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Have not logged onto LMF for several days now, seems I have not missed much at all, same gripe I had before...nobody seems to post any new threads. So here goes.

Well, we have a foot of snow on the ground, and I have a brushpile 800 feet back from my house, it's about 25 feet long, 15 feet wide, and 10 feet high...going to get a burn permit this weekend and hopefully light it up...trying to get news to all my friends and neighbors (all four of them lol) so they can arrange their busy schedules to be here...if it goes well I will post pics of before and after with my tractor for reference to the size of the pile...

JD,this is the best time of year to burn brush.have fun. russ

I've been burning lots of brush, etc. this winter and it's a lot of fun. However, I haven't been brave enough to set fire to a pile that large.

Wow! That is going to be an excellent bonfire! I haven't done a bonfire in the winter, but it makes sense, since it would give off plenty of heat to keep people comfortable while watching it burn. Don't forget to buy a couple bags of marshmallows!

Pika said:

Wow! That is going to be an excellent bonfire! I haven't done a bonfire in the winter, but it makes sense, since it would give off plenty of heat to keep people comfortable while watching it burn. Don't forget to buy a couple bags of marshmallows!

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The fire regulations in our area will not permit open buring outside of a burn barrel or firepit during the summer months, meaning we are limited to burning in the winter. There is close to a foot of snow on the ground for a thousand feet surrounding the pile. Our local fire chief is one heck of a great guy, however, back in the middle of 2006 he was VERY upset with me and my cop neighbor...will post details later on. It's funny now, wasn't back then....:frown:

we don't do the bon fire just the fire pit thing here at the house and at our weekend get-a-way place. i actually like winter fires better.

LandN said:

we don't do the bon fire just the fire pit thing here at the house and at our weekend get-a-way place. i actually like winter fires better.

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About the 2006 fire incident, well, two of our neighbors are fun loving young policemen, they enjoy parties and fireworks. Since their lots are minimum sized and mine is a quarter mile deep, back in '05 on the Fourth of July they asked if they could set off fireworks at the end of my property. They had a yard party and as it grew dark, they set off a huge number of commercial fireworks at the end of my property as a crowd of about 50 watched it from our back yard. No harm done...and for the following year they planned another display, with even more people and fireworks, and in the year that elapsed, my brush pile grew to a huge stack...are you getting an idea of where this is going?

We did take back about 100 gallons of water and several industrial sized fire extinguishers, and had a hose running back to about 300 feet of the pile. Well, as dusk fell, people gathered on our lawn, the cops set off the first firework, I yelled to my wife who was indoors, "Hey, come and see this..." and as she came outside, a huge, colorful display went off out back as multiple fireworks went off all at once. Several of my neighbors and I sprinted full speed back to the site as grass fires ignited, we all grabbed buckets and pails and doused the fires, and although someone reported seeing a small fire on my brushpile, we soaked it good with THE REMAINING WATER, and although we watched it carefully, no sign of flame was seen...what had happened was one of the large rockets had tipped over and ignited multiple other fireworks that started a chain reaction....$400 worth of them went up in 30 seconds.

Back up by the houses, we drank beer and congratulated ourselves on our fire fighting abilities, and then someone said "HEY, LOOK" and as we turned, the brush pile was burning and the size was growing fast (dry pine branches and needles). We hastily filled the water barrels and ran more hose back, but by then the fire was huge and we were unable to put it out. We called the local fire department and in the half hour it took them to arrive, the pile was half burnt and we were hoping it would burn down but they put the fire out.

The fire chief called me and my neighbor cops aside, and asked how the fire started, they admitted the whole story, and I said "well, it's my property, and I gave them permission, so..." And the chief asked me, and what would your name be, Mr.-----? "BURNS" I admitted (my last name IS Burns) and the fire chief and his men started laughing at the irony...

The result was, as professional courtesy and because we were taxpayers, there was no citation or fines issued for the incident, but the fire chief warned us if anything like the incident recurred in the future, we would not get off with just a warning. Needless to say, it hasn't happened again...:laughing::laughing:

LandN said:

we don't do the bon fire just the fire pit thing here at the house and at our weekend get-a-way place. i actually like winter fires better.

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UPDATE HERE...my pile is actually 36 feet long, 25 feet wide at the base, and 9 to 10 feet high...the local fire chief was here yesterday to inspect it and make sure it was safe to burn (far enuff away from buildings and that snow cover was deep enough) I am starting the burn at 10 am tomorrow if there is no wind.

Will post pics tomorrow of the blaze before, during, and afterwards if I do burn it. Temp rite now is 3 degrees actual windchill is ten below.

HEY JD, looking forward to the pics, ask the fire guys if they want to come over and warm up(charge them lol).im going to be outside for quite a while 2marrow on a bald eagle watch, no fire though, so its going to be pretty cold. maybe i can face north and feel the heat off of your bonfire:laughing:

JDgreen said:

UPDATE HERE...my pile is actually 36 feet long, 25 feet wide at the base, and 9 to 10 feet high...the local fire chief was here yesterday to inspect it and make sure it was safe to burn (far enuff away from buildings and that snow cover was deep enough) I am starting the burn at 10 am tomorrow if there is no wind.

Will post pics tomorrow of the blaze before, during, and afterwards if I do burn it. Temp rite now is 3 degrees actual windchill is ten below.

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That sounds like a lot of fun -- and very safe with all the snow. Please post the photos.

I've never had a bonfire at my house before, but I love going and sitting by the fire with other people. Having them at the beach is fun (it's a bit cold now for that though, because of the wind). I've been trying to come up with new, fun things to do for a while. Thanks for the idea:thumbsup:

abeja_reina_1989 said:

I've never had a bonfire at my house before, but I love going and sitting by the fire with other people. Having them at the beach is fun (it's a bit cold now for that though, because of the wind). I've been trying to come up with new, fun things to do for a while. Thanks for the idea:thumbsup:

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Pile before the burn began, using my JD for size reference

abeja_reina_1989 said:

I've never had a bonfire at my house before, but I love going and sitting by the fire with other people. Having them at the beach is fun (it's a bit cold now for that though, because of the wind). I've been trying to come up with new, fun things to do for a while. Thanks for the idea:thumbsup:

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About a half hour into the burn, used boxes of newspapers soaked with used motor oil for starting it

abeja_reina_1989 said:

I've never had a bonfire at my house before, but I love going and sitting by the fire with other people. Having them at the beach is fun (it's a bit cold now for that though, because of the wind). I've been trying to come up with new, fun things to do for a while. Thanks for the idea:thumbsup:

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Looking west...

abeja_reina_1989 said:

I've never had a bonfire at my house before, but I love going and sitting by the fire with other people. Having them at the beach is fun (it's a bit cold now for that though, because of the wind). I've been trying to come up with new, fun things to do for a while. Thanks for the idea:thumbsup:

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My cop neighbor enjoying the warmth...it was 12 degrees with a windchill factor of just below zero during the burning.

abeja_reina_1989 said:

I've never had a bonfire at my house before, but I love going and sitting by the fire with other people. Having them at the beach is fun (it's a bit cold now for that though, because of the wind). I've been trying to come up with new, fun things to do for a while. Thanks for the idea:thumbsup:

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About 70 minutes into the burn, we tried to light the ends but they were frozen yard debris and wouldn't burn properly, maybe next time !!!

abeja_reina_1989 said:

I've never had a bonfire at my house before, but I love going and sitting by the fire with other people. Having them at the beach is fun (it's a bit cold now for that though, because of the wind). I've been trying to come up with new, fun things to do for a while. Thanks for the idea:thumbsup:

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90m minute mark, it's going up, oops DOWN fast !!!

abeja_reina_1989 said:

I've never had a bonfire at my house before, but I love going and sitting by the fire with other people. Having them at the beach is fun (it's a bit cold now for that though, because of the wind). I've been trying to come up with new, fun things to do for a while. Thanks for the idea:thumbsup:

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Two hours now, just wish the ends had burnt at the same time...will use the FEL to push them into the center when spring arrives then begin a new brush pile.

abeja_reina_1989 said:

I've never had a bonfire at my house before, but I love going and sitting by the fire with other people. Having them at the beach is fun (it's a bit cold now for that though, because of the wind). I've been trying to come up with new, fun things to do for a while. Thanks for the idea:thumbsup:

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Two and a half hours and it's pretty much burnt down, will begin to cover the ends with snow now because they are doing nothing but smoking.

abeja_reina_1989 said:

I've never had a bonfire at my house before, but I love going and sitting by the fire with other people. Having them at the beach is fun (it's a bit cold now for that though, because of the wind). I've been trying to come up with new, fun things to do for a while. Thanks for the idea:thumbsup:

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Te laws where I live say ALL FLAME must be out before dark, it was about two hours before that when I began to bury the pile with snow, that JD really earned it's fuel today.

JDGreen,nice burn!I helped a buddy of mine burn a big pile of hedge once.what we didn't know was the pile was on top of another older pile that had been dozed and covered with dirt.The fire from our burn went under ground and burned over a week under ground and then burned a stand of hugh Catpuas.By the way nice DEER.What engine is in it?Is it Yanmar or Onan? russ

173abn said:

JDGreen,nice burn!I helped a buddy of mine burn a big pile of hedge once.what we didn't know was the pile was on top of another older pile that had been dozed and covered with dirt.The fire from our burn went under ground and burned over a week under ground and then burned a stand of hugh Catpuas.By the way nice DEER.What engine is in it?Is it Yanmar or Onan? russ

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Thanks for asking, it's a Yanmar 3TNE82A, 73 cubic inches, 27 gross hp, 22 pto hp...just turned 805 hrs.

nice burn, wish i was there lol

Now that is a bonfire! I've never had a chance to experience one that size. I'm pretty jealous. I've been freezing here in Washington. I know it's not as cold as some places, but it's too cold for me lol.

JDgreen said:

Te laws where I live say ALL FLAME must be out before dark, it was about two hours before that when I began to bury the pile with snow, that JD really earned it's fuel today.

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It's too bad that you can't burn at night. I have a good time with night bonfires -- but mine are in containers (old steel barrels with vents cut near the bottom.)

Thanks for posting the photos.

I am going to have to burn my brush pile ... one of these years...
It's around 30 years old now and every year I have added a lot to it... Many complete trees, and lots of tree trimmings from ice damage and regular pruning... It's a monster... I have been putting it off for a long time.
When I finally light it you will most likely see the flames from wherever you are... just look toward south central Kansas. It will burn into the night and most likely into the 2nd night... :smile:KennyV

173abn said:

... and then burned a stand of hugh Catpuas...

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OK russ I have to ask...
What is "a stand of hugh Catpuas"... :smile:KennyV

Two-Stroke said:

It's too bad that you can't burn at night. I have a good time with night bonfires -- but mine are in containers (old steel barrels with vents cut near the bottom.)

Thanks for posting the photos.

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I think the laws here permit CONTAINER BURNING after dark, but a fire like mine is considered open burning and therefore it must be out by dark.

KennyV said:

I am going to have to burn my brush pile ... one of these years...
It's around 30 years old now and every year I have added a lot to it... Many complete trees, and lots of tree trimmings from ice damage and regular pruning... It's a monster... I have been putting it off for a long time.
When I finally light it you will most likely see the flames from wherever you are... just look toward south central Kansas. It will burn into the night and most likely into the 2nd night... :smile:KennyV

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Post us some pics of yours as it looks now...wow, if I had let MINE grow for the 20 years I had lived here it would have been 8X the size of what I just did burn. Perhaps 173abn was referring to "catalpa" trees...I had some, they have huge leaves and long seed pods and are one of the messiest trees there are...

I'd like to see the photos too as I haven't seen a good bonfire since I was a child. We aren't allowed to light bonfires where I live and we can't do much at all really without jumping through a lot of health and safety hoops!

As cold as it is right now, a bonfire in my living room might be a good idea, (joking) but it is cold enough with the wind whipping right through my house. I love bonfires any time of year!

Smartaleck said:

I'd like to see the photos too as I haven't seen a good bonfire since I was a child. We aren't allowed to light bonfires where I live and we can't do much at all really without jumping through a lot of health and safety hoops!

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The pics are visible on page 2 of this thread....:thumbsup:

Kenny,JD spelled it right.The tree book I have say they are considered one of the most beautiful trees in N.America but they have their place.In the spring they have white flowers and as said hugh leaves and the long green then brown bean pods.A couple of interesting things about them,the wood is super light.it burns like a punk and the wood is rot resistant and strong for being so light and makes good posts.I have a couple types of oak,ceder,hackberry,hickory,ash ,elm.honey and black locust,purple ash,wahoo,persimmon,pawpaw,redbud,elm,hedge and a few others but no catalpa.I can drive to Topeka and see them all over.By the way JD ,I've got a 1610d Yanmar. russ

JDgreen said:

I think the laws here permit CONTAINER BURNING after dark, but a fire like mine is considered open burning and therefore it must be out by dark.

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After I posted my comment, it occurred to me that "bonfire" means out in the open -- as opposed to in a container.

I do enjoy burning at night and I figure it's pretty safe as long as the fire stays in the container.

OK I found a picture of that tree...http://www.bomengids.nl/zomer2004/p...pa_bignonioides__Southern_catalpaimg_5136.jpg
Nice looking and I have seen them around,
Yep I can see that they may have a lot of clean up ... but they do look good.
What do the blossoms smell like??? :smile:KennyV