-10-23