iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

Options to dispose of slash - apart from burning

Started by username, October 20, 2017, 05:37:03 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

dsgsr

If I lived next to a neighbor like that, I would make piles of brush as close to the property line that the law allows and leave them there for them to marvel.


David
Northlander band mill
Kubota M59 TLB
Takeuchi TB175 Excavator
'08 Ford 550 dump
'87 International Dump
2015 Miller 325 Trailblazer Welder/Gen

Texas Ranger

The Ranger, home of Texas Forestry

Peter Drouin

Quote from: dsgsr on November 06, 2017, 06:33:02 PM
If I lived next to a neighbor like that, I would make piles of brush as close to the property line that the law allows and leave them there for them to marvel.


David





smiley_thumbsup :D :D
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

rasawing

I also don't see the problem with burning. 10'x10' piles? And something could be killed 50' away? Not buying it. As long as you follow these simple rules for outdoor burning (i.e. my 7 commandements for outdoor burning), you should be fine:

1. NO wind when you burn.

2. Everything on the pile must be completely dried out.....and hopefully nothing too big. (Big stuff will not compeltely burn and could sit there and smolder for quite some time which is dangerous. You want everything to burn up fast. No fuel, no fire.)

3. Probably the most important one: Burn AFTER a light-medium rain. Hot embers coming down on wet ground is no danger...unless you've had a drought. And then burning is off anyway.

4. A break around the pile is good. (Maybe not necessary if you follow #3.) I usually harrow a circle with the tractor.

5. Keep the piles size under control. I try to limit it to 30'x30'. And pile it right too. I've seen some people's idea of a "pile" as  30' x 30' x 1' (the height). That's no pile.

6. Good standoff distance from anything you want to keep. 100 yards from a permanent structure. But it's a judgement call based on pile size.

7. Although stuff burns faster in heat....I like to do it in the cool months. (And at night.) Although it's hard where I live to get a light rain in the fall/winter months (keeping #3 in mind). It will rain for days then.

I've never had an issue when I've followed those rules.

mike_belben

A few scraps of junk tin (from insulated door cutouts in my case) are the best fire tools i have.  Whether its to direct heat into a stump, keep rain off, keep ash in or blasting wind out, drying wet wood ontop the tin before adding it to the coals... You name it.  I burn stumps every week and never without my tins.  When im not burning i cover the stump pile with em to keep dry.
Praise The Lord

brianJ

@RA sawing   Why not burn during a rain.   Granted you need be Johhny on the spot to get it started.

Don P

If we're back to burning, I'm about to try an experiment. There were some old fuel drums on the farm where we are working. I've cut the end out of one, stood it up and removed a large bung that is now near the bottom end, the lighting and air hole. I'll fill it and get it rolling, then block the bottom air and keep filling it. With the fire up top it'll exclude oxygen and should created charcoal on the bottom. Keep feeding, keep feeding all day. At the end of the day drop the cutout lid back on and seal the edge with dirt to exclude oxygen. Wait till it cools and I should have a couple of yards of charcoal, or, if I drive over it and crush it, biochar for soil amendment, we'll see which sells first. Heck bury the charcoal and sell the carbon credits, you'll be a hero  :D

rjwoelk

Don your a hoot. Lol you should be able to get a government grant for an idea like that. I have seen it done a little different in that they put woodnin a sealed container and place the container in the fire. The heat turns it into charcoal.
If you do something simular with birch bark you end up with oil. A very smokie sooty but burns hot.
Lt15 palax wood processor,3020 JD 7120 CIH 36x72 hay shed for workshop coop tractor with a duetz for power plant

rasawing

Quote@RA sawing   Why not burn during a rain.   Granted you need be Johhny on the spot to get it started.

During the rain? Why? Why not just wait until it's over (especially if it's a hit and run shower)? Works every time. The point is to get vegetation in the area soaked.....not yourself.

The reason I emphasized AFTER the rain was because of what I observe locally. A lot of the local Gomers will set their piles ablaze before a rain. (I.e. when it's in the forecast.) Well guess what? A lot can happen in 12 hours. Embers can come down on dry stuff (including permanent structures)......and the fire can get away from the edge of a pile.


rjwoelk

How much of that slash pile is 4 inches and greater in diameter? Pull it out and cut it up into 14 or 16 inch lengths makes good firewood that may bring your pile down some. You can use it for your evening campfires or sell it.
Lt15 palax wood processor,3020 JD 7120 CIH 36x72 hay shed for workshop coop tractor with a duetz for power plant

maple flats

You guys might be able to burn pine, but I've tried it in my evaporator (making maple syrup) where I add a full arm load of wood every 8 or 9 minutes and I have high pressure air both under the grates and over the fire (under the fire I have a 4" duct with 3 rows of holes spaced 2" apart, one row on top and one row so the air hits near the outer edge of the grates, then for the air over the fire, I have a manifold that surrounds the firebox with a nozzle every 6" angled down at 15 degrees, so there are air nozzles everywhere except where the 2 doors are) The high pressure air is produced by a 3/4 HP blower very similar to a leaf blower, with paddles which throws the air, not fling it like a squirrel cage. If the pine still has the bark on it, some is still left after hours of burning (sometimes as much as 8-10 hrs of hard burning). Pines have some sort of fire retardant in the bark to naturally protect it in a forest fire.
However, if I burn slab off the sawmill, where 1 or more faces have no bark it burns fine.
I'd either spread it to rot or mulch/chip it.
I prune my blueberries and all of the prunings get just left in the aisles, then after 2 or 3 mowings if any sizable trash remains, I chip it.
logging small time for years but just learning how,  2012 36 HP Mahindra tractor, 3point log arch, 8000# class excavator, lifts 2500# and sets logs on mill precisely where needed, Woodland Mills HM130Max , maple syrup a hobby that consumes my time. looking to learn blacksmithing.

Coconut

Hi Folks >I tend to go along with thecfarm can you smoke outside?     Getting along with neighbors can be extreme at times , good luck with them. As for rules and regulations I don,t know that I should speak for most of us ,but I am hot at the collar and have had it up to here with it all ,and that is being nice about it.   What happened to the days gone by ? It was not like this a few short years  ago. Lets live and let live.  The bests way to deal with slash is to have your cutter limb it off and keep it below  knee height right where the tree fell. Within a few years it is compost. It will help your bush,I best stop here while I can or I might rant about (neighbors & regulations) Best to all. Coconut.https://forestryforum.com/board/Smileys/default/cool.gif

nativewolf

Quote from: username on October 21, 2017, 09:15:29 PM
Hello and thank you for the replies

The issue of burning here is dicey, as the neighbor has already warned us about the smoke/heat killing his trees, and the outdoor burning laws in Texas do not really permit outdoor burning with some exceptions.

See attachment

We are ready to do the hard work and labor, we just want to avoid burning, because the laws are grey on that. Of course, if we can get the volunteer fire fighter or any official group to do it, then it will be fine.

We are north of Houston, in Texas.

Yes, we should have left the slash/debris as it is, but now it is too late. This is our first time doing logging trees.

Since the loggers took the trunk, can parts of the limbs and leftover trunk pieces be used as firewood?

I am not sure what constitutes firewood, i.e. whether any of these left overs qualify.

Relatively speaking, what would be the cheapest machine to rent to deal with this, even if it will take more man power and time?

Thank you very much!!

The folks that recommended mulching are giving you great advise.  Mulching keeps that organic material on site, improves soil, helps retain moisture, nutrients recycled. etc.  Also, the sites look great afterwards. 

I have a massive mulching/grinding attachment so big I had to get a new tractor.  However, lots and lots of guys have smaller attachments on skidsteers (much like the one posted in this thread) and occasionally a guy will have a dedicated machine like a Fecon (also shown in the thread). 
Liking Walnut

thecfarm

Don't want to get this off thread too much,some care and some don't.
We use to burn the fields here and had many many brush fires. Never once had one get away from us. Have to pick your days. Have to pick a good spot for the brush piles. We use to go down the field 50 feet and light it. Go down another 50 feet and do it again,after we was sure the first fifty was out. Stone walls was a problem. My Father was always concerned the fire would get into a wall. Could smolder for days and start up anywhere in the wall. Was not much that grew next to the wall,due to the trees on the other side of the stone wall. I bought a riding lawnmower and would mow around the fields. My Father really liked that,nothing for the fire to run on. You have to respect fire and know how to use it. Years ago fire permits was unheard of. We knew when to burn and not to burn. Now some burn when it has not rained for a month. We always burned late evening,the air is stiller at night,I can hear him say that to me. We spent many late nights watching a brush pile burn.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Thank You Sponsors!