Tim Lamb writes:

In message , Huge
writes
On 2011-09-20, Windmill wrote:
I've been using an old 45 gal. diesel drum to burn leaves and branches,
and, maybe because of our excellent summer, am finding it more
difficult than expected to get everything to burn.

I had made a series of small holes (about 5/16) in the base, and a
similar series in two rings around the lower part of the barrel.
Enlarging three of the lower holes on the barrel to one inch didn't
seem to help the burning.

Does anyone have recommendations for optimum ventilation?

I ended up cutting the bottom out of ours completely. Stand it
on some bricks to raise it up off the ground.

Look up Silsoe incinerator. The agricultural college did some work
optimising the hole size and spacing. They used a raised mesh of some
sort to form a hearth.

http://adlib.everysite.co.uk/resourc...cineration.pdf

They are now banned from use in agriculture but I doubt that extends to
garden use:-)

That's a very useful link; some concrete suggestions about hole size
and spacing, though garden waste is a bit different from "containers".

I didn't want to start with large holes then try to reduce them!

--
Windmill, Use t m i l l
@ O n e t e l dot c o m
J.R.R. Tolkien: All that is gold does not glister / Not all who wander are lost