Burn barrel question...

[grsthegreat]

I have concrete pavers under and around my burn barrel. I only burn after it rains but if I think there is any risk then I standby until it's done. I also place an old piece of wire woven fencing over the barrel to minimize sparks.

I do the same, plus barrel is on gravel driveway

 

[part-time-Farmer-NC]

Since you know the contents of the burned stuff, I would simply pour the contents out in a corner, or if not wanted to see it, dig a hole and put in there. Then as mentioned above smoosh the barrel and throw into the scrap metal section of the dump.

It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission .

 

[fidowanttobe]

Very dry up here so my burning is very limited right now. But my barrel last much longer after I set it up on blocks and use a lid as soon as the fire is out. I also cut a 2" hole in the center of the bottom, another in the top but very off from center, cut the lid off and let it fall in. That way any fluids will drain eventually. After it is a little more than half full I lay it over and shovel the ash into bags and throw in trash. Same barrel has to be 6-10 years old by now.

 

[Mcdust]

Burn barrels are illegal in California....with just about everything else, with the exception of weed. You are lucky all you have to do is go to a fire marshal and get it signed off!

Every thing is illegal in Mass. too. Right behind CA. including burning paper

 

[Mtsoxfan]

It's funny how some states ban burning, but they will burn all trash. CT has a trash to energy plant, can't be the only one. All I burn are brush, lumber scraps etc. Burn barrel lasted most 4 years, and most of my burning is open fires. Important documents that are no longer needed are in burn barrel. We recycle as much as we can, but let's be honest, we've seen the 60 minutes segment where the US sends to a third world country, or China, and they dump in ocean. It's not right, but it happens. Wasn't it after Japan's sunomi that trash washed up on Calli's shores?

 

[grsthegreat]

Every thing is illegal in Mass. too. Right behind CA. including burning paper

I burn all paper from business and household taxes after stored for 5 years. Too much to shred.

 

[Edstir]

I smash them down with a sledge hammer to fit in a box and put it in the garbage bin for pickup. Sometimes a junk man will pick it up with other metal items if it's smashed.

 

[Edstir]

The forest preserve just had an annual burn across the highway from my place. A 10' oak tree stump fired up after they left and the fire department came out as the winds were over 30mph. I just burnt some paper in my barrel and thought it was my smell until I observed what was going on. The wet oak tree was smoking up a storm and hard to put out.

 

[ning]

Did spring cleaning, took a mattress, couple shot up wheel barrels along with a two burn barrels to the county landfill in the trailer along with some other things.

Everything was taken but the burn barrels (I wasn't going to drop them off sticking out like a sore thumb).

Apparently I need something signed off by the fire marshal on exactly what was burned in the barrel, otherwise the county could not accept it. Only thing ever burned was papers of all things. No plastics, NOTHING other than paper product.

What do you guys do with old burn barrels?

Since I KNOW what was burned in them, I have an idea of what I'm going to do, but have any of you had this same experience where the county landfill refused burn barrels because you didn't have a certificate of some sort of what was burned in them?

Someone mentioned cutting it up; I'd cut the bottom off then crush the rest of it and chuck it into the scrap, unless you know it has really nasty stuff in it. It's going to the refiner anyways...
A burn barrel that's been well-used is likely pretty easy to fold up once the bottom has been cut off.

 

[MossRoad]

Ponderosa pine forests in the west a very grassy understory. The same with Longleaf pine forests in the southeast.

Attached is a photo from near the Los Alamos area during a fall cone collection day. And another of me standing by a large tree. Lots of native grasses.View attachment 3201362View attachment 3201363View attachment 3201364

I was thinking of our pine trees here. No grasses and most shrubs won't grow under them. Too much shade, they suck up all the water, high ph, dense blanket of needles on the ground, etc...

 

[MossRoad]

I'm kind of a stupid guy.

My first action was take a sledge hammer to crush it. Figure it wouldn't take long. Then I found our what's left of a old burn barrel is still pretty strong.

Then common sense kicked in after reevaluating the the barrels strength and how much ground I was covering with the sledgehammer

My bottoms never really rot out, but the lower section does. I can accumulate so many papers that I'll take a sleeves worth and soak it in kerosene, and that will keep the fire going to burn the rest I need to throw in there. Have a 60" X 1/2" pipe nipple that I use to "stir the pot" to keep the fire going. I'm figuring it's those soaked papers that's killing the bottom of the barrel after a couple of years.
I'm thinking it may just be quicker to take it out to back gully area where I use to hunt and let nature take its course now that they are downsized.

I save the drum lid and put in on the barrel when I'm done burning. That keeps the water out of it when I'm not using it.

Eventually it rotted out the bottom and the side edges, leaving me a tube. But that was from the fire, not water. Eventually it started leaning over due to one side getting weaker, so I smashed it and threw it out. I've only gone through 2 barrels since 1985. But I don't burn but a few times a year. Mostly old board scraps and garden waste. Once a year I burn old personal documents.

 

[MossRoad]

I have concrete pavers under and around my burn barrel. I only burn after it rains but if I think there is any risk then I standby until it's done. I also place an old piece of wire woven fencing over the barrel to minimize sparks.

I always run a garden hose out to the burn barrel and spray the grass down around the area, then leave it turned on until I'm done. If I have to leave, I'll soak the fire out and put the lid on it. Next day I'll tip it on its side to drain any water. Makes the barrel last longer, I suppose.

 

[ning]

I'm kind of a stupid guy.

My first action was take a sledge hammer to crush it. Figure it wouldn't take long. Then I found our what's left of a old burn barrel is still pretty strong.

Then common sense kicked in after reevaluating the the barrels strength and how much ground I was covering with the sledgehammer

My bottoms never really rot out, but the lower section does. I can accumulate so many papers that I'll take a sleeves worth and soak it in kerosene, and that will keep the fire going to burn the rest I need to throw in there. Have a 60" X 1/2" pipe nipple that I use to "stir the pot" to keep the fire going. I'm figuring it's those soaked papers that's killing the bottom of the barrel after a couple of years.
I'm thinking it may just be quicker to take it out to back gully area where I use to hunt and let nature take it's course now that they are downsized.

You have a tractor, right?
I'd think you could crush the barrel with the bucket of your tractor

 

[arto98607]

Wow, never new burning office max printing paper and newspaper is illegal.

Need to go to plan B

Won't ask any questions on plan B...

Do have to ask this though, exactly how does the fire marshal determine what you burn in your barrel to "certify" that you only burned the proper materials (guess something that grows naturally, but we use that for compost ).

No way would I ever go to a fire marshal to ask for a certificate!

 

[Sigarms]

No way would I ever go to a fire marshal to ask for a certificate!

I'm not asking for a certificate, I'm asking to understand how he determines if the barrel can get a sticker to take to the landfill.

It will be taken care of. I just kind of fell over dead when the guy at the landfill told me that. My mistake was you could tell they were burn barrels.

 

[ning]

I'm not asking for a certificate, I'm asking to understand how he determines if the barrel can get a sticker to take to the landfill.

It will be taken care of. I just kind of fell over dead when the guy at the landfill told me that. My mistake was you could tell they were burn barrels.

My guess is that you're just to go to them and they hand you a form that you sign certifying that you didn't intentially put carcinogens into the barrel, etc. Kinda like when I drop off e-waste at the transfer station and sign a form saying it's not anything out of the ordinary.

 

[Sigarms]

My guess is that you're just to go to them and they hand you a form that you sign certifying that you didn't intentially put carcinogens into the barrel, etc. Kinda like when I drop off e-waste at the transfer station and sign a form saying it's not anything out of the ordinary.

Honestly that's what I figure as well.

I think at the end of the day I was just stupid for not flattening them out not to look like a burn barrel. Never thought about it, just figured it was time to take them since I was loading up the trailer with other things.

 

[jyoutz]

I was thinking of our pine trees here. No grasses and most shrubs won't grow under them. Too much shade, they suck up all the water, high ph, dense blanket of needles on the ground, etc...

They will do the same everywhere if the pine stand density has a high number of trees per acre and also if needlecast isn’t removed naturally (fire) or manually. My suggestion was to thin the trees to allow sunlight and grow native grasses. But we learned that the granitic soil material around Tahoe isn’t fertile and won’t grow grasses and forbs.

 

[ponytug]

I was thinking of our pine trees here. No grasses and most shrubs won't grow under them. Too much shade, they suck up all the water, high ph, dense blanket of needles on the ground, etc...

You mean low pH (acid), right?

All the best, Peter

 

[jyoutz]

You mean low pH (acid), right?

All the best, Peter

Yeah, pine needles are acid.