Help me start a FIRE !

[YanmarFever]

Jerry
Have you considered buying or renting a chipper?
Here in Oregon we get a 35 percent rebate on our taxes on the purchase of a chipper.
Ernie <><

 

[Mrwurm]

A chipper would sit idle for many years just like my chainsaw. The chainsaw sat for ten years since I used it last.

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

Napalm....... Kind of hard to confine though.

 

[Koby]

I agree with the suggestion to wait 'till spring. Your pile will be so dry, it will be a pleasure to burn. Burning green wood can be tedious. My first brush fire was green wood, even had snow in the pile. After an hour or so with no fire, I got impatient and poured some gas on the pile. I then lit the brush with a gas soaked rag on the end of a 10' stick....WHOOSH! All I saw was flames. After pulling myself out of the snow, I realized that I was lucky to be uninjured, and the darn pile still wasn't on fire!! Gas is way too volatile, and will flame out before it has a chance to light green wood. Now, I try to wait until the brush has dried some, and I have never used gas since. I have used diesel in the pump up sprayer with good results. It burns much slower giving the wood a chance to catch, and doesn't flash like gas. I still prefer a dry brush pile though; it burns quickly and completely without the need for accelerant. As previously stated, burning dry material (scrap lumber) AND the Duraflame should work, diesel will help.

 

[Gatorboy]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I don't plan on using gas or diesel. )</font>

I get the impression you think gas and diesel behave the same way. They do not.

Do you ever use charcoal lighter fluid? If you do, and feel that is safe enough, then you should not ignore your good oily friend diesel. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[EastTexFrank]

Some of you guys scare the bejezzus out of me. That's OK, some of my neighbours scare me to death too with their burning methods. One of the best things I ever did was when I had the water well drilled, I had the backhoe operator dig me a 12'x4'x7' deep pit that I use for burning. When I get it full, I cram some paper in one end, soak it in about a cup of diesel and light it with a rolled up paper torch. It's never failed to light and it burns from one end of the pit to the other in a controlled fashion without ending up in a conflagration. I've had two or three neighbours start grass fires by burning during the dry Texas summer. One managed to burn up his whole peach orchard. So the only words of advice I have are:
1. Keep the fire small
2. Be aware of combustable sources around where you are burning
3. Have a hose close by to control it
4. Never, ever use gasoline to start it
5. Be aware that leaves and such, when they burn will be caught in the updraft and burning embers will be carried a long, long way from the fire
6. Burn early in the morning if you can when the grass is still wet and there is very little or no wind.
I have to burn 4/5 times a year and it still makes me nervous. One of the things that I learned at all the fire fighting courses that I had to attend in 25 years in the oilfield is that it's a lot easier to start a fire than to put it out. Please be careful. I'd hate to read of another burning tragedy.

 

[NIXON]

I learned at an early age the power of gasoline ! We lived in Va . Just outside of DC . At that time it was customary to burn your leaves in the steet against the curb . I gathered all the leaves from the back yard and put them along the curb in a long pile ,and poured Gas on them . Then I figured " what the heck , I'll rake the front yard too " . I added these leaves to the pile ,tossed in a match and went to the house to get a drink of water . As I came up to the front door my dad was looking out the storm door . I'll never forget the WOOSH sound , the orange glow in the glass door ,or the look on my Dad's face !!! I turned to see that the pile of leaves is no longer on the ground ! It is now raining FIRE !!! As luck would have the neighbors yards hadn't been raked . So Dad and I got to spend the better part of an hour putting out fires .
It's pure DUMB luck no real damage was done and no one was hurt ! To this day if I use anything to help a fire along it sure isn't GAS ! John

 

[NoTrespassing]

Well I realize it's too late for this fire but here is a tip for all you rookie tree fellers....get it?

Out of the pages of Rural Living Handbook from the editors of Mother Earth News.

Leaf-cure summer cut deciduous trees.
You can hasten the drying of wood from trees felled during the high moisture months (May through September) by leaving the trees whole for four to twelve weeks. The foliage will draw moisture through the trunk and out the leaves (a process called transpiration). When the leaves wither and turn brown, the tree will have lost as much as half its moisture and is ready to be cut, split and stacked as usual.

The chapter also has a nice breakdown of wood types and their relative fuel value as well as how easily each type splits.

Kevin

 

[turnkey4099]

The real problem of burning green wood is getting the fire started -under- the fuel. I usually can find at least one spot that I can work my way in a couple of feet, crumple some paper and then sprinkle diesel on the fuel above that. Torch it off and if it is stubborn, feed it with small thin (preferably dry) stuff till it is going well.
I just burned two piles yesterday. One was huge and the only start place I could find was on the downwind side. The other small pile torched off fine but the big one was really stubborn, 1/2 hour playing with it, feed it more paper, bags of leaves etc. ran of out my small can of diesel. It finally blow torched for me and slowly ate its way back to the middle. It took a lot longer than usual. Next time 'more power (diesel)'.
I still have 5 more piles to go.

I never burn until there is either snow on the ground or after a heavy rain.

I also used to use gas a few times. WRONG MOVE. It gives and instant hot fire and instant out along with the danger. Diesel is the way to go but I hate the mess and smell.

Harry K

 

[Wal]

Boondox,

Out of all the replys to the original post, I can hardly believe that you are the only one that has mentioned using kerosene /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif It works very well, is relatively cheap, and won't explode in your face /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif One of my favorite "tricks" is to put some of my ever plentiful cedar brush on the bottom of the pile first, then the less combustible junk on top of that. I have also used the leaf blower and fireplace starter log to good effect.