Burning Brush

Tomtint · Oct 1, 2016

I started getting my burn piles together a couple months ago. They will be dry by the time burn season rolls around this year. Last year I started the fire with 4-5 old pallets cut up like a Bon fire and a gas soaked T shirt. Worked like a charm. This year I will do the same but I now have a mini X with a thumb to feed the fire. .. Hope it goes faster now.

JamesHW · Oct 1, 2016

My tried and true method of starting brush piles is simply use one of those charcoal chimney starters to get the charcoal red hot and insert it under the pile. I have an old shovel that is missing its handle as a base for the charcoal if there isn't a board or something in there for the charcoal to sit on. I've used this method to start piles of wet brush while it was raining.

We have a shallow aquifer in very sandy soil, so I generally don't want to pour gas or oil on the ground if I can avoid it.

Larry Caldwell · Oct 1, 2016

I use a leaf blower to move the fire around when burning brush. Forced air helps if it is too thin to burn naturally.

dragoneggs · Oct 1, 2016

Touched my pile off last weekend after the ban was lifted. We finally had some rain so things were a bit damp. A little used motor oil and a weed burner along with some cedar and sequoia branches got it going in no time at all!

Industrial Toys · Oct 1, 2016

I would warn anyone about getting too close to fire with hydraulic equipment. I have a burned out Steiner 430 Diesel in my Shed that a friend had driven too close to a bon fire. I know, that's a little machine, but some of the biggest machines on earth have been taken by fire, via their hydraulics.

dragoneggs · Oct 1, 2016

Industrial Toys said:
I would warn anyone about getting too close to fire with hydraulic equipment. I have a burned out Steiner 430 Diesel in my Shed that a friend had driven too close to a bon fire. I know, that's a little machine, but some of the biggest machines on earth have been taken by fire, via their hydraulics.

I often dump additional material or tidy up my burn pile while still burning strong. Probably not good practice but I get a lot of burning done that way. Now that I have most all of my clearing burned it won't be as often. Note in the pic in post #94, my BX is actually quite far away.

Richard · Oct 2, 2016

For you guys that use diesel to light...

Do you have a 1-2-5 gallon can that you just use to pour over the material?

If so, I urge you to consider using a garden sprayer. You'd be surprised at how much flame you can get from a squirt of diesel.

I would wonder if you are wasting some of your fuel. My (I think it's 2 1/2 gallon) sprayer, would probably last me a number of fires, I'm guessing 5-6 depending on what's being burnt

if you are not just pouring it onto the material, then never mind my comment

aczlan · Oct 2, 2016

Richard said:
For you guys that use diesel to light...
Do you have a 1-2-5 gallon can that you just use to pour over the material?
If so, I urge you to consider using a garden sprayer. You'd be surprised at how much flame you can get from a squirt of diesel.
I would wonder if you are wasting some of your fuel. My (I think it's 2 1/2 gallon) sprayer, would probably last me a number of fires, I'm guessing 5-6 depending on what's being burnt
if you are not just pouring it onto the material, then never mind my comment

I use a gallon jug of used motor oil to start our bonfires. The previous owner left a 55g drum full and I have been just pumping it out a gallon at a time.
I put a flake of junk hay every 3-5 feet around the perimeter of the bonfire (usually they are 10-15 feet across) and splash some motor oil onto it. Then I walk around with a propane torch and light the flakes of hay on fire.
While a little oil might drip onto the ground, I am pretty sure it gets burned up once the fire gets rolling as they are generally too hot to get within 6 feet of without losing hair.

Aaron Z