Burn Piles

[Mosey]

robertn - That's a good point about poison oak. We don't have any around here, but do have poison ivy. I don't burn the poison ivy though, since that would mean I had to put it on the pile, and that would mean I had to pick it up - which I don't do! I spray it with Roundup.

egon - I agree that you have to be careful about fumes. But, I seriously doubt that 1 or 2 gallons of used oil contains enough metal to bother anyone. Plus, that's the first thing to burn and it's been well over an hour before I can get close enough to roast hot dogs, so by then all that's left is the embers from the larger chunks of wood. "wood ashes contain phosphate which is good fertilizer" - The people that used to live at my place had a couple burn piles that I felt were too close to the house, so I cleaned them up some and planted a tree in the middle of each. They are the fastest growing trees I've ever seen! I've always felt it had something to do with the ashes, but didn't know what was in the ashes to make the trees grow so good.

While we're on the subject of fumes, everyone needs to be aware that <font color="red">it's dangerous to burn old railroad ties and other treated lumber. They will emit poisonous fumes!</font color>

Boondox - "When rain is forecast, I cover the whole thing with an old tarp. When the rain is past, I uncover the pile" I've thought about trying that myself, but never did. But, around here the weather forecasters don't have clue when it is and isn't going to rain, so I'd just have to guess at it! Sure sounds like a safe way to burn though.

For those of you who burn in barrels: What do you do with the barrel once it gets full of ashes? The people who used to live at my place burned in barrels. Once it got full, they got another one and set it next to the old one. When they moved, the barrels stayed. There were several of them and I hauled them to the county dump. A couple were rusted out on the bottom, so I had to shovel the stuff into a trailer. There's still glass in that area, I doubt I'll ever get it all cleaned up.

[8NTX]

Just like Mosey said, it will stay hot for a long time, and it is difficult to put it out even with water. Last year at our weekend place in the woods, I burned a pile of trees that we had cleared with a dozer. About 35' x 10' x 6' high. It had several 10"-12" oaks about 25 or 30 ft. long. I started it about 9 a.m. and let it burn all day. At about 7 p.m., we were ready to go; the only thing left were three good sized tree trunks about 20 ft. long. As a safety precaution, we soaked the pile real good with water for about 45 minutes, including the trees that were left. They were still apparently burning from the inside. We thought we had the fire completely out. Next week, the trees were gone. [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img] Fortunately, there was nothing left around it to ignite, and we were having some rain during the week.

[robertn]

I like to rent the big commercial chippers. Here it runs $20/hr. You cna chip a LOT of stuff with them. The fire danger is lower, and you get lots of good chips for the garden ect.

I have run the rotary over small piles. It busts the stuff up, but not small enough. And, it really scatters it. And, as Harv has already mentioned, it is not easy on the mower.

[Argee]

When we cleared the property for building, we had two brush piles about 30 x 50. Waited till fall and the first snow and then torched them by adding fuel oil. Being mostly white pines they burned intensely for the first half hour. There were flames over 50' up. My cousin who lives in town (about 5 miles away) could see the flames from his place. [img]/forums/images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] It melted snow and burned grass back about five feet around the perimeter. The trunks and larger branches required further burning. Made a great stockpile for bonfires which we have often in the fall. We make an event out of it, invite people over, roast hot dogs, drink beer [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] and when were lucky, watch the northern lights.

As long as you plan when your going to burn and keep safety in mind you shouldn't have to much trouble. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Argee]

<font color="red"> For those of you who burn in barrels: What do you do with the barrel once it gets full of ashes? The people who used to live at my place burned in barrels. </font color>

Dump it on the garden.

[LazyJ_Arabians]

On the barrel idea, I found if I opened the barrel on both ends and put it over a stump and add some limbs or scrap wood it would burn the stump out pronto but it would only fit over small stumps. I visited a local metal culvert manufacturer and happened upon a 4' diameter culvert about 5' in length for free and has quickly become my most valuable "tool" on the farm. Stump needs to age for about a year for maximum effectiveness so I cut the tree, harvest the stovewood, make a brushpile out of the tops, and the next year slap my barrel over the stump and burn the tops in it. Cooked at 950 degrees for 3 hours and your stump is done!

[mikim]

now that's a good idea !

[fenneran]

Here's another twist on this thread. I just had an old, dilapidated bank barn torn down. The person who did the work took the wood that he thought he could use (part of the deal for tearing it down) and left the rest in a pile. I will go through it to salvage anything I think I can use, but then will want to burn the rest. So this is not brush, but rather 100 year-old white oak. I have a feeling it will burn quite rapidly! The pile is currently in the space that the barn used to be, surrounded on two sides by a crumbling foundation (cement and rock). The pile is about 30 feet wide X 10 feet deep X 20 feet tall.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Frank

[gws]

spread the ashes around your roses, garden, around the pasture.

[robertn]

Watch out after the burn; there's probably lots of nail that will be directly attracted to your tractors tires. If you try to do cleanup afterwards, watch those tires close.

Check your area's regulations on burning. Out here in California, it is illegal to burn construction debris. Your pile would be extremely over sized, and the contents you are burning would get you cited.

Interestingly, most of the burn piles noted in this thread would be illegal here, mostly for being way over sized. But, reg's differ state to state. That's why it's a good idea to check your local reg's.