I told DH he needed to help and he said Why?
LOL Leslie -
If he doesn't know why by now it might be hard to explain... Your dh should be more careful - or one day you might decide to "declutter" him! If he won't help you can put the dd's on the job with you. Even the little "box dumper" could pick up small branches - just give her a box of her own to fill with small branches. Tell her that she can "dump" it in the big can when she's through... There are ways to motivate those little ones if you are creative - sometimes they can be more help than the dh - believe me, I know.
Maybe you could try the "flylady" timer method with the kids. Tell them that we're all going out to the yard to pick up branches for 15 minutes. Lets set a timer and see how much we can pick up in that time. Then we'll all go in and have a popsicle (or whatever). You'd be amazed at how much you can accomplish in 15 minutes if everyone really works at it.
I'm thinking that your "automatic box dumper" should provide you with some motivation to clear out those boxes - it would work on me...
Diane
~remembering why I'm a SAHM - that's Single and Happy Mother!~
