"Laphing Boy" wrote:

Hello Laphing

LB I have a load of branches from trees that blew down. I want
LB to burn them, but have been failing in the bonfire
LB department. Any good advice on how to light a bonfire?

Heh, used to light 5-6 bonfires a day when hedging, in all weathers,
and it's not always easy. Did this for about five years with no
drama, although when I was away one day, one of the other lads set
five acres of gorse on fire... Another guy left his chainsaw too
close to the fire when he went for lunch - wasn't much left of it
afterwards...

My method is:

1. Gather a bunch of stuff to burn and locate site - not good grass,
not underneath power or telecoms lines, away from gorse, hedges, trees
- anything combustible. Common sense stuff.

2. Spend five minutes snapping dead wood from hedges, trees etc. Never
from the ground unless it's high summer, it's always damp in the core
even if it looks dry. Small twigs through to bigger stuff. Build small
twigs up to about 8" high in a criss-cross pattern.

3. Light twigs using newspaper. We used petrol and oil, but not
recommended unless you know what you're doing unless you hate your
eyebrows. For extreme weather or speed, use an inner tube (Never tyres
- the metal bands take too long to collect afterwards).

4. Slowly put on bigger dead wood until all gone. Avoid dead wood more
than a couple of inches in diameter.

5. Start with rest of wood. Use small branches first, snapping as you
go - at this point you start laying them ALL in the same direction. If
you cross it then the fire simply burns a hole in the middle and goes
out.

6. Keep adding, limiting supply if you want to keep your fire small.
Watch it and occasionally tuck the ends in with a fork. Fire is a
living thing and it needs a good supply of air at the base and fuel on
top. Give it those two things and it'll be happy.

To finish off safely, watch until the flames die down. Tuck in the
edges until everything is burnt leaving just the ash circle. Don't
leave the fire unattended unless you're confident it's safe.
Sandwiches on a pitchfork held over the embers taste fantastic!


After the big storms of '89 I was clearing at Greenaway house (Agatha
Christie's old house near Kingsbridge). We spend two weeks building
the mother of all bonfires - using a JCB for moots and entire trees
80+ foot long (timber at that time was worthless). The finished
article covered about half an acre and over a hundred foot high. Once
we lit it, the thing burnt for three months, being added to for the
first month. Quite a sight.

--
Simon Avery, Dartmoor, UK Ý http://www.digdilem.org/