Burning Brush Piles: How would you handle this?

[cassandrasdaddy]

one of these

http://www.conceptproducts.com/AirCurtainHD.htm


very scary how much stuff they eat up and how fast

we have made some of these red neck engineering style when its all over we fill in the hole

 

[mhyme71]

1.) You should let somebody come in there and get the useable firewood out of there. Craigslist ad or put a ad at a local feed store, hardware store, etc.

2.) Not sure how you texans do things down there, but here in ohio that sure looks like a one hell of a party fire. Here's what you need to do.
A.) Call some friends
B.) Make some more managable burn piles.(this might include manual labor)

a.) You can easily offset the manual labor with beverages(beer)
and food.

C.) Take any used motor oil and pour it on the piles.
D.) Let the oil sit about 5 minutes
E.) Use some 2 cycle gas to light the fire
F.) Light the next pile after the previous fire is managable or keep stocking
the fire you have burning. You may need a tractor or truck to help
G.) When the truck is not in use, utilize its radio and tailgate appropriately
H.) It might take more than one weekend,so prepare to spend some
time with mother nature, good friends, and good times.
I.) Take some pictures and spread the joy with your old buddies here at
the world wide web :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[dingeryote]

Craigslist ad will get rid of everything but the brush and those stumps.

Stumps don't burn, they smoulder for weeks.
If you can get a backhoe with a thumb, shake the dirt out of 'em while piling them in a cleared area. Resist the temptation to stack the stumps on old tires..it work great, but will get ya a hefty fine if someone reports the smoke seen in DAYTIME. From there, get to piling bush and whoof the pile.
Expect half the stumps to not burn much at all.
Hell, I'm still burning stumps from 5 years ago.

As stated before, it's a perfect opportunity to have a Bonfire party.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[Marine5068]

Cut out what is good for firewood and then get the excavating contractor that digs your foundation for your dwelling to push those root stumps over into those woods and hide them that way.

 

[greengoblin]

As for the stumps, we dont have stumps around here. We do however have long drill bits, lots of gun power and lots of splinters....:biggrinbounce2:

 

[Wolfcsm]

Don't burn that pile! Those logs will take hours to burn.

Let folks come and cut all of the wood they can. You will end up with a lot less to burn.

Then, when you decide to burn, Clear 10 to 20 feet of area around the piles to bare dirt. Check with your county about their requirements for burning - might need a permit or just notify them. Let it rain a lot before you actually burn. Then, light it off and have fun watching it.

Hal

 

[savageactor7]

I've burned tons of brush piles and yeah, green ones aren't easy to get started.

Here's how I do it.

On the up wind side I use our waste oil and I have a sprayer tank of diesel fuel.

Fuel like that wont flare up on you. The plan is to create a hot spot in the windward side that will create the critical mass to get the bigger pile on fire.

The tank sprayer with the diesel acts like a super charger. Remember the goal is to create a hot 'spot' not the whole side of the pile.

 

[flushcut]

How about selling it to a mulch maker with a tub grinder. If you say there is a lot of big wood those piles are going to take days to burn up. If you have the time go for it. Or make a week long party of it. I would really look for some needy families to cut it up for fire wood. We have fallen on hard times and some people just need help and they are helping you as well, it's a community thing.

 

[slowp]

Craigslist ad will get rid of everything but the brush and those stumps.

Stumps don't burn, they smoulder for weeks.
If you can get a backhoe with a thumb, shake the dirt out of 'em while piling them in a cleared area. Resist the temptation to stack the stumps on old tires..it work great, but will get ya a hefty fine if someone reports the smoke seen in DAYTIME. From there, get to piling bush and whoof the pile.
Expect half the stumps to not burn much at all.
Hell, I'm still burning stumps from 5 years ago.

As stated before, it's a perfect opportunity to have a Bonfire party.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

You just have to work the stumps/rootwads. A big excavator is a good tool to have and with chunking, they'll burn up.

 

[dingeryote]

You just have to work the stumps/rootwads. A big excavator is a good tool to have and with chunking, they'll burn up.

Yep.
Some of us have other things to do, so there's weeks between chunking. LOL!
Tractor with a blade works well, when it's not earning it's keep elsewhere.
Getting there though, couple more years and they'll be gone.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[WatsonDude]

UPDATE - from OP

Wow. The power of the AS community is awesome!

Thanks for all the great ideas and insights (and some funny stuff too!).

I'll take some more pictures this weekend of what we're dealing with, so check back in a few days.

Regarding harvesting the firewood. Great point. Unfortunately, we won't be able to break ground on the house for another year. So we can't use the wood ourselves till winter 2012.

Regarding Craigslist. We're only out there every other weekend, so I'd have to coordinate with someone to meet me there. Good idea...just will take some planning.

Regarding helping other families. I really like this idea. There's at least 8 or 10 homesteads around us. I need a good excuse to meet the neighbors, so this weekend I'll invite folks them to help themselves.

THE BEST IDEA? We're going to pick a nice weekend and have a big Bonfire Party. Food, beer, four-wheelers for the kids. Hey, I could invite the neighbors! Cool.

You guys rock. You know that?

 

[WatsonDude]

UPDATE - more Pics

Pics of more of the brush piles created by the dozer. You'll see these are more or less whole trees that were knocked down as they cleared in order to build the fence. It looks like they were just pushed into the trees on our property. Again, we probably have 8 or 10 of these.

Question: What if we used the tractor and some heavy cable to drag each tree to someplace we can "process" them? Would a 30 hp. tractor pull a '60 tall tree with a big, ugly root ball? Is it safe?

What if the cable "lets go?" Can it snap back and hit you?

Again, we're new to all this and trying to figure out how to deal with the carnage left behind by the previous owner.

Thanks for the guidance...

View attachment 162385

View attachment 162386

 

[Cambium]

Burn that pile out in the open? Might as well throw cash in there too. Gees.

I saw that pic and thought split and sell for $500 or burn in stove and save $500 on heat.

Havent read through all the posts, maybe he cut them into logs or posted the free craigslist ad....Lets hope.

 

[Cambium]

Wow. The power of the AS community is awesome!

Thanks for all the great ideas and insights (and some funny stuff too!).

THE BEST IDEA? We're going to pick a nice weekend and have a big Bonfire Party. Food, beer, four-wheelers for the kids. Hey, I could invite the neighbors! Cool.

I can just picture a neighbor coming over seeing the Bon Fire and SCREAMING "NOOOOOOOOOOO, THATS GREAT FIREWOOD WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!!!!"

Maybe he'll bring a chainsaw and salvage whats left. lol
And at 26 acres I dont call them neighbors, I call them "guy down the road" Nice purchase there.

 

[Guido Salvage]

Question: What if we used the tractor and some heavy cable to drag each tree to someplace we can "process" them? Would a 30 hp. tractor pull a '60 tall tree with a big, ugly root ball? Is it safe?

What if the cable "lets go?" Can it snap back and hit you?

Trying to pull the tree with the root ball on it is going to be tough. However, if you cut them off at the stump you should not have a problem. Personally, I would use a good chain and not a cable. The longer the chain/cable is, the more of it there is to whip back on you.

Your best bet is just to turn the weekend wood cutters/neighbors loose where they sit which only leaves you to deal with the stumps and small laps later.

If your house will not be built until 2012, use the wood yourself and it will be plenty seasoned when you need it. As long as you stack it off the ground and out of the weather it will last for years.

 

[dingeryote]

Pics of more of the brush piles created by the dozer. You'll see these are more or less whole trees that were knocked down as they cleared in order to build the fence. It looks like they were just pushed into the trees on our property. Again, we probably have 8 or 10 of these.

Question: What if we used the tractor and some heavy cable to drag each tree to someplace we can "process" them? Would a 30 hp. tractor pull a '60 tall tree with a big, ugly root ball? Is it safe?

What if the cable "lets go?" Can it snap back and hit you?

Again, we're new to all this and trying to figure out how to deal with the carnage left behind by the previous owner.

Thanks for the guidance...

View attachment 162385

View attachment 162386

Use the tractor to pull from the pile, snip 'em to manageable length to skid.
30hp and a low gear will move them, but ya wont be skidding them.

You might end up having to buck a few in the pile, and that is damn dangerous, so work around that best you can. Shifting logs in a pile squish people to a bloody/snotty pulp. Never take a pile at face value, between gravity and spring tension, piles are just waiting to release tons of energy in some direction or another.

Cables do whip, so do chains. Avoid shock loading either one, and attach as low as possible on the draw bar, and NOT the lift arms.
Use good 70 grade chain and shackles, and avoid cheapo chineese steel rope.
Lots of times, skidding backwards comes in handy and can be safest.

Good luck to ya, and have fun with it.


Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[CrappieKeith]

Don't light it like this...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIuM3IWq4h0&feature=related
then again there are these ways...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFjScMCdskA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6dDcHVghjU

 

[Highbeam]

I've had this problem. What I do is hire my logger who comes out with an excavator, a burn permit, fire fans, and most importantly... insurance. He burns the heap in record time. The way it works is he will grab from the big pile to make a burn pile. The big pile becomes a feeder pile. Stumps will absolutely burn up if the fire is hot enough. My last permit was for 50' in any direction and that fire was so hot it burnt everything to white dust. We did "chunk" the pile once.

Another option is to bury the whole mess. You won't be building everywhere, so find an out of the way spot and dig a big hole.

I wouldn't let strangers come to cut those logs. What happens if they get hurt? Then consider that they might decide to start cutting the standing trees. Well, you aren't there to watch them all the time are you? They'll start dumping trash, cooking meth, camping and squatting, etc. All for what?

 

[Bucko]

Watsondude, I suggest calling on the Tx Forest Service and get recommendations. Control burning and the liabilities of air quality are a growing issue everywhere, especially in Tx. More than likely you can pull it off yourself but you would at least be armed with current information. What part of E. Tx are you from?

 

[loadthestove]

Looks like a good time for a GTG.imagine all that fun this bunch good have with that wood pile.