Flame Thrower
Tim Hunt
but before I do, I thought I'd try to tap the wealth of knowledge within
the News group.
Please could you tell me:
1. How easy to use & effective are they ?
2. Do they cost much to run & can you still buy Paraffin in bulk ?
3. What are the alternatives ? - I think I need something more robust
that the sort of gas powered thing you can get from Argos
4. Any body know of a supplier (Suffolk area or mail order) that
represents value for money - local supplier can sell one for about £140.
Which is rather a lot compared to the cost of weed killer - but I don't
want to go down the weed killer route.
Thanks for your help,
Tim.
Rod Craddock
Tim Hunt <tim.j...@btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:38F5B33E...@btinternet.com...
> I'm thinking of purchasing a paraffin flame thrower for weed control, but
before I do, I thought I'd try to tap the wealth of knowledge within the
News group.
>
> Please could you tell me:
> 1. How easy to use & effective are they ?
Horrible, dirty, timewasting, dangerous and not that effective.
> 2. Do they cost much to run & can you still buy Paraffin in bulk ?
Not sure about cost but paraffin shouldn't be a problem, 28 sec kerosene
would do at a push but it would be even dirtier.
> 3. What are the alternatives ? - I think I need something more robust
> that the sort of gas powered thing you can get from Argos
Calor propane. The equipment is made by Bullfinch.
http://www.bullfinch-gas.co.uk/product.html
Yes about £140 for a 3 burner model.
Much nicer to use and very powerful, watch your eybrows!
Not a lot of use for general weed control, anything much bigger than a newly
germinated seedling is likely to recover unless hit hard and often. The main
danger is that repeated heavy use destroys the humus in the top layer of
soil. You can easily do more co-lateral damage with this thing than with
correctly used herbicides.
We use it for controlling weeds in uneven paving, uneven walls and beaten
earth paths in our Victorian greenhouses at work. Fine for that subject to
the warning about eybrows or hairdo.
Rod
JennyC
"Rod Craddock" <r...@gw4slk.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
news:8d53th$1h2$1...@newsg3.svr.pol.co.uk...
>
> Tim Hunt <tim.j...@btinternet.com> wrote in message
> news:38F5B33E...@btinternet.com...
> > I'm thinking of purchasing a paraffin flame thrower for weed control
If you get one, maybe you could turn it on all the nitwits from Birmingham
that seem to be popping up like weeds in URG :~))
Jenny
Nick Maclaren
A large capacity sprayer filled with ice-cold water would probably
be better - their postings are overheated enough as it is :-)
Is Birmingham really the location of the National Collection of
Nitwits?
Regards,
Nick Maclaren,
University of Cambridge Computing Service,
New Museums Site, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3QG, England.
Email: nm...@cam.ac.uk
Tel.: +44 1223 334761 Fax: +44 1223 334679
Alan Gould
<tim.j...@btinternet.com> writes
>I'm thinking of purchasing a paraffin flame thrower for weed control,
>but before I do, I thought I'd try to tap the wealth of knowledge within
>the News group.
>
>Please could you tell me:
>1. How easy to use & effective are they ?
>that the sort of gas powered thing you can get from Argos
>represents value for money - local supplier can sell one for about £140.
>Which is rather a lot compared to the cost of weed killer - but I don't
>want to go down the weed killer route.
I would regard a flame-thrower as being a weed-killer, just as much as
chemicals are, and just as much as my hoe and strimmer are. The
difference being that once I have hoed or strimmed off weeds, they
either bio-degrade back into the soil, or they are collected up and
composted. That way my garden gets back what was taken from it.
--
Alan & Joan Gould, North Lincs. Life begins every morning.
<al...@agolincs.demon.co.uk>
John Neale Baraclough
from Tim Hunt <tim.j...@btinternet.com> contains these words:
> I'm thinking of purchasing a paraffin flame thrower for weed control,
> Please could you tell me:
> 1. How easy to use & effective are they ?
You can't hope to use them in among plants you wish to keep, but
they are useful on gravel drives and empty beds.It incinerates any
weed seeds lying on the surface and emerging seedlings.
If you like thrills they can be used to clear areas of tall rushes
etc, but only try this on a windless day with someone standing by
handy with water and beaters.
They don't instantly incinerate anything except a haze of germinating
weeds.Anything else takes two stages a few days apart, the first a
quick pass which kills the top growth a few days later; the second to
burn up the dead plant.Deep rooted weeds like dock will recover later.
> 2. Do they cost much to run & can you still buy Paraffin in bulk ?
I buy it from a rural garage by the gallon; it isn't dirt cheap any
more . or as widely available; check out if you have a convenient
local supplier.Still cheaper than weedkiller on a drive.It's as easy
to use as a primus cooking stove.
Janet.
Edward Tweedly
> I would regard a flame-thrower as being a weed-killer, just as much as
> chemicals are, and just as much as my hoe and strimmer are. The
> difference being that once I have hoed or strimmed off weeds, they
> either bio-degrade back into the soil, or they are collected up and
> composted. That way my garden gets back what was taken from it.
> --
> Alan & Joan Gould, North Lincs. Life begins every morning.
> <al...@agolincs.demon.co.uk>
>
in a useful form (although chemically-killed stuff may not)?
--
Edward Tweedly
http://www.tweedly.com
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Nick Maclaren
In article <8ebjat$87e$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>, Edward Tweedly <etwe...@my-deja.com> writes:
|> Alan Gould <al...@agolincs.demon.co.uk> wrote:
|> > I would regard a flame-thrower as being a weed-killer, just as much as
|> > chemicals are, and just as much as my hoe and strimmer are. The
|> > difference being that once I have hoed or strimmed off weeds, they
|> > either bio-degrade back into the soil, or they are collected up and
|> > composted. That way my garden gets back what was taken from it.
|> >
|> in a useful form (although chemically-killed stuff may not)?
Not really. A few minerals do, but others are only usable in
the form of organic complexes, which are often destroyed by
burning. And, most importantly, almost all of the nitrogen and
carbon complexes (which decompose to form humus) are lost.
Edward Tweedly
> Edward Tweedly <etwe...@my-deja.com> writes:
> |> Respectfully, does burnt vegetable matter not also return to the
soil
> |> in a useful form (although chemically-killed stuff may not)?
>
> Not really. A few minerals do, but others are only usable in
> the form of organic complexes, which are often destroyed by
> burning. And, most importantly, almost all of the nitrogen and
> carbon complexes (which decompose to form humus) are lost.
>
> Regards,
> Nick Maclaren,
> University of Cambridge Computing Service,
> New Museums Site, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3QG, England.
> Email: nm...@cam.ac.uk
> Tel.: +44 1223 334761 Fax: +44 1223 334679
>
I don't know squat about gardening (I'm learning), but I remember the
discussion about burning, from many years ago, in the context of
whether a responsible backwoods hiker lights fires or not. Back in the
80's many argued that burning wood was OK because it returned to the
soil anyway. Always seemed too good to be true, to me.
Anton
Edward Tweedly <etwe...@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:8em55d$dtf$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
> nm...@cus.cam.ac.uk (Nick Maclaren) wrote:
> > Edward Tweedly <etwe...@my-deja.com> writes:
> > |> Respectfully, does burnt vegetable matter not also return to the
> soil
> > |> in a useful form (although chemically-killed stuff may not)?
> >
> > Not really. A few minerals do, but others are only usable in
> > the form of organic complexes, which are often destroyed by
> > burning. And, most importantly, almost all of the nitrogen and
> > carbon complexes (which decompose to form humus) are lost.
> >
>
> I don't know squat about gardening (I'm learning), but I remember the
> discussion about burning, from many years ago, in the context of
> whether a responsible backwoods hiker lights fires or not. Back in the
> 80's many argued that burning wood was OK because it returned to the
> soil anyway. Always seemed too good to be true, to me.
IMHO you are taking Nick's point too far. In a garden context flamethrower
use can reduce the amount of humus & nitrogen in the soil. This can be a
bonus in the middle of your drive or patio, but is a disadvantage in your
vegetable patch. The organic complexes Nick refers to probably re-form
quite fast in the soil anyway.
A 'responsible backwoods hiker' should be incredibly careful about fire
because of the associated risks of starting forest or brush fires, not
because his tiny human-scale efforts amount to a crumb in a bread factory
one way or the other in the global nitrogen or carbon cycles.
--
Anton
Nick Maclaren
In article <IjBQ4.4030$ml4.4080@NewsReader>, "Anton" <popi...@btNOSPAMconnect.com> writes:
|>
|> IMHO you are taking Nick's point too far. In a garden context flamethrower
|> use can reduce the amount of humus & nitrogen in the soil. This can be a
|> bonus in the middle of your drive or patio, but is a disadvantage in your
|> vegetable patch. The organic complexes Nick refers to probably re-form
|> quite fast in the soil anyway.
It is more important in the context of whether to compost or burn
garden waste, of course.
|> A 'responsible backwoods hiker' should be incredibly careful about fire
|> because of the associated risks of starting forest or brush fires, not
|> because his tiny human-scale efforts amount to a crumb in a bread factory
|> one way or the other in the global nitrogen or carbon cycles.
Yes, quite.
Thomas Prufer
<etwe...@my-deja.com> wrote:
>Respectfully, does burnt vegetable matter not also return to the soil
>in a useful form (although chemically-killed stuff may not)?
Going back a bit -- isn't the idea of flaming off weeds to cook, steam
or wilt the aboveground bit rather than to burn them to ashes?
Thomas Prufer
Tom Houston
Thomas Prufer wrote:
> Going back a bit -- isn't the idea of flaming off weeds to cook, steam
> or wilt the aboveground bit rather than to burn them to ashes?
>
Yep, that's the way I was taught to do it.
Just a quick pass with the flame cooks/ kills off the top growth.
Uses too much paraffin otherwise.
Tom Houston