"Bob G" wrote in message
...
On 12 Jul 2004 16:42:37 GMT, Ignoramus32482
wrote:

big snip
My solid cover and expanded metal cover have both
outlasted several barrels.

Bob




In my area, Southern West-Central Michigan, the law requires a cover
such as your expanded metal one. The law states that all burn barrels
must be covered with a weighted metal cover, with holes no larger than
3/4".

Here is a link to the law in Illinois I found on a Google search for
"Illinois burn barrel law".

http://www.epa.state.il.us/community.../burn-barrels/

Best Wishes,

Ken Olson
Clarksville MI USA

On Thu, 15 Jul 2004 00:46:14 -0700, Tim May
wrote:


It's idiotic to plan to make a 55-gallon drum into a firepit.

(I thought the thread was a joke, but then people began contributing
silly ideas, advice about whether $5 was too much to pay, about whether
$8 was the righ price, etc.)

Fact is, a 55-gal drum is too high for social uses. It's the right
height for Detroit or Chicago ******s and Mexicans to stand around,
burning used pallets and breathing in that pressure-treated lumber
aroma.

For white people, a fire pit should be a sociable height. And white
people presumably _own_ the property they are building the firepit on,
as opposed to the skanks and addicts setting fires in 55-gal drums to
keep warm on cold Detroit and Chicago nights.

A firepit in a backyard can easily be made of just a dozen or fewer
cinderblocks, arranged in a circle. Or bricks, for a fancier setup.

This produces a fire at a sociable height, where people are in lawn
chairs or whatever. Not like a bunch of ******s rubbing their hands
around a 55-gal drum where old transformers are being burned.

Are you unemployed people all going ****** on us?

--Tim May

Hmmm. Actually he was talking about burning various rubbish. Which
is legal in a great many places. Tho, often there are various safety
rules which must be followed. ie All ignitable items, other than the
stuff to be burned must be removed to a distance of 3 feet all around.
Call should be made to city office to ensure that a burning ban isn't
in effect due to conditions being too dry. So on and so forth.

A barrel of the sort I described does a better job, due to better air
circulation, a bit extra height, and so forth, in burning rubbish.
And burning it pretty damn completely. I know, Tim. I've been doing
it for many years. As have a great many other folk I know.

You can also relocate it easily on your property if needed for
convenience. ie Where I live everyone has at least a couple acres.
So, for instance, one neighbor of mine, instead of hauling trash clear
across property to put in barrel. Has two locations he commonly uses,
And, like myself, when not using it, he moves it to a storage location
to keep it out of the rain.

Now, a fire pit is a different subject. I have one of those also. As
you asserted, easily to build. I ringed a circle with interlocking
concrete blocks. Then dug a hole inside the circle. Made a small
trench in which I laid some large pipe. Trench angling down from
ground level to bottom of pit. Covered pipe. Put screen over above
ground end. For combustion air. To allow air to reach into pit at a
low point.

Didn't have to, but decided to get decorative. Removed sod and some
underlying dirt in a suitable area aound pit. Laid in sand and
gravel, then mixed and poured concrete. Now, I'd bought a couple
molds some years back. At a state fair, where a guy was selling em.
Plastic molds which one lays on top of wet conrete, then press down
upon. Molds have "pockets" in then of varying size and shapes. Idea
is to press em into place for a bit, at the right time, then remove.
Leaves top of concrete with a pattern. Which when painted, makes
surface look like it's made of cut stones of various sorts and colors.

Works pretty nifty. But I decided after the one use that it was more
work and effort than it was worth to me. So next time the wife wanted
a stone surface, I just bought the rocks, already cut flat on one side
from this place I know, and used those.

Anyway, you're right. Such a fire pit is a nice place to relax,
socialize, sip a cool drink in hot weather, or a cup of hot cider in
cool weather. While perhaps roasting some marshmallows or whatever
just for fun. My kids, and their kids, friends, etc routinely come
over several times in a year, and we do just that.

But a burn barrel, or burn pit .... and a fire pit for enjoying an
evening fire, are two different things.

Bob

It being a dull day, I decide to respond to what Gunner
foisted Thu, 15 Jul 2004 03:16:10 GMT on
misc.survivalism , viz:
On 14 Jul 2004 10:38:07 -0700, (Fred Walter)
wrote:

However never ever use a metal shelf from a fridge,
because some of those are supposed to give off poisonous fumes when heated.

They are often galvanized (old ones)..after the first burn, the zinc
is burned out and they are safe to use. Just stay up wind on the first
burn. And its not all that bad..welders hate welding galv. but in
small doses it only makes you think you are going to die G

Drink plenty of milk. I'm told a large glass of milk after doing
anything which might result in zinc fumes (welding, smelting, casting, etc)
goes a long way towards preventing the nasty headache, aches and general
blahs.

(Oh great, now I'm seeing a welder's hood with a milk moustache and "Got
Milk?" underneath.)




--
pyotr filipivich
"Do not argue with the forces of nature, for you are small,
insignificant, and biodegradable."

Turns out that burning trash is illegal in my state, for good
environmental reasons. It makes dioxin and whatnot.

i

In article , Bob G wrote:
On Thu, 15 Jul 2004 00:46:14 -0700, Tim May
wrote:


It's idiotic to plan to make a 55-gallon drum into a firepit.

(I thought the thread was a joke, but then people began contributing
silly ideas, advice about whether $5 was too much to pay, about whether
$8 was the righ price, etc.)

Fact is, a 55-gal drum is too high for social uses. It's the right
height for Detroit or Chicago ******s and Mexicans to stand around,
burning used pallets and breathing in that pressure-treated lumber
aroma.

For white people, a fire pit should be a sociable height. And white
people presumably _own_ the property they are building the firepit on,
as opposed to the skanks and addicts setting fires in 55-gal drums to
keep warm on cold Detroit and Chicago nights.

A firepit in a backyard can easily be made of just a dozen or fewer
cinderblocks, arranged in a circle. Or bricks, for a fancier setup.

This produces a fire at a sociable height, where people are in lawn
chairs or whatever. Not like a bunch of ******s rubbing their hands
around a 55-gal drum where old transformers are being burned.

Are you unemployed people all going ****** on us?


Hmmm. Actually he was talking about burning various rubbish. Which
is legal in a great many places. Tho, often there are various safety
rules which must be followed. ie All ignitable items, other than the
stuff to be burned must be removed to a distance of 3 feet all around.
Call should be made to city office to ensure that a burning ban isn't
in effect due to conditions being too dry. So on and so forth.

A barrel of the sort I described does a better job, due to better air
circulation, a bit extra height, and so forth, in burning rubbish.
And burning it pretty damn completely. I know, Tim. I've been doing
it for many years. As have a great many other folk I know.

You can also relocate it easily on your property if needed for
convenience. ie Where I live everyone has at least a couple acres.
So, for instance, one neighbor of mine, instead of hauling trash clear
across property to put in barrel. Has two locations he commonly uses,
And, like myself, when not using it, he moves it to a storage location
to keep it out of the rain.

Now, a fire pit is a different subject. I have one of those also. As
you asserted, easily to build. I ringed a circle with interlocking
concrete blocks. Then dug a hole inside the circle. Made a small
trench in which I laid some large pipe. Trench angling down from
ground level to bottom of pit. Covered pipe. Put screen over above
ground end. For combustion air. To allow air to reach into pit at a
low point.

Didn't have to, but decided to get decorative. Removed sod and some
underlying dirt in a suitable area aound pit. Laid in sand and
gravel, then mixed and poured concrete. Now, I'd bought a couple
molds some years back. At a state fair, where a guy was selling em.
Plastic molds which one lays on top of wet conrete, then press down
upon. Molds have "pockets" in then of varying size and shapes. Idea
is to press em into place for a bit, at the right time, then remove.
Leaves top of concrete with a pattern. Which when painted, makes
surface look like it's made of cut stones of various sorts and colors.

Works pretty nifty. But I decided after the one use that it was more
work and effort than it was worth to me. So next time the wife wanted
a stone surface, I just bought the rocks, already cut flat on one side
from this place I know, and used those.

Anyway, you're right. Such a fire pit is a nice place to relax,
socialize, sip a cool drink in hot weather, or a cup of hot cider in
cool weather. While perhaps roasting some marshmallows or whatever
just for fun. My kids, and their kids, friends, etc routinely come
over several times in a year, and we do just that.

But a burn barrel, or burn pit .... and a fire pit for enjoying an
evening fire, are two different things.

Bob

On 16 Jul 2004 00:42:27 GMT, Ignoramus23926
wrote:

Turns out that burning trash is illegal in my state, for good
environmental reasons. It makes dioxin and whatnot.

i

Chuckle, true enough. I've read the studies.

Of course the newspapers, enviornmental groups, and so forth get wild
about reporting and discussing it, as if it were nearly the end of the
world that people are allowed to burn trash. And that trash burning
by private individuals is the new "greatest threat" to the
enviornment.

And of course, city council members, county and state government
officials hop on the hype and hyperbole with gusto, but not too much
in the way of cogent thought, knowledge, or understanding of the
chemistry. And print new fliers and posters, and pass new laws
prohibiting trash burning. Make press announcements about their new
laws, pat each other on the back and tell each other, "Ohhh, we're so
wonderful. Aren't we?" Etc.

ROFL ......

If yah actually read the relative studies and evidence. The actual
study results, not the news reporter hype material. And the
discussion about the issue done by -chemists-, not the discussions
done by what are too often the science illiterate enviornmental whacko
groups. You'll note that the main problem is that some folks do not
know better, and burn various plastics and other man-made artifical
materials (nylon, naugahide, so on and so forth) in their burn
barrels.

This is a no-no, or should be.

If you did not know, a lot of the man-made materials commonly found in
homes, release some nasty stuff when burned. Particularly materials
made of PVC.

Tho other commonly found materials, such as shrink wrap, plastic milk
cartons, other plastic containers, plastic bags, styrofoam, "foam
rubber", and so forth are also a problem. As concerns producing
dioxins when burned incompletely at the lower temps commonly found in
burn barrels. But PVC is THE biggy as a producer of dioxins when
burned improperly.

There are some other sources of chlorine in household trash. Common
table salt that'd been put on food, bleached paper, etc. But these
are so negligiable in effect that they can be effectively dismissed as
a concern.

Around here, the solution was that locally folks were informed as to
what NOT to burn in their burn barrels. And so were the county
sheriff's deputies. The deputies don't check everyone making a burn.
But do make spot checks as they have time, or if they see a lot of
black smoke. Make sure you've taken the proper safety precautions,
and that you're not burning stuff yah shouldn't.

So, locally, not a big issue. Especially as I live in a low
population density area. Rural. Tho, the deputies I mentioned WILL
ticket your ass if they catch yah burning stuff you shouldn't. Which
is reasonable, IMHO. As mentioned, they don't try to stop at every
burn, but do make routine checks. I've had one of the local guys stop
a couple times, just to take a look. Which I have no problem with.
This is why we pay taxes, and hire deputies, right? So we have
somebody who'll be out there checking to ensure folks aren't doing
stuff which is unsafe or illegal, etc.

I know some folks on this misc.survivalism have a dislike and distrust
for "cops" in general. Shrug Maybe with reason. In a lifetime,
I've run across what I thought was a bad cop, from time to time.

However, I think most of em are good, decent folks trying to do a good
job.

Bob

In article , Bob G wrote:
On 16 Jul 2004 00:42:27 GMT, Ignoramus23926
wrote:

Turns out that burning trash is illegal in my state, for good
environmental reasons. It makes dioxin and whatnot.

i

Chuckle, true enough. I've read the studies.

Of course the newspapers, enviornmental groups, and so forth get wild
about reporting and discussing it, as if it were nearly the end of the
world that people are allowed to burn trash. And that trash burning
by private individuals is the new "greatest threat" to the
enviornment.

Supposedly, half of dioxin comes from burn barrels.

http://www.epa.state.il.us/community.../burn-barrels/

If yah actually read the relative studies and evidence. The actual
study results, not the news reporter hype material. And the
discussion about the issue done by -chemists-, not the discussions
done by what are too often the science illiterate enviornmental whacko
groups. You'll note that the main problem is that some folks do not
know better, and burn various plastics and other man-made artifical
materials (nylon, naugahide, so on and so forth) in their burn
barrels.

This is a no-no, or should be.

Well, duh, you are right, but precisely that's why they outlaw burn
barrels, so that retards or ignorant people would not do it.

If you did not know, a lot of the man-made materials commonly found in
homes, release some nasty stuff when burned. Particularly materials
made of PVC.

yep.

You are right in that if informed people burn stuff, it would be
better.

In any case, I gave up on the idea of a burn barrel, as I think that I
will make the rest of the society to pay for what essentially is my
entertainment.

i

Gunner wrote:
On 14 Jul 2004 10:38:07 -0700, (Fred Walter)
wrote:


However never ever use a metal shelf from a fridge,
because some of those are supposed to give off poisonous fumes when heated.


They are often galvanized (old ones)..after the first burn, the zinc
is burned out and they are safe to use. Just stay up wind on the first
burn. And its not all that bad..welders hate welding galv. but in
small doses it only makes you think you are going to die G

Gunner


Makes you feel like you're gonna die and afraid you might be wrong.

BTW, don't know why, but the "milk treatment" works for me.