Burning Brush

[jack707]

I use diesel and used motor oil it goes up fast

 

[jack707]

It was over 60 years ago, but I remember a farm boy, when brush that was too loose to burn, who would build a small fire of sticks, then place a pint+-, capped bottle of gasoline a couple of feet in front of the fire. He would then go back 20 yards or so and shoot the bottle with a 22. It made a great fireball, and the brush burned.

Bruce

That's another way

Wow! Is brush that hard to light? I guess I have been doing it wrong with a little piece of paper and stuff it down inside the pile and in about five minutes I have flames roaring out the top.

The OP lives in Maine which means the brush is probably a lot of pine - that stuff will light quickly and burn hot.

 

[CobyRupert]

Don't use gasoline, too volatile. Explosive. The invisible vapors will spread out along the ground and create a very dangerous situation.

Motor oil is much much more less volatile. Plus, I always have used oil around. In those situations where a fire dwindles, you can basically pour it around a flame and have a lot of time to exit.

I've never used kerosene or fuel oil, I 'd expect it's much much less dangerous than gas, but more volatile than motor oil.

I usually use a few pieces of paper or cardboard surrounded by a few gallons of motor oil soaked into the brush around it to get it going.
or if I'm feeling lazy feeling about dragging out buckets of oil and paper or if the brush is being particularly resistant to its fate, nothing beats bringing out the propane torch.

and if it's really resistant or the brush isn't packed "dense" enough so that you get enough critical mass burning and generating enough heat for the fire to spread (i.e. heat up the brush around it enough so the moisture in the wood is boiled off and ignition temp is reached), a leaf blower can really hurry things along.

If your piles have been then since last fall, it's ready to go and shouldn't take much effort.

 

[jack707]

Motor oil needs diesel or all you get is white smoke

 

[CobyRupert]

Motor oil needs diesel or all you get is white smoke

Motor oil is all I've ever used as an accelerant (unless you count the leaf blower & propane tourch).
As long as there's already a little fire going (with enough heat to get it up to oil's higher (than gas/fuel) ignition temp), and something else to burn (the brush) it works great.

...but yes, I've seen it were oil is almost puddled on a log sticking out from the pile, away from the heat and putting a flame to it is just going to make smoke.

 

[4570Man]

Motor oil needs diesel or all you get is white smoke

Oil works fine. Used motor oil is all I usually use. This pile is burning used oil. If I have any old gas or contaminated diesel I'll mix it with the oil, but this pile was straight oil.

 

[turnkey4099]

Motor oil needs diesel or all you get is white smoke

Agree, the oil needs something else burnng to get oil lit off.

I find plaiin diesel is all that is needed on a dry pile and not very much of that, just a splash.

I do NOT understand why people think they need to mix gas with the diesel. All gas does is an instant "poof" and then it is gone. I work wih a freiend and no matter how many piles I light off with just diesel splash he insists it should be mixed with gas.

 

[om21braz]

I may try Steve's 'bog-roll soaked in diesel' method the next time I burn and my trees are predominately eucalyptus variants.

Does that brush smell as one would think when it gets burning? Like being in a Vick's factory?

 

[Xfaxman]

My burn piles are mostly cedar trees and dead trees, so it doesn't take much diesel and the propane torch to get them going.

I use this Website to pick days when the wind will be less than 10mph: Map Results | Wind, Forecast, Radar, Weather & More | WindAlert

There is diesel in the gas can.

 

[jack707]

This thread remind me I still have a lot of pine branches and old wood to burn

 

[Wakey]

My burn piles are mostly cedar trees and dead trees, so it doesn't take much diesel and the propane torch to get them going. I use this Website to pick days when the wind will be less than 10mph: Map Results | Wind, Forecast, Radar, Weather & More | WindAlert There is diesel in the gas can. >

Identical thought process. And I like your brush pile, mine are sometimes even bigger lol. I've got 3 nice ones, looking forward to the end of our burn ban period.

 

[Wagtail]

Does that brush smell as one would think when it gets burning? Like being in a Vick's factory?

I'd describe it as, well, kind of a sweet/musk odour. It's very distinctive and most Aussies know the smell of a bush fire... a mere whiff will make your head snap around trying to discern where it's coming from!

Tassie has some of the most purest, pollution free air in the world (true fact, I'm not making that up ath as it mostly comes up from Antarctica... I've never noticed a eucalypt scent 'on the air', although on a warm day you can see a slight blue tinge in the air around a forest, which is a eucalypt "mist".

 

[turnkey4099]

Identical thought process. And I like your brush pile, mine are sometimes even bigger lol. I've got 3 nice ones, looking forward to the end of our burn ban period.

So far I have 8 medium ones (as high as I can toss branches), burn is planned either this winter or next spring. They should be nice and dry by then. I'll probably have another 6-8 by fall.

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

A
I do NOT understand why people think they need to mix gas with the diesel. All gas does is an instant "poof" and then it is gone. I work wih a freiend and no matter how many piles I light off with just diesel splash he insists it should be mixed with gas.

I will mix in a bit of gas with used motor oil. Maybe a couple of cups to a gallon of oil.

 

[hslogger]

I may have missed some thing from the other posters but here goes. Sometimes I start the fire on the leeward side I think you call it. If you want a rip snorter of a fire, you start it with the wind and then the wind pushes it right through the long pile possibly at a rate you aren't prepared for. Starting it on the backside makes a slow burn that you can feed as you go along. All depends on your locale, stuff nearby, ground conditions and such. if in doubt, don't. I have burned brush piles in the field, and clearcuts the size of a subdivision. Each application is different. Fire is a great tool but don't "play with fire".

 

[turnkey4099]

I will mix in a bit of gas with used motor oil. Maybe a couple of cups to a gallon of oil.

Now there is a valid reason for the gas, it thins the oil to make it ignite better.

 

[kenord]

If your going to use gas a safer way to light it is to use a bb gun.
just put a wooden match , sulfer end first, in the end of the barrel,
the bb lights the match, and throws it 20 feet or so.
Might want to practice a bit first, but it works.
Rich

 

[jack707]

I use a stick or branch and wrap paper around

 

[sixdogs]

I burned brush piles in Maine for 25 years and the only thing that worked for me in all seasons--and did not just burn the center out--was one of those propane wand brush fire starters that hook to a propane tank. That gave me a hot enough flame to burn off the initial moisture and get a good start. I tried everything from pallets and diesel and in the old days even tires. Propane torch thing works.

We always burned just before dawn on a probable calm and damp day and burned into the wind so the wind would hold it back and be a natural control. We burned away from evergreens-- full of pitch. They flare up pretty quickly and if they do, don't be afraid to call the fire department. I had them on speed dial.

The hose is helpful but not the answer. Think of what can go wrong first and things work better. Just my two cents here.

 

[LD48750]

I just use the chipper & blow the chips into the swamp.