What is the fastest way to burn a pile of logs?

[plowhog]

I have years of old dead pine trees on the ground-- hundreds of them. Aftermath of a bark beetle invasion.

I want to get rid of many of them. I'm thinking of stacking and burning, but due to size I have to cut them first. (Typical log is probably 16 in diameter and 60ft long. Regulations in CA are maximum 4ft by 4ft burn pile but that is commonly exceeded.

I know that even simple brush piles can take hours to burn. So burning dense "logs" will take longer but I want to speed that up.

I am looking for the fastest, most efficient method to burn them up, but not to the level of having a 50 ft fireball into the sky. I have to keep the burn pile somewhat reasonable. I am considering bucking some logs into sections, and throwing them on the fire whole. And with others, bucking into sections, splitting them like firewood, then into the fire. Seems the split logs would burn up faster?

Once the fire gets established, I won't be able to drag long heavy logs into it. So some cutting / bucking cannot be avoided.

Any ideas?

 

[Minsid]

Some kind of blower to get good airflow and alot of time. If you're really limited to 4'x4' or anywhere near that its going to take forever. Just 1 tree cut into sections and packed tightly will exceed that.

Can you rent a really big chipper instead?

 

[JJT]

Sounds like a lot of work.

Any chance you have a ravine or low spot on the property? If so, push the logs in and let them rot. In my locale, pine logs on the ground rot away in a few years, leaving just pine knots.

 

[yanmars]

When they clear woods here in Ohio they at times dig a trench, push then in the same and burn them. Some just push into a large pile, let them dry enough and burn them in place when they have a steady breeze to give plenty of oxygen. Here they often use diesel and old tires to help but on ag use they permit more or at least if seems, no neighbors complain. CA may have different regs, here they often say agricultural use so OK

 

[ruffdog]

I have burned log piles by stacking them so the pile gets air at the bottom. Two logs one way, then 4 the other way, then 4 the other way, and so on. Air can get in at the bottom and burn hot in the middle. Once the pile collapses, then lay more logs on the side in a teepee shape.

 

[5030]

Plenty of accelerant and criss cross staking. I use old motor oil myself. In as much as you are in the land of Newsom, I think I'd take them to a landfill and pay to dispose of them...

 

[not2old]

Lots of free firewood around here but many people will still buy truck loads of logs and have it delivered. Might take awhile but could be less effort if there is any demand in your area.

 

[oosik]

You say - "hundreds of downed trees". That is a REALLY, REALLY BEEG JOB THERE SEIGNIOR.

The only FAST ways to handle - push into a ravine, let them rot( JJT #3 ) or chip them( Minsid #2).

Burning will take a long time and will require somebodies presence at all times.

 

[BigGG]

Your clime must differ from mine. In north Mississippi when a log lays on the ground a few years, the microorganisms, termites, etc. turn it to mush (technical term).

Your logs should be well dried by now. When I lived outside Houston, the common practice was to dig a pit 4' or so deep, install a diesel blower along one side, start the fire and keep pushing stuff in. When finished, fill the pit back in. The blower makes it burn faster and minimizes the smoke.

 

[4570Man]

The more surface area exposed to the fire the faster it will burn. Bucking and splitting would make it burn much faster but it’s also the most labor intensive. Cutting it in 3 ft pieces would be a lot less work and still much faster than trying to burn a 60ft log. Have you considered posting the logs for free? Someone would probably haul them off especially if you’ll use the tractor to load them.

 

[plowhog]

Lots of free firewood around here but many people will still buy truck loads of logs and have it delivered. Might take awhile but could be less effort if there is any demand in your area.

The beetle problem happened years ago. There is no market as everyone else has similar circumstances. Plus, due to age, and being pine, I don't think there is any worthwhile firewood.

I want to clear areas enough to be drivable by an ATV. My track loader can create something of a road through the mess, then use a tractor/grapple and start going to work. Seems burning and filling up ravines might be a good combination. Let the fire work while I drag logs to a ravine.

This will be a multi-year project. In one area, 8 acres of previously dense forest is 25% coverage-- if even that. Some wood was harvested but most was not.

 

[Rockbadchild]

Quicker a fire burn the more labor it will be and the more flame you will have ... less labor require the longer it would burn but smaller the flames. personally I would stack logs up as tight, high and wide as possible and light it up on top ... it would burn for a long time but it would burn on its way down which is very safe and not labor intensive... but that's not what you are asking... to make it burn the quickest you need air and surface area so split as much and get a 4 to 6'' steel pipe with a leaf blower once the fire get going you stick that in and you give it as much air as you can but that will induce the flames which is not what you want... and you want both but I am afraid you can't have both.

 

[34Willys]

As you can see in my avatar, I have experience with large pine trees nobody wants. That's just a tip of the log deck, and there's more up the hill. These were trees that were killed in a forest fire, but died after the salvage logging was completed, which we got paid $0.00 but were lucky to have many trees felled and removed.
I found the fastest way to burn them was to buck them into 3 foot lengths, then stack them on end in a circle, three tier wedding cake style.
The fire was contained and generally fell into itself. Had to push the fire together on occasion, or would add more on top of the pile as it burnt. I was surprised and happy about how fast it went.
Patrick

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

I have years of old dead pine trees on the ground-- hundreds of them. Aftermath of a bark beetle invasion.

I want to get rid of many of them. I'm thinking of stacking and burning, but due to size I have to cut them first. (Typical log is probably 16 in diameter and 60ft long. Regulations in CA are maximum 4ft by 4ft burn pile but that is commonly exceeded.

I know that even simple brush piles can take hours to burn. So burning dense "logs" will take longer but I want to speed that up.

I am looking for the fastest, most efficient method to burn them up, but not to the level of having a 50 ft fireball into the sky. I have to keep the burn pile somewhat reasonable. I am considering bucking some logs into sections, and throwing them on the fire whole. And with others, bucking into sections, splitting them like firewood, then into the fire. Seems the split logs would burn up faster?

Once the fire gets established, I won't be able to drag long heavy logs into it. So some cutting / bucking cannot be avoided.

Any ideas?

An old tire in middle filled with old motor oil will really get & keep it going. Invite Gavin over for hot dogs and S'mores.

 

[ruffdog]

When I knew I couldn't keep up with burning all the trees, chipping was what I chose in the end. It cost some cash but was worth it.

 

[riptides]

When I knew I couldn't keep up with burning all the trees, chipping was what I chose in the end. It cost some cash but was worth it.

View attachment 861290

Nice. I would use that for trail prep and base back into the woods.

 

[California]

I'm 100+ miles SW of you. Apple orchards here are being replaced by vineyards.

Chipping the dug-out trees in a huge bowl shredder, fed by an excavator with thumb, is what we see mostly. Also pushing downed trees into a ravine and covering with earth is common but I doubt that's legal, F&G has strict water quality rules that this would violate. Maybe if your ravine is dry that would be an option.

We burn orchard pruning debris, in piles the size of a couple of parked cars. Anything bigger would scorch adjacent trees. The material is just piled with no thought to ventilation but there is plenty due to the random shapes. A burn permit costs $300 so we don't burn every year. Also, only pruning debris can be burned, toward the goal of reducing whatever infection killed the limbs or entire trees. I've heard of an air pollution fine for someone who added wet grass clippings and made so much smog that the neighbors turned him in.

Pro trick: wadded newspaper saturated with diesel, in a cardboard box, makes a great accelerant for getting damp wood to burn. By the time the box burns through you have a cubic foot of flame and that will ignite anything. I think burning used motor oil isn't allowed under air pollution rules but I've heard of it being used ....

As for burning tires, we used to do that but it was outlawed about 1967. I remember that because when I was a starving college student I made a little money gathering up neighboring farmers' stockpiles of now-unusable junk tires and selling them to a recapper. California has far less smog now compared to the old days when this, and backyard burn barrels, were everywhere.

 

[plastikosmd]

I’d use fire

 

[Have tractor did travel]

2023 - About 50 hardwood trees that had died I had them felled by a neighborhood work crew. Then called in a horizontal mulcher with attendant skid steer with grapple. Skid steer brought the trees to the mulcher and the slave excavator grapple fed the trees to the mulcher. Cost was $7,000 a day for the team. Two days.
I was left with huge heaps of mulch.
Craigslist has elicited no responses. I've been able to get rid of 36 cubic yards (and counting) to near by hobby farmers for bedding. But I'm the one with the dump trailer, so I deliver Read someplace it'll take 5 years for mulch to turn into dirt. Meanwhile, I'm clearing out an old pit silo so I have someplace to move the piles to in order to get the mulch out of sight.
I burn a l-o-t of tree debris - branches, fallen trunks, stumps, etc. I would not have taken on burning this many trees.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

I'm wondering if burning isn't better since they're infested with pine bark beetles?
I have burned starting with a pile then add to it as it dies down.