When I first moved here there was a big pile of old logs I wanted to get rid of. Those logs were so waterlogged that they wouldn't ignite no matter what I did. Finally just cut them up & pushed them into the woods with the tractor.
I don't typically burn brush, etc., just pile it in windrows around the edge of the fields and let it rot down while providing shelter for wildlife. Rots down pretty fast.
As far as firepit, newspaper/kindling/matches does the trick.