The "trash burning barrel"
Kim A. Hinceman
small tree limbs, etc. I have seen forever in rural SC backyards the
"trash burning barrel", usually set above ground on a few bricks or
concrete blocks. Most of these appear to be of the "55 gallon" variety,
probably steel.
The question? What is the best way of setting one of these up? How high
off the ground? Do you punch holes in the bottom/side to facilitate
burning? Do you use another fuel source?
Any help appreciated. Thanks.
Todd Rossman
I
Torch three small holes (1 inch) in the bottom of the barrel near the
center. This will allow water from rains to escape and not rust out the
bottom as quickly. To reinforce the bottom of the barrel, drop the top that
you torched out onto the bottom giving it a double thickness. I ususally
cut several 1 inch holes in the sides to allow air to enter at lower levels.
Put blocks under the barrel just high enough to allow the water to run out
the holes. I suggest you use only paper trash as fuel for your fire since
fuel oils of any kind will also run out the bottom of the barrel when it
rains and kill your grass around the site. Check with your local fire laws
and make sure open burning is tolerated. In most places in the country now
it is unlawful, but seldom enforced.
=======================================================
Name: Todd Rossman
E-mail: tros...@bright.net
Save a farmer. Bag an activist.
________________________________________________________
Barry Fowler
about 10 bucks, locally, take a pick and knock a couple of holes in
the bottom to drain any rain water. I also knock a few in the sides
for ventillation. They need to be dumped periodically of ashes (a trip
to the landfill for me). Local ordinances may require burn permits and/or
a screen over the top. Even if they don't, I'd at least place a square
of 1/4" galvanized mesh over the top when burning to keep flying
ashes down.
As for raising them.... why? I've found no value in doing it and haven't
seen anyone doing the same in my neck of the woods.
kevin wilhite
Kim A. Hinceman <khin...@sunbelt.net> wrote:
>I'm interested in burning some trash. The usual suspects: household paper,
>small tree limbs, etc. I have seen forever in rural SC backyards the
>"trash burning barrel", usually set above ground on a few bricks or
>concrete blocks. Most of these appear to be of the "55 gallon" variety,
>probably steel.
>
>The question? What is the best way of setting one of these up? How high
>off the ground? Do you punch holes in the bottom/side to facilitate
>burning? Do you use another fuel source?
>
I guess raising the barrel off the gorund is meant to prevent fire
outside. We just set our on the ground and let `er rip (with a fairly
heavy screen on top) When the barrel showed signs of deterioration
we got a new one.
--
--------------------------------------
The advance of civilization is nothing
but an exercise in limiting privacy.
-Pelorat
Rita Pirone Noak
>
>
>Torch three small holes (1 inch) in the bottom of the barrel near the
>center. This will allow water from rains to escape and not rust out the
>bottom as quickly.
Torch hell, my brother and i would tape a target on our new barrels and shoot
the hell out the bottom and sides at the bottom. All those holes provided
great drainage and venting.
Chris
TOM WAGNER, Wizzard of old Audio/Visual Equipment........Nanaimo Campus
> I'm interested in burning some trash. The usual suspects: household paper,
> small tree limbs, etc. I have seen forever in rural SC backyards the
> "trash burning barrel", usually set above ground on a few bricks or
> concrete blocks. Most of these appear to be of the "55 gallon" variety,
> probably steel.
>
> The question? What is the best way of setting one of these up? How high
> off the ground? Do you punch holes in the bottom/side to facilitate
> burning? Do you use another fuel source?
>
This one should bring in about 100 or so responses. I think everyone has a
favourite design for a barrel, so here are my thoughts.
First, the blasted thing will only last a couple of seasons so how much
effort do you want to invest. Second, ventillation is important. Holes around
the lower 1/3 are pretty good (once it starts to rust you'll have lots anyway.
Bricks are good to keep it off the ground, but I have a welder so I weld legs
on mine. Some sort of grate should be put in to keep the burning material from
going straight to the bottom. I use electrical conduit lengths stuck through
holes in the side of the barrel. About 4 seem to be ok. You should put in
a cleanout door. Be sure to make it the size of the shovel you intend to use
to clean it. A mesh cover is the law in a lot of areas. If you have that you
can often legally burn year round. I live in a rainy area so a lid is important
to keep the inside dry. Once it gets wet inside it will stink like mad when
being used (I know the wife never puts the lid on <Grin>).
For tools to build one a good saber saw with a metal cutting blade is
usually enough (I use oxy torch). A drill will be needed to make the holes but
in some instances a good hammer and punch will do. I used to use the sharp
point of the pick. They are not critical...
CAUTION get the supplier (or someone in the know) to cut the lid off.
A lot of barrels are used for gas or solvents and are still potential bombs,
especially after they are empty. Most places have a tool like a large can
opener to take the lid off for you.
Lots of luck, if you are like most of use, after about 4 barrels you
just begin to get it right....
--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Tom Wagner, Audio Visual Technician Malaspina University-College, Nanaimo BC |
| Collector of anything old...Tractors, English Cars, Computers, 90 Day bills |
| Email: wag...@mala.bc.ca URL http://www.mala.bc.ca/~wagner/homepage.htm |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't need a disclaimer. Everyone knows I don't know what I'm talking about!
Marylin Kraker
> I'm interested in burning some trash. The usual suspects: household paper,
> small tree limbs, etc. I have seen forever in rural SC backyards the
> "trash burning barrel", usually set above ground on a few bricks or
> concrete blocks. Most of these appear to be of the "55 gallon" variety,
> probably steel.
>
> The question? What is the best way of setting one of these up? How high
> off the ground? Do you punch holes in the bottom/side to facilitate
> burning? Do you use another fuel source?
>
> Any help appreciated. Thanks.
Check classified ads or those local shopper newspapers. We've got a local
guy selling the 55 gal drums for $5 each, and he takes off the tops and
knocks in the holes for you. He also has plastic for rainbarrels and such.
The holes let out the rainwater and may let in some air to help burning.
Putting them up on bricks helps draining and also makes it take longer for
the bottom to rust out.
You'll want to start keeping separate wastebaskets for burnable vs
nonburnable. I also burn some garbage, such as bones and meat scraps, so I
won't overload our septic by overusing the garbage dispoasal. I also burn
the scoops from the scoopable cat litter. The resulting ash goes in the
compost. If I wasn't composting the ash, I guess I'd be less concerned about
keeping trash that won't burn out of the barrel. The former owners here left
a barrel with a lot of cans and bottles mixed in the ash.
We're way out in the country now, where people don't bug us about burning
stuff. When I was growing up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, we had a burn barrel in
town and it was a coming-of-age honor to be old enough to take the trash out
and light it yourself.
Happy burning,
Marylin
--
Marylin Kraker, user of the C4 Yourself BBS @ c4systm.com
E-Mail: Marylin...@bbs.c4systm.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
C4 Yourself BBS Voice: (517) 423-3454 Fax/BBS: (517) 423-3667
C4 Systems, Inc. 6585 Hack Road, RR#1, Clinton, Michigan, USA 49236-9530
Bill Young
>seen anyone doing the same in my neck of the woods.
Here in WI the barrel will fill with snow that turns to ice and the
barrel will quite often be rendered useless by spring. So we cut the
bottoms out as well as the tops, raise it up with a few bricks or
rocks so that water, snow,ice, and ashes fall out the bottom. It
just makes the barrel last longer. One should be careful not to raise
the barrel too high though because fire can escape out the bottom.
Bill
Bill Young
Allen-Bradley, Milwaukee
Phone- (414) 382-4042
email- yo...@eda.mke.ab.com
"Know what you know, and know that you don't know what you don't know."
Chuck Knisley
bottom for drainage..........................let it rip.......Remember no
plastics.............place afr enough away from your house that the wind does
not carry directly back to you.......
Robert Melohn
transport (these barrels are very sought after in small
communities).
- Organic waste = chickens/ducks/pigs
- tins/cans/metal= landfill
- evrything else = barrel with holes in it acting like a "jet
engine" when U light it !
Robert Melohn
Shore Cottage
Isle of Eigg
Inner Hebrides
Scotland
--
"Shore Cottage", Isle of Eigg, Inner Hebrides, Scotland
jane...@halcyon.com
>I'm interested in burning some trash. The usual suspects: household paper,
>small tree limbs, etc. I have seen forever in rural SC backyards the
>"trash burning barrel", usually set above ground on a few bricks or
>concrete blocks. Most of these appear to be of the "55 gallon" variety,
>probably steel.
>The question? What is the best way of setting one of these up? How high
>off the ground? Do you punch holes in the bottom/side to facilitate
>burning? Do you use another fuel source?
>Any help appreciated. Thanks.
I have one set on "a few bricks", as you say, out in the back of my
house. It is indeed the 55 gal variety. I did whack a couple of
holes in the side near the bottom in order to get good air flow
(faster, more complete burning). I try to be good and only throw in
stuff that isn't easily recyclable, and I find I still have use for it
on an every 2-3 day basis. Not much to it, but I would recommend
keeping a pretty close eye on your fire until you get a "feel" for how
big it can burn. Nobody wants that kind of fun...
Robert Melohn
some sort in the bottom. Raise the whole thing onto a few bricks
and surround the whole thing with stones. Make a few holes on
the side of the barrel near the bottom (just where the grid is
inside). The thing will burn everything like a jet engine, and it
will get so hot that dioxines and other toxics are vitually
non-existant. BE SURE IT WILL NO FALL OVER OR REACH ANY LOW
BRANCHES (the flames can get very high).
I've got one like this and it burns 4-5 sacks of waste in a
matter of minutes, but it stays hot for hours.
The secret is to 'empty' it once every 3 months, and not to try
to burn tin cans an such. (Give all your organic waste to the
chickens!). Thumb rule: Seperate your waste and save time and
give the rats a hard time...
Robert Melohn
Jeffrey Vandyke
When I was a kid, we had the best burner I seen either then, or
now... Ours was (to the best of my recollection) made with a
layer of 1/2 inch (1 cm or so) wire mesh in a circle 2 feet in
diameter and approx 4 feet high. Certainly something approx
0.7-1.0 meter diameter by 1-1.5 meters high would work well.
Around this layer of mesh was about 2 layers of 1 inch by 2
inch-opening fencing. This "cylinder" sat with one open end
right on the ground. The top was closed by a square mesh made
by approximately the same method (good for keeping the ashes
from flying up in the air). It was hinged by a couple of stout
wires, to sit on top.
The tight spacing of all the fence and other wire kept ashes
from flying out (though a few sparks would fly up). One of the
main advantages of the design was that the trash was easy to
light, and there was plenty of oxygen available for the burn.
One thing I always hated about burning in a barrel is that it
took hours or even days sometimes for the fire to get through,
and the amount of smoke produced was incredible. We were
generally done and through with our burning within a half hour,
and had very little smoke produced. Oh, yes... one other
advantage of this design is that it lets you easily use a poker
to stir the ashes (and break up newspapers, etc) for a complete
burn. I don't believe we had to empty the ashes more than
about every couple of years, and we burned a lot of trash.
-<On 07-23-95 04:56, through the porthole we saw
-<Robert Melohn <10034...@CompuServe.COM> say to All:
10> make sure diesel or kerosin barrel cannor be used also for
10> transport (these barrels are very sought after in small
10> communities).
10> - Organic waste = chickens/ducks/pigs
10> - tins/cans/metal= landfill
10> - evrything else = barrel with holes in it acting like a "jet
10> engine" when U light it !
10> Robert Melohn
10> Shore Cottage
10> Isle of Eigg
10> Inner Hebrides
10> Scotland
10> --
10> "Shore Cottage", Isle of Eigg, Inner Hebrides, Scotland
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
Hikeyba
I mount it on a pole above a cement slabe. Come winter I pull it off the
1' pole stand a throw it in the barn.