Slash fire methods

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Whats yer favorite "legal" fire starting tricks and burn em faster methods.

Today was a half a bale of straw, and a weed burner, no other fluids required... Pic just fer fun... (probably gonna end up as a Yule card)

Fire dept was called at least twice on me today... so I had to keep the fire to a minimum size, but still burned about 1/4 of the slash on this project in around 8 hours.

20161116_104910[1].jpg 20161116_104910[1].jpg
 
You were called on in this weather? I have heard about the newer fire requirements in WA. In OR, we have to burn slash by law, and they generally leave us alone to do that here. I have torched off hundreds of slash burns, some with piles the size of my house, and I never had a fire official show up here, ever. No calls or harassment from the DEQ either.

I started out using kerosene, but that burns too slow and it is way too expensive. So I flipped to using gasoline, and that worked well, but it burns too fast. Both are not 'legal' though. I switched to using cardboard as an accelerant and less gas as an ignition source, which works well and what I still use at times. I also burn ground wasp nests with gas at night, because I have tried everything else, and that is the only thing that works. I bought a propane burner for burning weeds and I got the idea to use it for starting slash fires, and that is what I use the most now. I also add cardboard for that extended hot burn start, similar to what you use with straw. I never tried straw or hay bales. I heard that using pallets to start slash pile fires works well too, but I do not like leaving nails around.

Here is my ex in a silhouette in a night slash burn in Southern Oregon. We had hundreds of these there, because the former owners did not clean up after their logging operation there, and we were liable for burning the slash by law.

Jen fire.JPG
 
If it is allowed Sure Gel works great. It is a jelling agent for gasoline, sort of like dissolving Styrofoam in gasoline. I pre-place the little blivets, zip-top bags with the gel inside, at various places on and in the pile. When the fire gets to each blivet it really adds some heat.

These days I use a blower set on idle or a little above to force more air into the pile. Just set it and forget about it.
 
This is a residential burn, nosy neighbor calls everyone in on even a little fire... so the local FD has to respond, they seemed as annoyed as I was.

Because of the Pungent Sound Clean Air Authority (pun intended) you have to have a permit for King and Snohomish county, technically I can only burn in a 5x5 pile... If it where a straight forward clearing or timber harvest, then I could have gone through the DNR and burned a pile so big it could maybe be seen from space... not that there was room for those kind of shenanigans... but it would have been fun. It also would have been mostly burned in one day... So now the neighbors can ***** for most of a week.

This Sure Gel stuff, where do you find it? Seems like it would have some kind of control on who can buy it.
 
So the fire captain showed up yesterday and shut me down... on account of "wind" and a neighbor called his boss... as well as 911 multiple times.


So I will try again monday.

Yes tires work good, but tires get folks down here in trouble, lots of black smoke.
 
So the fire captain showed up yesterday and shut me down... on account of "wind" and a neighbor called his boss... as well as 911 multiple times.


So I will try again monday.
Yes tires work good, but tires get folks down here in trouble, lots of black smoke.

And then you gotta pick up the wires.
 
4:1 diesel:gasoline is a good dependable mix.

Yes, but for green slash during rainy season it takes a bit more than a drip torch. For my little piles, which I usually have a permit to burn, I use a fusee, a block of that waxy fire starter stuff, and a few pieces of dry firewood. That gets it going but wouldn't be practical for logging slash piles.
 
And then you gotta pick up the wires.

Old tires don't have much for wires, least none I've burned did. Mostly just some wires around the bead area and that's it.

Should have seen the tire guys face when I said "he'll no I'm not paying $14 a tire for disposal, those make great fire starters!"
 
On this 4-1 diesel gas mix that 4 parts diesel? never used this witchcraft stuff... but they have these bitchin legal flame throwers...

Yup. 4 parts diesel to one part gasoline. It gives you the stability of diesel while lowering the flash point a bit with the gasoline. We use it in drip torches. Depending on what you're trying to burn, you can add more gas to like a 3:2 ratio. But more gas than that is a bad idea.

If you're dousing a big pile and then lighting it off use 4:1. You run less lf a risk of building up a vapor cloud and have it explode on you.
 
Solid point. 3:2 and 4:1 ratios mentioned above help.

Don't forget patience. Like barbecuing with coals, burning green piles takes patience. Nortman, if you get a drip torch, the way to get green stuff to maybe burn is to just stick the torch in the driest spot you can find, with fines, and let it drip away. I've heard of torches exploding, but never had it happen to me while doing this.

The flame thrower also takes time. You do the same for it. Once you get a bit of heat going, keep working on feeding the flames.

Patience, grasshoppah, patience.
 
Yup. 4 parts diesel to one part gasoline. It gives you the stability of diesel while lowering the flash point a bit with the gasoline. We use it in drip torches. Depending on what you're trying to burn, you can add more gas to like a 3:2 ratio. But more gas than that is a bad idea.

If you're dousing a big pile and then lighting it off use 4:1. You run less lf a risk of building up a vapor cloud and have it explode on you.
3:2? Wow that is a super hot mix.
 

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