For those of you that practice open-burning of leaves/brush..

[Citydude]

I like having to have a permit. Our permits are free with the requirement of a minimum of 6” of snow on the ground. Helps keep down the jerks from starting forest fires.

 

[MF243RedTop]

isnt that huge burning mess and resulting burned pile of ashes a pain to deal with? how do you deal with it, if at all?

In Georgia a permit is as simple as a phone call or online to the Forestry commission..
I regularly open burn piles of debris, have campfires around where I'm working outside, open burn about 5 acres of planted pines I own to control underbrush.
Help my friend burn 50 acres of planted pines for same reason.
Drip torch can be your best friend on acreage that big, we both have one and all have harrowed fire breaks.
For as potash (third factor in fertilizer) that's left from debris pile burns or wood heaters/fireplaces that's great to scoop up and add around any fruit trees, grapevines or broadcast over garden area..

Btw threads like these can be created in the

https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/rural-living/

Rural living forum.

 

[mred2]

I can burn anytime that there is not a burn restriction. That is dry spell in the summer. We can get a permit over the phone at no cost. If you burn without a permit and it gets out, you may be in trouble. I only burn in the middle of a large open space. And then only large amounts of brush and tree tops. I have piles of stuff that may set for years. They make good homes for critters and will rot down in a few years to dirt.

 

[chsdiyer]

In SC we can call the forestry commission to get a fire danger notice and if it's too high we don't burn. If it's not we just let them know we'll be burning and go about it. We had about an acre of high density trees cleared and it save me a lot of money to burn it over having it hauled off. I'll clear more periodically and burn the piles. Quickest way to get rid of it. If i could afford a chipper i'd go that route though. I've read that the ashes can be good for gardens. In the past i've just used the tractor to flatten out the ashes and the grass grew over pretty quick. Can't see where any previous piles were burned. It's also something fun for me and the kids to do. Our landfill will take tree/yard debris and mix it with food waste they pick up from restaurants and make compost. It was $8/yard but they just raised it to $25.

 

[Diggin It]

I don't burn acreage at all. I only do piles and generally no more than about 10' diameter.

 

[lman]

I generally have an extremely large recreational campfire(permit not required) unless it's too dry.

 

[r porter]

no permit in Arkansas and they will burn off fields that have hundreds of acres in them even when there is a burn ban in effect.

 

[Richard]

I burn quite a bit as there is always branches or dead trees laying about.

This was one of my larger fires... farm (250 acres) had been timbered and they had TWO of these slash piles pretty close.

You can see in the upper picture the backhoe way in background to get some scale of the pile (and there were TWO of them)

Waited until one day when it literally poured rain all day. Got home about 4-5:00 PM and started the fire then as the place was soaked.

Had fire permit, phone, backhoe with me. About 3:00 A.M. I saw a light bouncing through the woods.... it was a sheriff. I was sitting in a spot between the two fires to keep warm (was getting cold at night) He walked up to me and had the "good ole boy" attitude...

I said "HI"

"What'cha doing?" He asked me

Thinking that was a mighty stupid question in light that I had two massive fires going, I said I was burning some slash.

"We've had a couple reports from across the lake.... with the sky lit up, they think there's a forest fire going on"

"nope... just me"

"How are you going to put this out???"

"Hmmmm.... (thinking that was a really stupid question) Well.... I've got my fire permit, cell phone, backhoe.... " (suggesting to him that since I STARTED the darn fire, I had NO intent of putting it out)

"Well.... (he says with an attitude) You DO know that you are REQUIRED to monitor your fire through the night, don't you???" (if you said "BOY" at the end in a condensencing tone, you have the idea)

I looked at my watch and said out loud to him...."and WHAT time is it right now???" (seeing as it's the middle of the freaking night and I'm sitting right here why don't you go shut your mouth was my thought)

He simply turned and said have a good night.

About 30 minutes later, I went home & went to bed.

Fire lasted couple days and I kept trying to push it upon itself to make it smaller to help get rid of things.

Normally when I have a "large" fire (nothing like these) I can use the front or rear buckets to keep pulling/pushing the fire into itself and frankly, by the time I'm done...the next morning there is literally nothing left but a pile of ashes.

 

[buck12]

In my area, you can burn with no permit unless there is a burn ban during really dry periods.

 

[Avenger]

I just burned a large slash pile from the logging we did two years ago. I've never had the best time to burn. The loggers made 4 large piles spread about my property. I burned one the first winter after logging, maybe 2 weeks later. It was the smallest. Set it on fire and walked away. Came back a few hours later and pushed the half burned sticks and logs to the center to keep going. The second one was this spring. A bit larger. The WA State Department of morons decided to impose a burn ban in APRIL because we had a dry spring. The Fire Department came out, but the pile went up so fast, it was a smoldering pile of ashes when they arrived. They didnt fine me as that was the first day of the ban. That fire continued to smolder for a few days.

Yesterday, I went out and lit the third pile. This pile is the next largest. Probably 10 feet high, 30ft by 100ft rectangle of logs up to 8" in diameter combined with sticks as small as pine needles, all jumbled up into this massive pile. We currently have temps around 19F and about 2" of snow. The pile, though in the 'forest' is in a open area with the closest douglas fir about 30ft away. It took me about 2 hours to get it lit using nothing but a propane torch. Even though the material was well seasoned, the snow and dampness, rot, and unevenness of the material made it extremely hard to lite. But once it started, about noon yesterday, it went. It wasnt as fast as I hoped, but it did burn the majority of the pile throughout the night. It did leave behind the larger logs (the logs couldnt be harvested because of how crooked they were. They were diseased) So, now I do have a mess to clean up.

Now, some of you might be getting a bit freaked out when I said "Set it on fire, and walked away" or "it did burn the majority of the pile throughout the night." Understandable, how can anyone living in the forest leave a bon fire raging over night?! Calm down. The piles are in open areas, surrounded by snow. Everything is wet. Besides, I can see every pile from my house windows, and I monitored them while they were burning, from the comfort of my living room (it was 19F yesterday. )

So what do I do with the ash pile? Well, typically, nothing. The forest reclaims that land rather quickly. In some areas, I run the rototiller over the ash pile to incorporate the ash into the soil. Wood ash is actually beneficial, maybe not in the concentration that I am making, but it is what it is. Now this pile, that didnt burn completely, I'm not sure yet. As of this morning, the ashes where still smoldering and there are several large burned logs to deal with. I got a feeling that I'll have to get out the saw and get a bit dirty. What makes me more nervous is the last pile.

The last pile which is probably twice as big as the one I burned yesterday, is full of the same 'stuff.' Only the pile is pushed up against some large doug firs and near the county road. It is the pile that the loggers used to load out the trucks with. I'm not worried about the trees so much as I am about the road and the huge logs left behind. If it burns slow, like this last pile, instead of like the first or second one (that was gone within a few hours in a massive flame), that would be best.

I have struggled with the idea of getting a wood chipper to chip the material. I can use the chips after all. However, I cannot afford a chipper that will be able to handle large logs. And deconstructing this pile... yikes. I'm not lazy, but that would be a massive job. Interlocking large brush pile with large material in it.

I still dont know what to do.

Here is a photo of the pile I started yesterday, just as I got it going.

You can see, its a jumbled mess.