It's tree removal time!

[stevenf]

Re: It\'s tree removal time!

Eddie,
I got what seems to me a much larger problem in the Texas hill country with 347 acres of cedar (junipers). I did a little horse trading and had a crew rangeing from 12 to 20 men working 7 days a week for 2 years and they still only got about half of it cut. In the process I've learned a lot about starting fires with diesel and before anyone mentions it I've heard all the stories of tires and gas and untold other ways but this is easy and cheap and after the diesel burns out you just have wood burning and not a bunch of black smoke all over the place for days and the EPA looking for your head on a spit. I've got hundreds of piles as big as a house and systematicaly moving farther and farther from the house site I take my little cheapy garden sprayer filled with diesel, pump it up which atomizes the fuel and spray a portion on the down wind side so that it burns towards the wind which keeps the fire in better check so I don't have infernos blazing, after I've soaked it a bit say a couple of ounces I light it and then (here comes the safety police) spray the pumped up fuel at the lit portions it works like a torch with absolutely no burn back towards you as it would seem as diesel doesn't burn that well. You'll have your pine burning in no time I'd suggest starting on the thinner ends just to clarify you'd never get the stump ends to start burning this way.
Steve

 

[btolle]

Re: It\'s tree removal time!

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( do you really need to take them all down? seems like a lot of trees )</font>

Come to East Texas and you will understand /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
Trees are almost considered pests here. And vines and privet hedge are definitely considered to be nuisances.

Eddie: You might try a 'pear burner' Harbor Freight Propane Torch to light the fire.

I have used one of those and they work well and are less dangerous than pouring fuel and trying to light it. Hooks straighti into a 5 gal propane tank and sounds like a jet airplane when you turn it up.

The other thing that is great is a gas powered blower. It will really feed the air to the fire and get it going in a hurry.

One of these days I'm going up Eddie's way and find out what he is really doing up there!

Bill Tolle

 

[SCB]

Re: It\'s tree removal time!

Stevenf,
I burned my stumps with deisel and a garden sprayer also. but with the fan going I would spray into the stream of air creating a blast furnace effect. Sounds like you have done your share of burning. Like you, I am not a fan of sending big black clouds into the air for the EPA to see. I also think that it just isn't good for the environment.

 

[stevenf]

Re: It\'s tree removal time!

Listen to Btolle on the pear burner and get the big one if you try that route. I got one that screws onto the little disposable bottles and it just doesn't have the poop to get a good blaze going very quick.
Steve

 

[stevenf]

Re: It\'s tree removal time!

SCB I wish I had a fan it seems like I read a post a while back where you were describing it and you had rented a big fan of some sort. With as much as I still have to burn it would probably be a good investment except then I'd need electric within reach a big inverter or generator. Course that might be just the reason I'd need to convince my honey that I should get a big portable welder/generator. What a great idea I'll run it by her tonight while shes sleeping and see if I can get a uhuh or yes dear out of her /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Steve

 

[Tom4310]

Re: It\'s tree removal time!

I have had to burn some large green slash piles (15' tall) from logging and what works best for me is diesel fuel/used motor oil mix. I know I will probably get slammed for polluting the air, alleged global warming, etc. but hey, it works great. Mix about 1/2 motor oil/ 1/2 diesel fuel. Diesel burns hot and the oil will stick to the bark and leaves. It gets rid of the used motor oil as well as the slash.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Re: It\'s tree removal time!

Where I live we are allowed to use (if I remember correctly) 1-2 tires to start a brush pile on fire. However, if you have 40 tires in the pile the DEC here can tell the difference.

When we cleared a lot of our land we had 7 different brush piles burning all at once. We had a sheriff and a state trooper come down and visit us as someone called thinking our land was on fire. They sat down there with us talking deer for a little while before we said goodbye and they went back to work. Another time someone on the thruway called the fire department thinking our land was on fire. Fire company could not figure out how to get down there so we met them at the road and told them it to head home. Of course our piles burned and smoldered for weeks though /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[Varmintmist]

Re: It\'s tree removal time!

The only way to burn stumps and green trees is by getting a bed of coals. You can put fuel, tires and oil on green stuff till you get the coals or find some dead dryer stuff and use a lot less fuel or oil.

I use paper and used motor oil, a little dab will do ya. Start the fire small, get it going good and add the green stuff once its hot. Or push the coals into the green stuff. Motor oil doesnt even go on till the fire is going.

I have never used a tire, fan, torch, blower to start a fire. Though the gas powered leaf blower has a lot of merit, AFTER you get the fire going, wouldnt need the oil then.

Only pile I had to walk away from unburnt was last year. I tried to burn it during a sleet storm with 12 in snow on it. I burnt it the next day after tightining up the stack.

I'm not faulting your method's, just saying you dont need to torch a tire every time you want to burn something. Going through all these hysterics to get something to burn means you need to get back to basics. Tinder+heat, +kindling, +fuel = FIRE. Works every time.

 

[stevenf]

Re: It\'s tree removal time!

Varmintist, Its not the problem of knowing how to start a fire we heat exclusively with wood stoves so the tinder lessons are well learned. The problem is there are 10 to 12 good light hours in the day and so the more piles I can get burning the more I get burnt and since I have hundreds of house size piles it helps to speed up the lighting process. Actually a cedar(juniper) pile burns best or at least lights best when it is green because of all the oil but once its lit it quickly becomes an unmanageable inferno so down here we wait a year or two after its cut to burn it which dries it out and all of the green foliage releases so you have regular wood fires burning instead of fires burning hundreds of feet in the air. I allow the Boy Scouts to camp on our property several times a year and their favorite bonfires are the ones with a bit of greenery in them as for them size counts.
Steve

 

[RHughes]

Re: It\'s tree removal time!

It has always been a wonder to me that we have a hard time starting a burn pile with 5 gallons of diesel and a blow torch but one guy can flick a soggy cigarette butt out a car window and a whole plantation will burn to a cinder.

 

[ScottAR]

Re: It\'s tree removal time!

Might try one of these. Our local propane dealer used to rent these on a trailer with a 200 gal or so tank. Liability killed that but one could build their own for not much money.
Jet torch

 

[JASTN70D]

Re: It\'s tree removal time!

See Varmintmist /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[Varmintmist]

Re: It\'s tree removal time!

</font><font color="blueclass=small">( Something you could try that works well for me is to build a small hot fire next to the wet material first. Use what ever you would like to get it going and once it is burning hot push it in to the main pile. I have one of the torches from TSC and they do work but that and diesel will not get wet wood going in my experience. In fact I have used almost a full 10 gallon tank of propane and 5 gallons of diesel with no luck. But the small fire has worked every time. )</font>


Zactly my point.

I heat with wood also, check all of the outdoor woodburner threads. I would guess that I burn a bit longer per year than a texan /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif the weather being slightly chillier up here.

You need coals period. How you get there is the question. You superheat it with a tire, or burn wood and get a better base. If you START with a small fire you can burn big. There are no more hours in a day as you get closer to Canada as far as I know.

I never said you dont use a accelerant, you just dont need a 55 gal drum of fuel and a truckload of tires. You get a fire going then toss some oil on the green or not green to speed things up. Once its burning, its burning.

Whatever you want to do. I know a guy who couldnt burn a cigarette without torching a tire. He just wont be bothered building a fire. Heck, my father is almost that bad. He will oil and fuel a brushpile so much that if it had a motor he could drive cross country. Still cant burn anything harder than paper.

 

[JASTN70D]

Re: It\'s tree removal time!

Sorry I must have skiped your post altogether. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif Let me change mine and say Yea what Varmintmist says!!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[SCB]

Re: It\'s tree removal time!

Stevenf,
Yes I did post about the fan before. However, the on I used was a gas powered unit. It had a honda 5 horse that powered the fan. The fan itself was about 1 1/2 foot in diameter. I rented it from the local rental shop. But by all means, get the generator! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Re: It\'s tree removal time!

It was not a situation where it was just wood. The brush was trees, grape vines, grape post, rail road ties, rock, wire and a lot of soil. When we cleared the overgrown vineyards we took off about an inch or so of top soil at the same time to help level off the ridges from the grape rows. They all got pushed into a big pile. It took about a month to clear the 30 acres so when we were done we started the piles that we made first. Tossing one tire at the base of the pile allowed the fire to get real hot and we walked away. Once the wood started smoldering inside the pile, it burned itself thru. It took a couple weeks if I remember right for the fires to stop smoking. Once it was done we let the piles sit for a year then I moved the rest of the pile into bigger piles. The wire was completely gone as was all wood. All that was left of the piles was dirt. The only thing we did was when the main part of the brush had burnt down we took the dozer and pushed the rest of the brush into to pile to burn. These piles were about 60' long by 20' wide and 6-10' high at the highest point of dirt clumps. There were 7 piles that we burned as well as a lot more we just pushed into the brush. One of these days I will take some pics of the piles I have left and post them. Without even thinking I know there is well over 500 yards of topsoil just piled in a couple large piles.

 

[EddieWalker]

Re: It\'s tree removal time!

Thanks for all the good information and advice on starting my fire. I've done just about everything mentioned, but not to the degree necessary to make it work.

I have this huge fear of losing control of the fire if it spreads to the surrounding trees, so my pile isn't as big, or thick as it needs to be. I'll fix that first.

I started a smaller fire, that I had burning all day long withouth results. I even had a few tires in it to get things going, but nothing ever did. With a bigger pile, I should be able to do better.

I used just a one gallon jug of diesel to spike up the fire. Next time I'm bringing five gallons AND a garden sprayer. I like the sprayer idea!!!

I haven't tried to start the fire since my last failure at it.

I'm still looking for a logger to take some of the marketable timber I have on the ground. The problem I keep running into is finding a logger who doesn't have a bad reputation and who will work with me and my needs. Making money of timber is secondary to preserving my remaining trees.

Yesterday was the last day of nice weather for awhile, so I concentrated on grading a road, installing an culvert and cutting drainage for the rains.

Afterwards I started knocking down trees when I got an oil preasure warning light. There is oil all over the side of the engine! I need to take off the side panels to get a look at what caused this. I'm hoping it was a hose to an oil cooler, but I don't know for sure if I even have an oil cooler, just hoping I do. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

When the rains stop, I'll figure it out. No point doing it now since I can't get much done in the rain anyway.

Anybody familiar with the Case six cylinder engines? I know most of the Case engines in the 80's were Cummins, but this one is definiatley a 1989 Case 1550 Case dozer with a Case engine.

One bright spot to breaking down. I had about an hour of daylight left, so I grabbed my rifle and walked the clearings I opened up.

Over the weekend, with my girlfriend, her kids and the dogs, we saw six wild hogs. Yesterday I had a dozen cross a creek in front of me and stand broadside in the trail 30 feet away. I took a nice 100 pound sow.

 

[EddieWalker]

Re: It\'s tree removal time!

This is the sow I shot.

Please don't look if your offended by dead wild game.

 

[shoppintractors]

Re: It\'s tree removal time!

<font color="blue"> Thanks for all the good information and advice on starting my fire. I've done just about everything mentioned, but not to the degree necessary to make it work.
</font>

I've had luck starting smaller brush piles with charcoal. Light a couple bags of charcoal up. It heats up damp and/or green wood to the point the wood starts to burn. It's not instantaneous however you could multi-task and have a fresh pork bar-b-que while you're waiting for the brush pile to ignite.... /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Don

 

[JASTN70D]

Re: It\'s tree removal time!

Eddie. I have never had the chance to taste wild hog. How is it ?