How to Burn Big Logs

[tracecom]

I am clearing out some trees and have created quite a lot of debris. Yesterday, I burned the smaller stuff and most of the larger logs, but I still have 5 or 6 really big logs (30" to 48" diameter) left. (A couple are beech and the rest are oak; all were dead or dying before they were cut.) What is the best way to prep the big ones so they will burn?

 

[roermo]

Maybe call someone that wants them for firewood. I go around and cut up trunks and haul them off for the wood, while not wanting to tops, which it sounds like you have disposed of already, sounds like easy picking.

Roger

 

[Skaning]

Sounds like good advice. When Isabel rolled through here there was a lot of firewood just left by the side of the road. It got picked up pretty quick even though there was a massive amount of wood available. Other answer is to split it, if you have a splitter available and burn it that way. I've taken stuff like that, taken it down to stovewood and chipped it.

skaning

 

[EddieWalker]

If you can't give it away, then cutting it down to smaller pieces makes a huge difference. I've had logs 40 feet long that wouldn't burn, but when I cut them down to ten foot lengths, they burn real good.

There's also a certain amount of time it takes for a log to dry enough to really burn well. It might be a few months, or it might be a year. They all seam to be different for me, but when that day arrives, it will burn down to nothing after months of trying.

I just had a pine do this to me. It's been down for a year and a half and just wouldn't burn. It was huge and just about too big to move with my dozer. I burned all sorts of 12 inch logs and trees under it without it ever catching on fire. Then the day the county passes a burn ban, it catches fire. It burned for a day and a half until it was all gone. It just wouldn't stop burning and I was a nervous wreck that I was gonna get fined for having a fire during the ban.

Thankfully, nobody caught me, or said anything.

Eddie

 

[turnkey4099]

If you can't give it away, then cutting it down to smaller pieces makes a huge difference. I've had logs 40 feet long that wouldn't burn, but when I cut them down to ten foot lengths, they burn real good.

There's also a certain amount of time it takes for a log to dry enough to really burn well. It might be a few months, or it might be a year. They all seam to be different for me, but when that day arrives, it will burn down to nothing after months of trying.

I just had a pine do this to me. It's been down for a year and a half and just wouldn't burn. It was huge and just about too big to move with my dozer. I burned all sorts of 12 inch logs and trees under it without it ever catching on fire. Then the day the county passes a burn ban, it catches fire. It burned for a day and a half until it was all gone. It just wouldn't stop burning and I was a nervous wreck that I was gonna get fined for having a fire during the ban.

Thankfully, nobody caught me, or said anything.

Eddie

I have several 'working'. Pile my brush on top of them and will burn in the winter. Usually it will eliminate that portion that is uinder the brush pile. Next brush pile just moves down the log. I have one brush pile this year that will finally finish up one that I have been working on for 4 years.

Harry K

 

[firemanpat2910]

Big logs? BIG FIRE!!!! Cut a fire line around the pile,twice as big as you think it should be. Get all the dirt off that you can. Pile the logs so that there is air flow between them. use a blower, A leaf blower with an added on metal tube will work but the stronger the blower the better. cover with smaller logs and brush, douse it with diesel,NEVER USE GAS. Have water or tractor ready to chase flying embers, Light early in the morning,plan on staying there all day and watching it. Turn the blower off an hour or so before you want the fire to die down. leave the ashes in place,the coals will be hot for days, KEEP CHILDREN and pets away.(One of my fellow firemans grandson fell in a ash pile 3 days after a burn and lost several fingers and toes.)

 

[Deadman]

Drain oil works WONDERS!
Slow HOT burn.

 

[dmccarty]

Pigging backing on what Eddie said. Cut it up in smaller logs. I had a tree that had been downed by Fran back in the 90s. When I cleared the land for the driveway to the house I cut this tree into logs. This would have been in 2002ish and Fran was 1995/1997ish. I put the logs from the trees on some big rocks so they where off the ground....

In 2004/2005 I cut the tree into rounds so I could split it into firewood. That log was still wet.

The reading I did on a G'ment website regarding firewood said the smaller the length the quicker it dries. The width of the log is not the key in drying but the length. I have had some firewood rounds cut up since Jan/Feb. that I have been moving to split. Them things have 1/4 inch checks in them. I'll be somewhat surprised if they are wet inside. The website said 3-6 months should be long enough to dry them for burning.

NC states you should use diesel to start your fires. Not sure why since the stuff is expensive and just runs to the ground. Now one would think that used motor oil would stick real well to wood and not get on the ground. One would think this would be better to use.

DO NOT USE GAS. A cup of evaporated gas is the equivilent of a 1/4 stick of dynamite. Given than I once ,out of desperation, USED gas to TRY to start a fire, VERY carefully knowing full well how dangerous this was, I can attest to the fact that evaporated gas can make a VERY big boom, with a large flash ball. DO NOT USE GAS.

Later,
dan

 

[fireguy1451]

First and Foremost and i am shocked that firemanpat dropped the ball on is check with local fire officials to see if its legal to burn logs of that diameter. Here in NH its against the law. Using "waste oil" is a viloation of epa laws as well. but then again thats why firefighters have jobs. no one has ever called to tell us something they did right.

 

[firemanpat2910]

I have never heard of regulations of how big a log can be to burn. Would someone realy come measuure your logs? Then again Im from a small southern town. Heck we dont even have vehicle inspections, much less diameter/length/weight/forked or not/species/green or dry tree inspections Yall got too many rules for me. We do have burn bans when it gets dry, and you are supposed to call and get a permit # for burning land but thats the only rules I know of. The problem down here is getting the tree huggers to let you cut them down in the first place.

 

[EddieWalker]

It seems the further you get away from the coasts, both east and west, the fewer regulations you have. I enjoy reading what the members here have to go through in the New England state with fasination and horror. California was just as bad, almost as bad and worse in some conditions.

Here in Texas, if you live outside city limits, there are almost no rules. In fact, the burn ban is the only one I'm aware of. People recomend usuing diesel, oil and even tires to get fires started. There's no such thing as a limit on the size of the tree, nor how many or what trees you can take down and burn.

For us, trees are like weeds. They take over and it's very, very hard to have a pasture here. Sweet gum, black oak and long leaf pine sill sprout and grow several feet in a year if you don't keep mowing them down.

We have a burn ban in effect right now, and most everyone respects it. When the rains start again and we get back to normal, than we're all free to burn every tree on our land that we want to. Or not. hahaha

It's sure is interesting to read everyone elses situations.

Eddie

 

[InlineDieselFan]

Turning into the legal can/cannot burn thing, here.

As mentioned make sure local rules aloow you to burn logs that big if you cannot give the wood away. Make sure the area around the sooon to be fire is cleared and you are ready to put out any spot fires should they happen.

The smaller the wood is the better/faster it will burn, if you can use the bucket to stack the pile up high, it will also help.

As firemanpat2910 said use a blower, I do not have a leaf blower or gasoline blower, what I use is an electric 20-24 inch fans that I power off of the shop eletric or run the generator, depending on where the burn pile is.

steve

 

[have_blue]

I am clearing out some trees and have created quite a lot of debris. Yesterday, I burned the smaller stuff and most of the larger logs, but I still have 5 or 6 really big logs (30" to 48" diameter) left. (A couple are beech and the rest are oak; all were dead or dying before they were cut.) What is the best way to prep the big ones so they will burn?

Burning logs is easy. I have never had problems. You must stack them parallel, and closely together... touching if you can. A green log will not burn alone. Make sure there is little or no dirt pushed up into the burn pile, as that smothers the fire. Avoid diesel or oil, as it cools the logs as it burns and evaporates. The flames are hot for sure, but the logs themselves never get real hot. Diesel or oil is good to start brush, but not logs. Start with paper, add kindling, then larger sticks. Start it with 1 match. If the logs are stacked closely and properly kindled, they will burn no matter how green they are. As they burn and separate, keep pushing them close together.

I lost 6 big oaks in hurricane Lili, and burned them in 2 days. My neighbor threw diesel on his trees several nights a week for nearly a year before he gave up loaded them on a trash trailer.

 

[PineRidge]

When we were clearing our property prior to building we had some HUGE fires. We would get a good one going from using the smaller stuff and once we got a good base of hot embers we would pile on the big stuff. Some of our fires lasted days.

Freaked me out once as we had one of those babies going and the local police stopped by to ask us if we saw some kids on 4-wheelers that they were chasing. They never said a word about the fire.....

 

[Bill Barrett]

I've always been amazed how fast a huge log will burn, couple days and its gone. In the good old days used tires was the ticket to start logs, now I think they will get you a EPA ticket LOL

 

[tracecom]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I tried burning the logs yesterday with some success, but was hampered by a recalcitrant chain saw. My large saw developed a gas leak and so all I had to use was my small (Stihl 009L) saw, which just wouldn't handle the biggest logs. So I stacked some of the medium sized beech logs and built upon that. We started that pile with the help of a little kerosene and the shape of it drew well and the pile was blazing big in about 30 minutes. After it burned down some, I added the logs that I could lift and put those on top, and they quickly caught up. Unfortunately the two largest logs were too big for the chainsaw and too heavy to lift. I used the FEL to push them up against the side of the burning pile and they caught up and partially burned. It looks like one more burning will get rid of the residue.

P.S. I am buying a new saw to replace my 37 year old McCulloch Pro 700.

P.P.S Yes, that is soot on my nose.

 

[turnkey4099]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I tried burning the logs yesterday with some success, but was hampered by a recalcitrant chain saw. My large saw developed a gas leak and so all I had to use was my small (Stihl 009L) saw, which just wouldn't handle the biggest logs. So I stacked some of the medium sized beech logs and built upon that. We started that pile with the help of a little kerosene and the shape of it drew well and the pile was blazing big in about 30 minutes. After it burned down some, I added the logs that I could lift and put those on top, and they quickly caught up. Unfortunately the two largest logs were too big for the chainsaw and too heavy to lift. I used the FEL to push them up against the side of the burning pile and they caught up and partially burned. It looks like one more burning will get rid of the residue.

P.S. I am buying a new saw to replace my 37 year old McCulloch Pro 700.

P.P.S Yes, that is soot on my nose.

I have 3 huge (as high as I can toss) piles building now and at least one more to go plus several small ones. I am still working on clear cutting a grove of big willows that had a fire go through 5 or 6 years ago, just about got all the dead stuff out. Build fire piles all summer, burn in winter when snow is on ground for safety then on first trip in spring move all the unburned stuff over to start my first new pile.

Re saws: from your pictures it looks like you need about a 20" bar saw. Maybe a bit smaller. If you haven't run the newer saws be prepared for a shock at how much faster they are thkan your old Mac. I stick with Stihl, Husky, and the like in the non-pro lines. Won't buy any saw out of the big box stores, must be a chainsaw dealer as I know I will be needing service if for nothing else than new chains and sharpenings.

Sitting here wasting time...well not wasting as it is nice browsing the net, at 8am. Need to make breakfast and then out to split and stack the load I have on the PU. If I wait long enough the day will be nice and hot when I get out there. Somehow the logic of that escapes me but that seems to be my modus operendi.

Harry K

 

[SkyPup]

I always pile some brush up over the logs after first placing a couple of used truck tires on top of the logs, works like a charm everytime.

 

[fireguy1451]

LOL skypup be a bad time to run outta diesel fuel

 

[MikeS_in_GA]

I am buying a new saw to replace my 37 year old McCulloch Pro 700.


I don't think you need a new chainsaw, you need a bigger tractor with a grapple bucket