Dude, I hope that grass and earth is somewhat moist.

Man I love a big brush fire! ERC is always the highlight of the party

John

its sand.. its never moist..

but it was 7:30'ish am .. so it was very dewy ...

ken

Speaking of dew, I've yet to have any on the grass in over two weeks (waiting to apply my fert/weed killer). It has been bone dry and those weeds are going ape shizza in my yard.

I tell ya the quality of grass seed these builders use is terrible.

Opps, highjacked your thread!

Eitherway nice flame height.

I would've ground it up and composted it or used for mulch, but not everybody wants to play around like that I guess. They want it gone right away. You can still use the ash Sparingly for your garden unless you used an accelerant like gas or kero.

The part of Michigan I lived in 14 years ago had a "NO BURNING ORDINANCE" No if, ands or buts , period!

When we moved there in '89 everybody burned anytime and anything they wanted rid of. A breath of smokeless air from September to December was not to be found. So the ordinance was good...but what to do with all the yard waste sure was difficult. Composting, mulch, is good, but you can only use so much.

That's one large fire... does your township require you to call the fire dept or do you do it just incase?

I sure hope my township doesn't require it... I've been burning stuff all year out there lol.

I do this all the time Ken too. Here, I don't even get permission. I just light up. I live way out in the country and never had a problem. I actually burn on top of a gas pipeline! It so much more convenient to live in the country. In the city, people would complain about a tiny amount of smoke from a camp fire ring or even a charcoal grill!

Why is it people who would never put chemicals on their lawn, think nothing of polluting the air?

I agree poluluting sucks... To some point, it's a natural thing. Especially with large forest fires that we put out. I always thinks about polluting when I burn fires... but there is nothing I can do about it. We could pay hundreds or thousands for someone to come in with a dump truck and haul everything to a landfield, but that wouldn't be practical. Both money and time.

Not to mention the amount of trees Ken has planted and the amount of trees I have plantd - The added trees kind of balance everything out.

ILMT, do you drive a car? Own a refrigerator? How about use hair spray?

John

I'm lazy. I pull the thicker woody parts out, and generally either put in cans for the yard waste pickup truck, or if its softer material, grind it with the lawn mower and use for mulch.

Ken I think you forgot to yell OPAAA once you lit the fire - if any of you have ever visited a Greek restaurant - you know what I mean...

We mostly haul it to the periphery of our property where it is windrowed. It becomes cover and home for wildlife and eventually decomposes naturally. Larger limbs are cut down and stacked for use in the chiminea or given to people who can use it for firewood. We do have an 'industrial sized' chipper/shredder as well but have not needed to fire it up for a long time.

It's been years since we had to do any type of burn-off. I just happened on to a local site with the EPA regs and they're a lot more restrictive than you can imagine and each state or local governement can add more restrictions. Land clearing waste can be burnt here in rural aras, but there are no-burn times due to weather conditions and distances have to be maintained from structures. I'd recommend anyone who does burning to check their locality's regulations. It's more restrictive than you may imagine and all's it takes is one complaint from somebody down the road.

At the risk of seeming like a nag, I'd suggest that what's seen in the photos is the most dangerous of all ways to burn brush. A small fire to which the woody material is gradually fed is much, much safer than creating a roaring inferno 100 feet(!) from a neighbor. Putting a huge quantity of hot embers into the air even on a windless day is very risky thing to do which can eventually lead to a tragic accident, even "in the country". It's also highly recommended to have a live hose at hand when doing any sort of burning outdoors.

Hopefully, the early morning temperatures are too chilly for windows to be open throughout the neighborhood! That kind of smoke (stink) coming into my home would be a real problem.

Municipalities vary widely regarding open burning. Though I, too, live in the 'country '...meaning outside City jurisdiction, there are still strict burning restrictions. I believe that we are in a "No Burn " time now since it has been so dry.

Though ken has followed the proper steps (in his location) for legal burning, I'll that some of the neighbors weren't happy that morning.

I forgot to mention that my county also has curbside removal of this kind if debris. You can drag your cut up 'bio mass ' to the curb, along with the junk left over from the garage sale, the burned out microwave, rickety furniture, etc. Ken may not have that kind of service.

rhizo, I don't see very much smoke. Looks like the pile was fairly dry and it burned 'hot'.
Burning wet leaves or green branches in the Fall with no wind is when you pollute the neighborhood.
Mike

I live in the "country" and I hate it when people burn brush. The smell drifts for a long way and spoils the enjoyment of being outdoors if it is strong. Not to mention the air pollution, of course. And the fact that it have been ground up and used for compost or to create a brush pile for birds.

We do have a burn ban starting May 1st in my area.

Ken, I share your glee. I also have the advantage of whacking at a stand of bamboo, trying to control it. I cut as much as I have the time for, stack it with stuff I don't want to compost (Walnut trimmings, branches, Aralia trunks, holly branches, etc.) and set it alight. My biggest problem is the popping of the bamboo. I wait until my neighbor takes one dog in. Dog barks every time a bamboo section pops.

I have a mulch pile, a stone pile and a dirt pile for when I need stone/dirt/mulch. I also have a burn pile. People who don't have 200 trees to take care of can talk to me about mulching everything. Trying to pile all that up would cover 1/2 my land. And I refuse to encourage varmits like rabbits and groundhogs. Both are here in plague proportions, only the coyotes make them scared.

Burn piles are nice.

Nice fire. I usually like to throw a few hitchhikers into the pile to get rid of the evidence :)

We can burn where I live, but that might be pushing it in my small backyard. I burned up our Christmas tree from last Christmas. Man does those conifer trees burn. I was tossing in one branch at a time and the flames would just shoot skyward. Fun stuff. Too bad I stunk like campfire when i was done.

Is a large land fill any less of a pollution problem than a small fire on the back of your property. The landfill will be there for years, and have to be continually monitored. It will probably leak before all of the material has decomposed, if it ever does.

A small fire on the back of your property consumes the debris in a matter of hours and leave potash that can be distributed on the yard.

You can also invite your neighbors and have a party. You can cook hot dogs, and marshmallows. If you are really full of energy you can make s'mores. Just like a college football bondfire in your back yard everybody has fun.

Air pollution, knuttle.

Air pollution? nawwwww... Really, though, when fires burn across the prairie and through woodlands, it's called "regeneration". When I light a pile of branches on fire, it's frowned upon as air pollution. Go figure. I live in the "country", as well - I don't know if open burning is allowed, but everyone does it from time to time - Best way to get rid of a big pile of brush, as far as I'm concerned. The ashes are a decent lime alternative, supplying much more potassium, which is often defficient in soils around here. No problemo, Ken!

Hey, all of you guys, if you have alkaline soil like we do, you don't want any potash on your dirt. Nothing will grow there for a long time.

When I was a kid and we lived out in the country, I was playing around with fire and I almost burnt the whole countryside. Man I was one scared ten year old, I was stomping it out no less with cheap 70's plastic cowboy boots. I learned a lesson that day. None of the adults found out how the thirty foot circle of burnt area suddenly appeared...

Mackel

I'm waiting for the OP to come back and tell us we've been punked!
You can't get much more country than where I am. Here's how we do it. The county built a state-of-the-art composting facility 15 years ago. Show your dr.license and take yard waste there and dump it.
{{gwi:360083}}
On your way out load up black, screened compost, totally weed free.
{{gwi:360084}}

Either way seems natural.

In Missouri it is typically damp enough we can burn in the country as long as anyone who may notice is notified.

Now in a low moisture area like Colorado you must be careful. While I was there this spring wildfires and no burns were all the news.

Environmental concerns? I dunno......
Curbside twig pick up around the nicer st louis suburbs is done by the municipalities. Always seems like Republicans who love big government saving them from their own sticks.

We have a place like that too, where they have a machine called the beast that chews up big logs like they're sticks. We burn here too, Saturday and Wednesday are the days allowed but everyone does it whenever they want. I'm in the country, but have neighbors around too. I got my own shredder/ chipper, but like to get the free stuff. The guy that works there acts like he's the compost site "Sherrif" and I am messing with his territory. Eventually he got used to me coming there and goes about his business. I guess it was odd seeing a woman in a tiny hatchback filling containers of ground up trees and fall leaves.

"...Republicans who love big government..." might want to rethink that statement ;)

John

Ironically, had Ken drove off, rented a wood chipper, brought it back, run it & returned it, he'd have caused considerable air pollution and consumed non-replenishable fossil fuel. Perhaps he took a natural approach.

Seems like no matter what you do, you're not going to make everybody happy.

You got some great photos of that fire, though. Very nice.

Richard.

Burning stuff just seems so ... 19th century.

"...Republicans who love big government..." might want to rethink that statement ;)John

No really. There are a lot of them folks out there. Department of Homeland Security / Corpse of Engineers floodplain development / Stadium Welfare Bank Bailout types. Then you set them loose in freedom loving Texas and they create HOAs or use government regs to keep the good people of Oregon from being able to get some suicide assistance for cancer patients.

I know who I was talkin about. Thought they just needed a reminder of what they like to think they believe in. Probably a bad joke on a horticulture board lol.

Fire is and always has been a natural phenomenon. In fact, it is the lack of fire that threatens ecosystems throughout North America. I'm surprised that people actually think the tiny amount of smoke created by a bonfire somehow contributes to pollution! Do you have any idea what ppm of atmospheric particulate matter are created from a typical bonfire?

Ohh boy Ken... Youve got one stirred up here with that little brush pile!!! burn baby burn!

Doesn't make me any difference whether people burn or not, as long as it's not old tires or crap. You want to talk a nasty fire? I had a pile of chicken manure and straw aging out to spread on the garden, and it spontaneously combusted. rofl. Now, that's a nasty fire.

I've had fires so big you couldn't get close enough to throw wood on em'. I had a flat track bulldozer I ran with a 4 in one bucket that could pick up stumps really well. That coupled with two 50 MPH squirrel cage blower fans and two friends supplied with all the beer they could drink, and I had some fires! Those were the days when I had just purchased the five acres next to me. The fires were located in an area I dug out with the bulldozer for a winter time pond. A hot fire doesn't smoke much. Look at ken's.
Here's the pond last winter. The branches are from a Dawn Redwood that took it hard when I had a ice storm. I could start a separate post on just the damage I suffered last winter.
Mike
{{gwi:360085}}

Ken, you forgot the pallets! Now those things'll give you a nice fire!

+oM

man some of you peeps are humorless ...

if its legal.. i really dont need your righteous indignation .. go shovel that animal byproduct somewhere else ...

at least i didnt have to hear about it causing global warming.. and all the FRAUD ...

right now.. about a quarter of the upper peninsula of MI is afire from lightening ... maybe you all would like to raise our taxes.. and go fight that fire ...

pshaw ... to some of you..

and semper fire to the rest.. lol ..

and close your window if you dont want to smell it ... bunch of whining nattering nabobs ...

and that is why i didnt come back for so long .. lol ..

ken

Get off the high horse....just because you can light a great big ol ' fire doesn 't mean all your neighbors are going to love you for it. LOL At least you didn't add a bunch of treated lumber, the contents of your rat traps, grass clippings, fresh prunings, garbage and some of the other fine stuff often tossed into back yard burn piles. You 're a high class redneck and that's a compliment.

I warn you, though...if you have any neighbors who like to hang their clothes outside on the line early in the morning you will need your running shoes!

You have no problem dishing it out on this forum, and you don't give a damn how it might make other people feel, but when you're on the receiving end of it, you can't take it!

We hardly knew ye!

Sam, that is some good stuff!

My village has the same thing as far as drop off and mulching but no compost like that!

We have a drop off facility too. Time was you could get wood chips, but that stopped because the stuff was full of chewed up buckthorn. We can get beautiful compost though (although I make my own) at a small charge... little source of revenue for an otherwise free facility.

There's no open burning here, although I've been known to dispatch a cut up branch or two in an old Weber Kettle on my patio. I remember the days of old, all the dads raking the fall leaves out to the curb and lighting it up. Seemed like a neighborhood ritual.

That is one thing I really despise...burning leaves! I never understood when folks would rake them all up, struggle to put them in a bag just to put them in one big pile to burn. Just mulch the dang leaves into the ground! Even if it takes a couple times due to the volume of leaves. I blow some of the leaves from my four 50' lindens on the side yard over into the front yard just so I can mulch them in.

Regarding my county's composting facility, I can see only good coming out of it. You should see the mountain of Christmas trees there in January. When the compost is "cooking" it gets hot, really hot, enough to kill all weed seeds, fungi and bacteria. The only thing that they add to it is water. We scarf it up as quickly as they make it.

I can take compost at ours but you have to sift it yourself. You're lucky yours is pre-sifted Sam. I guess getting any free compost, one should'nt find fault. I can grind up the big peices with the big shredder.

Ken, you reminded me about that pile of brush growing on the hill behind my shed

{{gwi:360086}}

We'd always leave the brush piles alone on the farm, since they served as excellent habitat for wildlife.

A few good-sized brush piles like that spread around our farm yielded LOTS of tasty rabbits come fall hunting season :-)