Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
|
#1
|
|||
|
|||
waiting for wood to dry to burn
Having chopped down a vast laurel tree we are left with a huge mountain of
branches and leaves to dispose of. If we left this heap to just sit there, how long before it would dry enough so we could just burn it in a dustbin? Or would it take so long we just have to face up to cutting it up and taking away to the local dump. |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
waiting for wood to dry to burn
In article ,
lid says... Having chopped down a vast laurel tree we are left with a huge mountain of branches and leaves to dispose of. If we left this heap to just sit there, how long before it would dry enough so we could just burn it in a dustbin? Or would it take so long we just have to face up to cutting it up and taking away to the local dump. Normally burns with great vigour after a couple of days, trick is to get the fire good and hot first using the non leafy stuff -- Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall www.roselandhouse.co.uk Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and Lapageria rosea |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
waiting for wood to dry to burn
On Tue, 3 Aug 2010 09:32:22 +0100, john hamilton wrote:
If we left this heap to just sit there, how long before it would dry enough so we could just burn it in a dustbin? Why bother with a dustbin (by which I presume you mean a metal dustbin like garden incinerator)? Build a fire on the ground and get a decent bit of heat going and it'll burn now. Might be worth leaving it a week or so so the leaves burn when put on rather that produce smoke. You'll need some dryish wood to get the initial fire and heat going. Cut what have into 2' or so bits, ready to put only 3 or 4 on at a time. Pay attention to the weather, don't have the fire on a scroching hot still day when people will want their windows open, and look for neighbours with washing hung out to dry... -- Cheers Dave. |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
waiting for wood to dry to burn
On 03/08/2010 10:32, Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Tue, 3 Aug 2010 09:32:22 +0100, john hamilton wrote: If we left this heap to just sit there, how long before it would dry enough so we could just burn it in a dustbin? Why bother with a dustbin (by which I presume you mean a metal dustbin like garden incinerator)? Build a fire on the ground and get a decent bit of heat going and it'll burn now. Might be worth leaving it a week or so so the leaves burn when put on rather that produce smoke. You'll need some dryish wood to get the initial fire and heat going. Cut what have into 2' or so bits, ready to put only 3 or 4 on at a time. Pay attention to the weather, don't have the fire on a scroching hot still day when people will want their windows open, and look for neighbours with washing hung out to dry... ..... and remember that the toxic sap will give off cyanide fumes. Make sure you stand upwind of the smoke. -- Spider from high ground in SE London gardening on clay |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
waiting for wood to dry to burn
In article ,
Spider wrote: .... and remember that the toxic sap will give off cyanide fumes. Make sure you stand upwind of the smoke. I doubt that there will be enough to be serious, because hydrogen cyanide is extremely flammable, with a flash point of -18. See: http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/healthguide...cognition.html Not breathing smoke is generally a good idea, for many reasons. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
waiting for wood to dry to burn
On 09/08/2010 14:58, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In , wrote: .... and remember that the toxic sap will give off cyanide fumes. Make sure you stand upwind of the smoke. I doubt that there will be enough to be serious, because hydrogen cyanide is extremely flammable, with a flash point of -18. See: http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/healthguide...cognition.html Not breathing smoke is generally a good idea, for many reasons. Regards, Nick Maclaren. Interesting link. Thanks, Nick. All the same, it describes it as pretty nasty. I would like to think most people would have the sense to avoid smoke, but I have seen gardeners stubbornly standing in a cloud of smoke whilst prodding their bonfire. Until the fire becomes hot enough to reach that flash point (or repel a dozy gardener), surely toxic vapours will escape? I wouldn't want to risk it. -- Spider from high ground in SE London gardening on clay |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
waiting for wood to dry to burn
In article ,
Spider wrote: .... and remember that the toxic sap will give off cyanide fumes. Make sure you stand upwind of the smoke. I doubt that there will be enough to be serious, because hydrogen cyanide is extremely flammable, with a flash point of -18. See: Interesting link. Thanks, Nick. All the same, it describes it as pretty nasty. I would like to think most people would have the sense to avoid smoke, but I have seen gardeners stubbornly standing in a cloud of smoke whilst prodding their bonfire. Until the fire becomes hot enough to reach that flash point (or repel a dozy gardener), surely toxic vapours will escape? I wouldn't want to risk it. Er, that's -18 Celsius. If your bonfires are regularly below that, I suspect that you come from somewhere a long way from here - perhaps one of the transjovian planets :-) The carbon monoxide in bonfire smoke can be lethal, but that's independent of what's being burnt. The only plants that I know of that produce seriously toxic smoke are some of the sumachs (i.e. Toxicodendron, and POSSIBLY others) and some tropical ones. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
waiting for wood to dry to burn
Spider wrote:
I doubt that there will be enough to be serious, because hydrogen cyanide is extremely flammable, with a flash point of -18. See: Interesting link. Thanks, Nick. All the same, it describes it as pretty nasty. I would like to think most people would have the sense to avoid smoke, but I have seen gardeners stubbornly standing in a cloud of smoke whilst prodding their bonfire. Until the fire becomes hot enough to reach that flash point (or repel a dozy gardener), surely toxic vapours will escape? I wouldn't want to risk it. I'll be quite impressed if you can get your fire burning lower than -18! |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
waiting for wood to dry to burn
In message
Spider wrote: On 03/08/2010 10:32, Dave Liquorice wrote: On Tue, 3 Aug 2010 09:32:22 +0100, john hamilton wrote: If we left this heap to just sit there, how long before it would dry enough so we could just burn it in a dustbin? Why bother with a dustbin (by which I presume you mean a metal dustbin like garden incinerator)? Build a fire on the ground and get a decent bit of heat going and it'll burn now. Might be worth leaving it a week or so so the leaves burn when put on rather that produce smoke. You'll need some dryish wood to get the initial fire and heat going. Cut what have into 2' or so bits, ready to put only 3 or 4 on at a time. Pay attention to the weather, don't have the fire on a scroching hot still day when people will want their windows open, and look for neighbours with washing hung out to dry... .... and remember that the toxic sap will give off cyanide fumes. Make sure you stand upwind of the smoke. The smoke from incompletely burned vegetable matter is harmful. That is well known in the case of tobacco, why should we think that other kinds of vegetable matter are different? (The nicotine is not harmful, it is merely the addictive ingredient) It is now recognised that smouldering fire smoke from cooking is a major health problem in Africa. And coal smoke. It is simply very old vegetable matter which has already been cooked a little by the heat of the earth. Michael Bell -- |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
waiting for wood to dry to burn
"john hamilton" wrote in
: Having chopped down a vast laurel tree we are left with a huge mountain of branches and leaves to dispose of. If we left this heap to just sit there, how long before it would dry enough so we could just burn it in a dustbin? Or would it take so long we just have to face up to cutting it up and taking away to the local dump. What we did last year with a load of Leylanii trees we cut down was to wait for 5Nov and burn them on a big big bonfire. Where I live it is illegal to bonfire, the exception is 5Nov. though I think it is illegal even then but everyone cannot be prosecuted. Another snag is the heat will be intense so keep it away from neighbours property including wooden fences, windows, sheds etc. Nothing is easy is it. If you can be bothered you could compost the leaves to use in 2012 Sandra and Micky |
#11
|
|||
|
|||
waiting for wood to dry to burn
On Tue, 03 Aug 2010 12:25:50 GMT, Escargo wrote:
Another snag is the heat will be intense so keep it away from neighbours property including wooden fences, windows, sheds etc. Cars, plants... A big bonfire with all the timber on in one go will shove out *a lot* of heat but a smaller fire, such as I previously described, is much more manageable. Still needs to be at least 3 or 4 yards away from anything that might get damaged by heat though. -- Cheers Dave. |
#12
|
|||
|
|||
waiting for wood to dry to burn
On 3 Aug, 09:32, "john hamilton" wrote:
Having chopped down a vast laurel tree we are left with a huge mountain of branches and leaves to dispose of. * If we left this heap to just sit there, how long before it would dry enough so we could just burn it in a dustbin? Or would it take so long we just have to face up to cutting it up and taking away to the local dump. I have a shredder. Best thing I ever bought. I have long native hedges. Everything goes in the shredder and is used as mulch or composted. If it's too big for the shredder, it goes in my wood store for the wood stove. |
#13
|
|||
|
|||
waiting for wood to dry to burn
harry wrote in
: On 3 Aug, 09:32, "john hamilton" wrote: Having chopped down a vast laurel tree we are left with a huge mountain o f branches and leaves to dispose of. * If we left this heap to just sit t here, how long before it would dry enough so we could just burn it in a dustbin ? Or would it take so long we just have to face up to cutting it up and tak ing away to the local dump. I have a shredder. Best thing I ever bought. I have long native hedges. Everything goes in the shredder and is used as mulch or composted. If it's too big for the shredder, it goes in my wood store for the wood stove. Would love a shredder but with a young family, mortgage, car etc. it is something in the future. Smaller garden stuff like broad bean stalks, cabbage leaves, and that kind of stuff can be run over with the lawnmower to make it compost quicker, it really works well but the mower needs to be up to the job ie: quite powerful. Give it a go and you will see what I mean. Sandra and Micky |
#14
|
|||
|
|||
waiting for wood to dry to burn
On Tue, 3 Aug 2010 09:32:22 +0100, "john hamilton"
wrote: Having chopped down a vast laurel tree we are left with a huge mountain of branches and leaves to dispose of. If we left this heap to just sit there, how long before it would dry enough so we could just burn it in a dustbin? Or would it take so long we just have to face up to cutting it up and taking away to the local dump. Put it on freecycle if you don't want it. -- http://www.bra-and-pants.com http://www.holidayunder100.co.uk |
#15
|
|||
|
|||
waiting for wood to dry to burn
"john hamilton" wrote in message ... Having chopped down a vast laurel tree we are left with a huge mountain of branches and leaves to dispose of. If we left this heap to just sit there, how long before it would dry enough so we could just burn it in a dustbin? That depends on whether it rains or not. Laurel actually burns quite well green once you have a good hot fire going. Mike |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Dry leaves waiting to drop | Garden Photos | |||
plenty of rude dry frames strongly learn as the brave barbers burn | United Kingdom | |||
question about 'sun burn' or 'lamp burn' | Orchids | |||
question about 'sun burn' or 'lamp burn' | Orchids | |||
dry dry dry | United Kingdom |