Burn piles

[Oaktree]

I'd like to suggest a way of disposing of brush and downed timber that (A) Reduce or elimintes danger of wildfire (B) alllows doing it on your scedule with less regard for burn bans (C) dramatically improves your soil for years to come. (D) Eliminate need for irrigation of deep rooted plants with as little as 20" annual rain or cut necessary irrigation dramatically for plants requiring alot of moisture.

It may be different where you are, but I never bother with a burn pile. I just pile brush, etc. in windrows at the edge of the woods. Maybe push it back or compress it with the FEL every couple years. It rots down fairly quickly (I pile stuff on every year, but the piles never seem to get any bigger), and it provides shelter for wildlife.
Wildfires are not an issue here.

 

[JasperFrank]

On the burn piles, I have some mixed feelings. Burn about three huge piles a season just to keep the fuel load down in the wood lot. Last year was a bit crazy, cause we did 14 burns, in a very narrow window of allowed burning. Its a temperate rain forest. Things grow all the time.
Tried the chipping, but that didn't work out. Work all day, and end up with two cubic yards, $120 worth of chips. I was surprised at how little the neighbor's PTO powered chipper would create. And he has a top of the line USA made chipper, $3,000 plus. I can buy and have chips delivered for less then my overall costs of creating chips. Even if i got my own China made, $1,200, PTO chipper. You just can't fight the economy of scale, commercial chip suppliers can supply.

I do wish somehow, I could have a battery to save all this heat for later.

 

[Sodo]

That's 3 piles in a row, they are about 100ft apart.
It's kind of a shame to burn them, I'd rather leave wildlife piles.

It was impenetrable brush.
I'm hoping to create a 'natural' open meadow feedplot here and don't wanna look at piles.
Wish me luck.

 

[Carl_NH]

I do the same with small stuff as you do Oaktree, but we had trees taken down, cut into lumber. Used the oak slabs for firewood, gave away the pine slabs to a neighbor, but still had a lot of brush left.

It has to be raining here, or 6" snow cover, and a burn permit, and piles not bigger than 4' high/around!

I just say OK and carry on and tending to a fire in the winter is a nice way to spend a day outside.

 

[Hayloft]

I'm the local pyromaniac....

Had the farm timbered, 20 years ago. The dudes left two HUGE slash piles (you can see backhoe in background of the double picture for sense of scale)

I've told this story before but what the heck. It had rained all week. This day was Friday and the rain stopped. So everything was soaked.....and this was a GOOD thing.

Called to get my burn permit, got home after work around 5:00 and headed out to light it off. Actually, to light THEM off as there were two of these monsters.

Got things lit. Hours later, it's cold outside BUT, I have "stereo heat" with both piles going. I found a spot where I could sit/watch and stay comfortably warm.

It was maybe 3:00 A.M. and I see a light dancing through the woods. Alas.... someone cometh. Light reaches me and it's a Sheriff. He seemed to have an attitude in his voice.

"Whatcha doing here?" (the word "BOY" was heard in the sound of his voice but he didn't say it)
"ummm... burning?"
"we got a report from across the lake that there was a forest fire over here....we've been looking for this for the last couple hours"
"mmmm..... ok???" (what am I supposed to say to that?)
"How are you going to put this out?"

This one perplexed me.

"Well.... I have my burn permit, I've got my phone with me (in case something gets out of control) AND, I've got my backhoe with me so I can keep tending the fire and be my own first responder if something looks like it's getting out of control" (in other words, I don't really have ANY intention of putting the fire out)

To which he then said with a bit of frustration in his voice...

"You DO know, don't you, that you are REQUIRED to be with your fires while they're burning???"

To which I looked at my watch and said "Well.... it's 3:00, isn't it???"

He muttered 'have a nice night" and left.

The bulk of the fire was out so I hung around for another 30-60 minutes.... then went home to bed.

It was however, nice knowing that the Kravitz family (sarcastic comment going back to Bewitched for the crowd that remembers Edna) was keeping an eye out on us!



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We have to have 6" of snow on the ground to get a burn permit. Then call the county sheriffs dispatcher the day the pile is set on fire.

I got to hate burning large slash piles as they took so long to burn. One year I got tired after 10 or so hours so piled a good foot of snow on the smoldering pile I had bunched up. The next morning, piled a good two foot of snow on the warm ashes and came back the next day and it was still smoldering. Smh.

Bought a chipper after that ordeal. I only have small fires now that easily burn out in a day.

Our county is filled with silliness when it comes to burn piles and it's all but impossible to burn your own natural wood debris. With a permit you have stupid level restrictions. Tiny fire size. No stumps. No logs. No boards or planks or plywood. Very picky about limbs/branches and hefty fines if you skip the permit and Mrs Kravitz calls to complain. Hmmm maybe time to move to Texas.

 

[Hayloft]

I'd like to suggest a way of disposing of brush and downed timber that (A) Reduce or elimintes danger of wildfire (B) alllows doing it on your scedule with less regard for burn bans (C) dramatically improves your soil for years to come. (D) Eliminate need for irrigation of deep rooted plants with as little as 20" annual rain or cut necessary irrigation dramatically for plants requiring alot of moisture. Bury it with soil and let it rot. Using land similar pictured in post 5 here's what I do. Use pictured tractor to pile brush in those small ravines and shallow creases in land. Due to amount of wood on ground in this case it would help to reduce it somewhat. Partially burn brush then cover in soil after small twiggs and limbs have burnt and flame dies enough to drive close with tractor. The partly burned wood is known as biochar,price it anywhere gardening supplies are sold and its value becomes apparent. Variables can change results but you can expect the 3' above grade mound to settle by 50% withing 18-24 months and be 6"-12" above grade withing 5 years. Mounds can be seeded as built then desirable plants,trees and grass after a few months. On a smaller plot I might dig a trench,fill it with brush then cover it with dirt as additional trench is being dug for more brush. I urge you to bury some rotten logs or brush to see for yourself even it it's only 15-20 sq ft area for a flower bed.

This is a great method for sure and I have used it too. It works for planter areas quite well and I'll continue the method to bury logs and stump pieces while I burn as much as I can with the ridiculous permitted burn piles. Not to get too political in the thread but it might be time for a homeowner bill of rights in over-reaching counties.

 

[ning]

Right now burn permits are required here. The ground is moderately moist, and the air has been as well (relatively speaking - during fire season it's typically 10-15%).

We're required to check that it's been declared a burn day, but there's no requirement to notify anyone.

We're supposed to burn 4' diameter piles, which are pretty much too small to get a proper burn going (especially when people burn damp stuff). I burn near the county road so I'm not hiding anything, but my piles are typically about 6-8' and sometimes more; nobody has ever complained.

I have me and my tractor near the fire, and it's near my well house which is an obvious water source... No grass or vegetation to see other than ½" stuff.

I'm currently burning some piles I made a few months back during fire season, set aside to dry, they're super dry now and very easy to move from the back 40 to my burn spot with my forks.

(The wires as you can guess are not above the fire though the perspective makes them look so.)

 

[jaxs]

It may be different where you are, but I never bother with a burn pile. I just pile brush, etc. in windrows at the edge of the woods. Maybe push it back or compress it with the FEL every couple years. It rots down fairly quickly (I pile stuff on every year, but the piles never seem to get any bigger), and it provides shelter for wildlife.
Wildfires are not an issue here.

Maw Nature would prefer it your way for sure. If you ever wish to grow something like grapes,berries or understory shrubs/trees that aren't negatively effected by shade from nearby timber you owe to yourself in planting some where that brush has rotted. You are way out in front already and only need to top a spot off with some soil to have a good planting bed.

 

[jaxs]

Regulations on burning can make life harder for people but can you imagine what some people would do if they weren't regulated? I can. Years ago there was a house and set of buildings on 15 acres left over from owner retiring and selling his acreage. Owner moved away and visited occasionally but did very little in the way of mowing and maintenance. Every 2-3 years he would set fire to grass downwind from hose on a windy day. Neighbors suffered various damage but couldn't get restitution nor have the guy pay a fine. One year there was a cooperative effort to graze down adjoining pastures and drill small grain for winter grazing. The overgrown place caught fire one windy day burning down the house and barn before fire dept could get there. Word was that insurance refused to pay because of past record of owner being reckless with burning the place off. Some neighbors felt vindicated but not me.

 

[Richard]

Our county is filled with silliness when it comes to burn piles and it's all but impossible to burn your own natural wood debris. With a permit you have stupid level restrictions. Tiny fire size. No stumps. No logs. No boards or planks or plywood. Very picky about limbs/branches and hefty fines if you skip the permit and Mrs Kravitz calls to complain. Hmmm maybe time to move to Texas.

I was a bit incomplete with my story, didn't want to belabor it...

I read some of these comments and must conclude that where I live, though requiring a permit for roughly six months of the year... is fairly lax about things. They don't want tires burned, which makes sense.... and you have to declare if the burn pile is (I forget) larger than say, 20x20 or smaller than 20x20...

When I had these two big slash piles, I had actually burned one a week prior and had the fire department out. The forester came with his bulldozer.... circumnavigated ALL burn piles and the fire chief said I was ready when my time came.

I asked about "why is the ground evidently smoldering over there?" and he almost immediately barked for the dozer to come back and take the ripper around all piles. Seems the stuff was so thick/deep, it was still smoldering "under ground". Well, things had piled up, been driven over, piled up....pushed down.... and he realized there were evidently some embers that were under the top cover that were allowing things to travel.

Dozer came back ripped a trench around everything, then I got the thumbs up.

 

[Doorman63]

Got mine started this morning

 

[ning]

When we first moved here we had a guy with a dozer clear a bunch of trees & brush for our barn area and a road. Had a really big slash pile in our meadow; the dozer guy said to call the FD and they'd let us burn it.

Fire guy came out to look at it and gave a thumbs-up - looks great!

Day came to torch it; I'd rented a 3" trash pump and had it read with a suction line into our pond; had an adjustable fire nozzle set up for spraying it down if needed.
Was about to light it and
well
I was just "... this just looks wrong"

My wife and I spent a few hours pulling half of the pile apart (not easy, mostly withe straps and our truck, didn't have a tractor at the time) and making a new pile farther away from the trees that are at the edge of our meadow (by our then-to-be barn pad)

We lit that and MAN were we glad we didn't light the original pile. The flames were HUGE and the slightest breeze was already pulling the flames uncomfortably close to those trees - and that's when we'd relocated the half pile we lit. Occasionally the flames got too scary and we'd spray water over it just to get it to be burning hot instead of trying to incinerate everything in sight. The green grasses nearby lit, of course, despite being completely saturated with water.

Spent the next three days dragging stuff off of the not-yet-burned pile and putting it onto the huge bed of coals, and then finally got sick of it all and lowered our pond level an entire foot by pumping water onto the massive bed of coals to put it all out....

 

[justman777]

I've burned huge piles in South Texas that easily shot flames 30-40 feet in the air. No permits needed, but I did use a fair amount of common sense. If winds were anything more than 5-6 mph, or the relative humidity was below 40%, it was a big nope for me. I also dug a burn pit 4 feet deep, burned early in the mornings when dew was still on the ground, and kept a hose close by at all times. Never had an issue. Conversely, we were coming home from church one Sunday morning, and had to rescue a few houses from a trash fire started by a neighbor that turned into a grass fire. We were in a burn ban, and winds were coming in at 15+ mph. Not the smartest thing to do. I didn't hear what happened to him after all that.

 

[mhineman]

There's an old joke where a lot of those fires and called "White man fires".
The punch line is white man build BIG fire and sit wayyyyy back.
Indian buld little fire sit up close.

 

[jstrick]

I love the look of the cat: "Thisss is what happens to my enemies!!! Beware world - I will dominate you!"

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

I've gotten to where fires make me more nervous than they used to. If the pile is dry I usually douse it down with quite a bit of water then light the down wind side. That way the fire has to fight the wind and the water. Takes longer that way but it helps keep the intensity down at least a little bit. I always burn too far from running water to be able to keep a hose nearby. So I typically take several large trash cans full of water, with a bucket in each, and put them around the perimeter far enough away that I can get to them without getting burned but close enough to help. I also usually end up throwing buckets full of water on it when it's burning good to try to keep the intensity down if it's not WAY out in the middle of a field.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

It's about time I burn a couple piles. Have at least 2 to burn.

In NW GA where my property is you can burn October 1st until May 1st , but you are supposed to get a "permit" from an automated system over the phone. Not exactly sure the reason for this, maybe they will not issue the permit if it is too windy or dry. There are some caveats like only supposed to be hand piled (HAHA, right!), no lumber, etc. etc! They cease burn permits in the summer but it is mostly due to air quality than it is because of fire risk.

It is pretty easy to burn safely around here during our permitted burn season.. I usually loosely cover the middle of my medium sized piles with a tarp (so it is not completely saturated) and wait for a nice wet spell. Pull tarp, add accelerant of your choice and light it up!!

 

[allthebacon]

Another one for the album…

 

[davidbham]

I do my burn pile from time to time. I had a fair size tree - maybe 15 in diameter in the pile along with brush and branches. Everything went fine, I left the ashes to burn out overnight. The following weekend, despite a light rain shower during the week, I raked around in the ashes and found some hot spots. No problem, I just left it. I was amazed the following weekend when I checked and still found some smoldering spots after 2 weeks! It really wasn't that big of a fire.

 

[PJRAM]