Brush, Limbs and Storm Debris in Arlington: City Collection vs. Haul-Away
Arlington's weekly brush collection handles an ordinary yard well. After a storm, the same rules decide how much of the pile leaves this week and how much is still lying there next week.
Call (682) 226-7611
The short answer
Arlington, TX picks up brush once a week with your trash: two cubic yards at most, or 12 thirty-gallon leaf bags, limbs thinner than 6 inches and shorter than 4 feet, bundled under 50 pounds. Grass clippings are excluded. Bigger storm piles need a paid Republic Services collection, a landfill trip, or a hauler like Junk Koala Arlington.
- Limbs
- Thinner than 6 inches, shorter than 4 feet, tied in bundles
- Weekly limit
- 2 cubic yards a week, or twelve 30-gallon leaf bags
- Weight
- Every bundle or bag lighter than 50 pounds
- Not collected
- Grass clippings; residents can take un-bagged grass to the landfill free
Arlington's brush rules, as the city writes them
Brush and yard waste, meaning brush, tree trimmings, hedge trimmings and leaves, goes out on the same day as your trash, and the city takes as much as two cubic yards of it a week, or a dozen thirty-gallon bags of leaves. Branches must be less than six inches in diameter and less than four feet long, tied and bundled, and stacked at the curb under three feet high with the thick ends toward the street.
Each bundle or bag has to weigh under 50 pounds and take up no more than a cubic yard. Bag the leaves, vines, hedge trimmings and anything thorny rather than leaving them loose. Grass clippings are the exception to the whole program: curbside crews will not take them, but residents can tip un-bagged grass and leaves at the landfill for free. The pile has to be out by 7 a.m. on collection day.
If a tree service did the cutting, nothing changes. The city says contractor-cut limbs still have to be cut and bundled to the same rules, or hauled straight to the Arlington Landfill.
Why a storm pile breaks the rules so fast
Storm debris arrives in the wrong shape. A limb brought down in a North Texas thunderstorm is often thicker than six inches somewhere along its length, and green wood is heavy enough that a four-foot bundle can pass 50 pounds before it looks full. Turning a downed limb into bundles the city will take is a chainsaw job and a long afternoon.
Volume is the other problem. A large limb, once cut down, can fill the weekly allowance on its own, and an Oops Tag for excess waste means the extra has to come off the curb within 24 hours to avoid city penalties or fines.
Spreading a big pile across several collection weeks works if the rest can wait in the yard in the meantime. Stacking everything at the curb at once is how a storm cleanup earns a tag.
Four ways to clear brush beyond the weekly allowance
City details as listed on Arlington's pages in November 2026. The crew row uses Junk Koala price book figures, which exclude sales tax.
| Option | What it involves |
|---|---|
| Spread it over several weeks | No extra charge with curbside service. Bundle to size and set out up to 2 cubic yards each week. Works when the rest can sit in the yard meanwhile. |
| Paid special collection | Booked through Republic Services (817-317-2000). Excess brush is charged per cubic yard up to 5 cubic yards and by the hour above that; over 15 cubic yards needs a roll-off container. |
| Haul it to the Arlington Landfill | 800 Mosier Valley Road. Resident brush rates are set by vehicle, from a pickup to a double-axle trailer; un-bagged grass and leaves are free for residents. |
| Junk removal crew | Anything already cut small enough to carry, loaded straight from the yard with no bundling or curb rules. Priced by truck space: $249 for a quarter of the truck, $699 for a full one. |
Fencing and treated timber are not brush
A storm that drops limbs often takes a fence section with it, and the city sorts fencing differently. Fencing is bulky waste, so it counts against the separate two-cubic-yard bulky allowance, panels must be cut into four-by-six-foot sections with exposed nails and staples removed, and each piece still has to come in under 50 pounds.
Posts are the sticking point. A post with its concrete footing still attached is heavy, and the curbside rules exclude concrete and construction debris. The landfill does take old concrete and recycles it without charging, if you can get it there.
Pressure-treated fence boards, deck boards and landscape timbers do not belong in a brush pile either. This branch keeps them apart from green waste on the truck, because clean brush can be composted or mulched and treated wood cannot.
- Fence panels cut to 4 x 6 feet, fasteners pulled
- Posts set in concrete: not a curbside item
- Treated lumber kept apart from green waste
- Old concrete: free recycling at the landfill
When a haul-away makes sense after a storm
The arithmetic is simple. If the limbs are small and you have a few weeks, the city route costs nothing extra and you should use it. If a tree service has already cut the tree and left the rounds and branches behind, or the fence went down along with the limbs, the bundling and the weekly cap become the expensive part.
A crew loads anything already sawn into pieces people can carry, including limbs too thick for the curb, fence panels and posts, and storm-broken patio furniture, with no bundling and no set-out day. The Junk Koala price book charges by truck space, $249 for a quarter of the truck and $699 for all of it, before sales tax, and concrete-set posts add weight. Dropping a standing tree or cutting a big trunk into rounds needs an arborist, not a junk crew.
Brush is hard to judge by eye, so put a person, a trash cart or a car in the photo when you ask for a price.
Storm pile bigger than the curb allows?
Send a photo with something in the frame for scale and get a written price before you start bundling.
FAQ
Related questions
- Does Arlington pick up tree limbs?
- Yes, once a week on your trash day, as long as each limb is less than 6 inches thick and less than 4 feet long, tied into bundles that weigh under 50 pounds apiece. Up to 2 cubic yards go each week.
- Does Arlington pick up grass clippings?
- No. Clippings are left off the curbside program entirely. Residents can take grass and leaves, un-bagged, to the Arlington Landfill and leave them there free.
- What do I do with storm debris that is too big for Arlington brush pickup?
- Book a paid special collection through Republic Services on 817-317-2000, haul it to the Arlington Landfill, or hire a hauler. Anything left at the curb over the limit has to be removed within 24 hours to avoid city penalties.
- Will Arlington pick up an old fence?
- Yes, as bulky waste within the weekly 2-cubic-yard limit, if the panels are cut into 4-by-6-foot sections with exposed nails and staples removed and each piece is under 50 pounds. Posts set in concrete are another matter, since concrete is not a curbside item.
- Do I have to bundle limbs my tree trimmer cut?
- Yes. The city says contractor-cut limbs must be cut and bundled to the same rules as any other brush, or hauled directly to the Arlington Landfill.
Sources
Ready when you are
You point. We haul. That is the whole arrangement.
Choose a window from the live Arlington calendar, or send a few photographs and get the number first. Homes or businesses, one item or a whole property.
Or call (682) 226-7611
The Arlington branch
Junk Koala Arlington
1140 W Pioneer Pkwy, Ste 1144E
Arlington, TX 76013