Green Tree pile that didn't burn !

[dangerdoc]

I agree. I have heard Mullberry burns well and decided since I am cutting it up I am going to stack it on the north part of lot. Take a trailer of green up and stack it and bring back a trailer of dry.



Not sure why you think money is not an issue? I have not started on house yet as I dont have the funds compiled to do it. I am just a working stiff trying to get a house built with the help of several contractor friends. So money IS an issue. If it wasnt I sure would not be out there doing this myself.

And I did not admit to burning foam mainly because I never have. I came here asking advice on best way to get it burning and the foam was something I had read in other threads on this site. I have since decided its not a good idea and have no intention of breaking the law OR endgangering the enviroment. If you will notice all my recent post have said nothing more than getting dry wood into the pile.

So I am cutting and stacking the green that is good sized for fireplace and adding more dry stuff.

And zzvyb6 my office is in Urbandale. The new land is out in the country.

Looking back at the pictures, I'm pretty sure that you will never get a good burn with the way the contractor piled the brush.
But, if you are going to climb into the pile to cut firewood, you have a chance to restack for a good burn.

I've cut wood out of a slash pile, it is hard, bloody work, literally. Be very careful, you will be using a chain saw with multiple trip hazards and branches clawing at you from all directions. Do it now when it is still cool enough to wear protective clothing. Be careful.

If you cut the big stuff for fire wood and stack the the small stuff tight and vertical, it should burn hot and fast. Put the stumps on the top, you will need a loader for that task. The burn will reduce the size of the stumps and break up some of the dirt. You will have stumps left over after the burn that you will either need to stack somewhere for future burns or dispose of, but the total volume will be much less.

I have a pile of stumps left over from a burn a couple of weeks ago. I also have dirt and rock to dispose of before I put down grass seed. It's not perfect but there's always a little cleanup to do after burning slash.

 

[rrmccabe]

But, why would anyone want to continue to come here if they are going to get beat up in the process of trying to innocently learn?

Thanks Shane. I have thought the same things a couple times during this posting process but there are 10 helpful people for every one that is trying to hang me for ASKING QUESTIONS !

I will not burn anything toxic.
I will not burn anything toxic.
I will not burn anything toxic.
I will not burn anything toxic.
I will not burn anything toxic.
I will not burn anything toxic.
I will not burn anything toxic.
I will not burn anything toxic.
I will not burn anything toxic.
I will not burn anything toxic.

For anyone that has missed it, I wont burn anything toxic !

LOL

Thanks to the helpful.

 

[jimmyj]

Hey rrmccabe, I'm not clear, are you planning on burning anything toxic?



Sorry, could not resist Good luck with that hornery ole pile. Send us a photo of it when it is burning so we can celebrate with you!

 

[charlz]

Clearly money is not an issue. Hire someone with a REAL self feeding chipper and turn it into sawdust.

Dunno if it even needs to be self feeding. They are getting ready to build a new interchange on the freeway on the path that I take to work. They have to remove several houses in the area. One morning they had a tree removal crew out there with some huge chipper and they were using a mini excavator with a thumb to run the trees and brush through it. Looked very effective.

 

[tmiller]

you want to see a real fire look at this

YouTube - A REAL FIRE

 

[Erik_in_Hoyt]

I agree. I have heard Mullberry burns well and decided since I am cutting it up I am going to stack it on the north part of lot. Take a trailer of green up and stack it and bring back a trailer of dry.

mulberry burns very well - and hot.
It also likes to spark, so is not my choice for burning in open fireplaces - but works great in a wood stove.
it is one of the easiest splitting woods you will ever see.
in my opinion, it's also one of the tastiest to use for smoking.

good luck with both the burn and the new house.

 

[dangerdoc]

you want to see a real fire look at this

YouTube - A REAL FIRE

When I bought my property, there was an old barn filled with termite ridden stacks of lumber and at least 6 squares of shingles. I didn't want to clean it out and the barn was in poor shape anyway so I called the county to see if I could just burn it down, they were fine with it as long as I called ahead.

I picked a nice clear windless day, called the fire department and lit it off. When I called dispatch back to let them know I was finished, they told me they were getting calls from the next county over. You could feel the heat coming from it from 200 yards away.

That was a good day!

 

[woodlandfarms]

We did a burn at our place about twice the size of yours. A lot of dry stuff and some wet. Diesel in a sprayer, a propane tank with a roof / weed torch. Took a while, off it went.

Big thing is initiall stand back, it will burn way high. After it has burned down you gotta start pushing in with your tractor.

Our pile burned for 5 days total... After the major burn down (took most of the day) it slow burned for the remaining 4. Lots of slow glowing embers...

 

[Highbeam]

This is a great time for fires. I have tried gas, diesel, and have found the propane 500k btu to be ideal. I use good firewood and start a fire under the slash and then feed the fire. The worst thing in the slash is dirt and once the fire is hot enough it will burn dirt.

Here's one of my unsuccessful attempts at diesel to start fires.

 

[radioman]

This is a great time for fires. I have tried gas, diesel, and have found the propane 500k btu to be ideal. I use good firewood and start a fire under the slash and then feed the fire. The worst thing in the slash is dirt and once the fire is hot enough it will burn dirt.

Here's one of my unsuccessful attempts at diesel to start fires.

gas can looks pretty close to fire in back of truck. bye bye truck !

 

[rrmccabe]

Well this Saturday is attempt number 2 at burning my pile. I borrowed a skid loader and pulled all the 4 inch and larger mulberry out and cut it to firewood length and hauled it to a wood pile on north part of land.

And cut a bunch of dry stuff into 1-3 foot lengths and loaded center of pile with that and came clear out to edge. I also cut a bunch of the green stuff up and let it fall so I would have more end grain.

SO... the only thing I am dumping on the pile is a mix of 25 gallons of kerosene and 10 gallons of used oil.

Have a big weed burner/torch ready to go as well !

Tired of looking at this pile. Lets hope she goes

Its hard to tell from picture but that dry wood is about 15 foot wide and goes 15 feet into the pile.

 

[Scooby074]

35 gal of fuel!!! You might want to mix a couple of gal of gas in it. Kero isnt super flammable. With that much fuel,she better go

 

[Treemonkey1000]

Just say no to Gasoline. That is just asking for trouble I think. Kerosene may be slow burning which beats the heck out of a huge fireball with someone getting burned..
I do hope that your pile burns now.

 

[rrmccabe]

I think the Kerosene will burn fine. As I said I have a big weed burner hooked up to a propane bottom to get it going. That Kerosene will burn once you get enough heat to it

I will keep the gas in the tractor

 

[dangerdoc]

I think the Kerosene will burn fine. As I said I have a big weed burner hooked up to a propane bottom to get it going. That Kerosene will burn once you get enough heat to it

I will keep the gas in the tractor

That is way to much kerosene. If you pour that much on, all you are going to do is contaminate your soil.

All you need to do is get a good hot spot going then you can keep moving the brush into that spot until there is enough heat to move the fire deeper into the pile. It will get too hot to mess with for awhile, when it cools enough to get close, use a long handled tool to keep moving the peripheral stuff into the coals.

If you have a tractor with a loader, you can use that to pushe the edges of the brush pile towards the center.

Eventually, you will need to get in and manually stack the most green stuff and rake the coals around it to get it to burn completely.

Try the flakes of hay soaked with kerosene. It burns hot and long enough to get the wood burning.

 

[/pine]

That is way to much kerosene. If you pour that much on, all you are going to do is contaminate your soil.

All you need to do is get a good hot spot going then you can keep moving the brush into that spot until there is enough heat to move the fire deeper into the pile. It will get too hot to mess with for awhile, when it cools enough to get close, use a long handled tool to keep moving the peripheral stuff into the coals.

If you have a tractor with a loader, you can use that to pushe the edges of the brush pile towards the center.

Eventually, you will need to get in and manually stack the most green stuff and rake the coals around it to get it to burn completely.

Try the flakes of hay soaked with kerosene. It burns hot and long enough to get the wood burning.

very good advice

 

[studor]

Looks like it will burn this time
I would try it with the weed torch first, maybe use the motor oil just to get rid of it and save the kero for other uses. Let us know what happens!
regards

 

[Jimbrown]

One of my neighbors tried to burn some brush back in March. It wound up like this.

About Us

 

[dangerdoc]

Just say no to Gasoline. That is just asking for trouble I think. Kerosene may be slow burning which beats the heck out of a huge fireball with someone getting burned..
I do hope that your pile burns now.

When I was a kid, my dad was lighting a brush pile using gasoline. He was standing about 15 feet away and lit a match to throw onto the pile. Whoosh, the flame puffed up around his legs, shot over to the brush pile and about 50 feet on down the hill.

He stood there for about a second with the match in his hand then looked down the hill. He just said, "boy go put out that fire" pointing to the burning grass down at the property line, a long way from that brush pile.

Nobody got hurt, the grass got put out and I never saw gasoline anywhere near a brush pile again.

 

[RobbieBones]

I have burned piles about half that size by mixing all my old engine oil with gasoline. Usually about a 50/50 mix. Becareful when you light it and mindful of the wind direction. Gas fumes are dangerous so you need to light it quick before they spread! WHOOOOOPH! I Usually cover my piles with a tarp to keep it dry for a few days then wait till after a rainy day take the cover off and then spread the mix. If you run out of matches and have to run to the house and come back you will be standing in the fireball when you try to light it again WATCH THE WIND!