Best way to start burn pile

   / Best way to start burn pile #1  

bx24

Platinum Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2006
Messages
668
Location
Indiana
On frequent occasions, I have the need to burn brush or other wood products. Depending on what is being burned, it has often been difficult to get the pile burning. I usually just wad up some news paper, but sometime the paper and the surrounding wood burns, only to go out 10 minutes later. I have used liquid accelerant (gasoline) but the danger aspect does not out weigh the value.

After a recent flood, I think I have found the safest, most reliable (and no worse polluting than gas) solution for this problem: Carpet padding (the specaled kind)

You tear off a 1 foot square piece and just light one corner. It does not "poof" like gas, and when it burns (surprisingly slowly), it drips hot burning jelly onto anything below it.

If you can make newspaper or cardboard work, all the better. But if you sometimes have trouble like I do, give the carpet padding a try.
 
   / Best way to start burn pile #2  
Interesting. Ill remember that. I use a propane weedburner blowtorch. Quick if not too much dampness. I will save some carpet padding for sustained heat when needed for a good start. Itll save propane!
larry
 
   / Best way to start burn pile #3  
When I was a kid (illegal now and rightfully so) every brush pile we made got a few tires tossed into it in varying locations. Dad would go back with some used motor oil or diesel and poof it could be wet and it would burn...

Now days I use the big weed burner I have and a little diesel fuel. I know not so enviromentaly friendly but it works.
 
   / Best way to start burn pile #4  
I tote my weed burner around like a puppy.Brush fires,starting my big stove,heating water for chicken plucking,aluminum casting,bending steel and once in a while...I burn weeds.
 
   / Best way to start burn pile #5  
Used motor oil and old rags... Not too saturated, just damp with the oil. You wrap the rag around a stick and light an edge. As the rag burns, it warms the oil to a point where it will start to drip, much like the carpet pad. They can actually be a little hard to light, but once going burn good and hot for quite a while as the rag acts like a giant lamp wic. Definitely no woof like gasoline. Being wrapped around the end of a stick, it can be pushed into the pile wherever you want to put the heat. I follow that up with a 4" 12VDC box fan from radio shack attached to a piece of 4" metal dryer duct. This allows me to inject combustion air into the middle of the fire and it really burns hot. The key to burning a damp pile is a good hot core fire. All the heat that core fire produces must exit up thru the pile and it will quickly dry out the pile if stacked correctly(not too lose). That little 12V fan will run 24 hours on a charge on a motorcycle sized gell cell battery(about 7AH). It will probably run for days on a car battery and is reasonably portable and very quiet..

Straight gas is dangerous for lighting fires. As soon as you spread it out by pouring or splashing it, it releases a lot of heavier than air vapors that settle thru and out from the pile. I have seen and experienced the rapidly traveling flame front roaring out past my ankles standing near a newly lit pile. There is also a video floating around of a classic fuel/air explosion. A fire department was torching a donated building and the vapors from the gas they used as an accelerant settled into the basement. The one fireman steps up to the wall with a road flare and tosses it into a basement window. The slomo shows him being blown back several feet along with a good portion of the wall from the resulting explosion. IF you are going to use gas, mix it with diesel or motor oil. It will also burn longer when this is done.

Speaking of this subject, I have a pile to go light this afternoon:)
 
   / Best way to start burn pile #6  
Plumbers torch is what I use. Works really well.
 
   / Best way to start burn pile #7  
I save all my old oil and depending on the size of the pile all or part of either a hay bale or straw.soak em a little with oil and start it with the weed burner,works great and will get most wood ,green,damp whatever burning.As long as you get that hot core going you got it made.I hate to say it but in the old days I too used to burn the occasional tire.It could sure start a good fire but the neighabors downwind didn't like it much.
 
   / Best way to start burn pile #8  
Fisrt off the best wat to burn brrus is to stack it all one in and inter laced patern of tops and butts. I use old carpet ore a big sheeet of plastic. if its wet Ill use a 1 gallon pump sprayer with diesel in it. and spray a lit wad of news papers. Its not gonna woosh like gas used to. And when the stream hits somthing near the flame it sorta atomizes it and it gets hot quick I use this method alot. If its really wet I ll take my hay blower hitched to the tractor and blow on the litte fire stoking it then dump about a gall on offuel in the beater chamber. That gets interesting that and throw in a bale of wheat straw or kiln dried sawdust.
 
   / Best way to start burn pile #9  
I replaced a toilet Thursday, scraped the old wax ring off the toilet and onto the cardboard the new toilet came in. Stuck it in the brush pile and lit it with the propane torch. And no, I didn't roast wienies :D
 
 
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