How long to wait to burn fresh timber?

DmansPadge · Jul 6, 2005

Well.. looks like they are going to hold off on the burn ban. It is still on the table but probably will be at least two more weeks at the earliest. We also have the possibility of Hurricane Danny coming our way! /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif I wouldn't mind some rain.... but I can do without a hurricane! I think I might try one of the piles this weekend as long as the weather stays dry.

As yeah.. they are "dozer piles." The backhoe cleaned up the stumps pretty good and there is very little dirt shoved up in the pile. I do have my little Kubota to shove on the pile if I can get a good hot fire going. I'm just ready to get it cleaned up.... I'm pretty impatiant! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif But if I have to wait a few months I can deal with that as well.

turnkey4099 · Jul 7, 2005

( Burn it green. It will do just fine. A little trick I use is to cut the top out of a soda can,oor it 1/2 full of gas, stick a paper towel in it like a wick and light it. Start with a large pile of the samll stuff and start adding the larger stuff as the fire gets bigger. The little gas can in the bottom will burn for a long time and keep things going....

If needed be sure to get a permit.
)

Gas is a poor choice as well as dangerous. Diesel will work much better and burn longer without the flash problem.

Harry K

Highbeam · Jul 7, 2005

Your loader can stack the debris much higher than a dozer. A trick I learned is to start a good camp fire with firewood beside or even underneath the slash pile. Get this firewood fire going real good with a good bed of coals. I use the log cabin method with 5 or six layers of firewood layed 90 degrees each layer. Once the hot bed it established, push the pile over on top of it. You can add diesel while the fire is burning but I would avoid the gas can as a general rule.

Here is a pic of my last attempt. It was still too wet and the slash was too large. This was a mostly diesel fire. The pile is still there waiting to dry for another attempt. Maybe this weekend.

DmansPadge · Jul 7, 2005

I wish mine where that small! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I've got three piles about 4-5 times that size. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif Ugghh...

Highbeam · Jul 7, 2005

That red can is a diesel can. FYI

This pile is a baby that I pushed/peeled off of a big pile to start. I am still a little leary of starting a monster pile by myself without a permit. I planned to feed the fire with more debris as needed or to start a separate fire if this one went well.

turnkey4099 · Jul 8, 2005

Your problem is the pile is spread out to far and not high enough. That stuff piled in a small high pile would burn just fine once started. What is the vehicle? parked next to the pile, can't make it out, looks interesting.

My smallest pile for this year is bigger than that, the biggest one would bury my entire truck and car parked end to end and is about 12ft high now. Still growing (sideways, not taller). Gonna be fun next winter.

Harry K

turnkey4099 · Jul 8, 2005

( That red can is a diesel can. FYI

This pile is a baby that I pushed/peeled off of a big pile to start. I am still a little leary of starting a monster pile by myself without a permit. I planned to feed the fire with more debris as needed or to start a separate fire if this one went well. )

Aha, that explains the spread out pile. Looks like it would have worked if you had bunched it and added more with the fire going as well as it shows.

Harry K

tillerkiller · Jul 8, 2005

( the guy that ran the dozer said about 9 days is just right to burn. )

I heard that if you burn a pile of evergreens within one week they will burn completely up. Dunno, never tried it.

Highbeam · Jul 8, 2005

The pickup in the foreground is the only vehicle. There is a lawn mower in the bed and a generator with a yellow extension cord stowed on it. I think it is photo trickery since there was nothing close to the fire but a fan waiting for duty.

That pile is about 6 feet tall but 12 feet or so wide. The dozer can push stuff but not lift and stack. I agree that the proper height to width ratio should be better for the fire to work well. This pile would have burned well if it was dry but not wet. I would like to see 3 or so of those piles stacked for a good burn.

That fire smoldered for about a week and a half but still looks about the same.

BB_TX · Jul 8, 2005

I heard that if you burn a pile of evergreens within one week they will burn completely up 
Don't know about when they are green. But when they are dry, it is like lighting a torch. I always let my piles dry completely before I burn. If I have any cedars I try to stuff them under one side of the pile with some smaller brush on top. I then light the dried cedar and stand back. It burns hot and fast and I usually don't need any diesel to get the pile started.
Never had very good luck burning green stuff, even with a lot of dry stuff to get it going. Seems there is always a lot of partially burned stuff left over. With the well dried stuff, there is barely a pile of ashes left.