Burn barrel ventilation holes
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? -- 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 |
Burn barrel ventilation holes
In article , Huge wrote:
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. When mine burnt through the bottom, it worked really well until it got chucked out. Sez she, "it had a hole in the bottom". I had to get a new one that didn't burn nearly as well ... Nick -- Serendipity: http://www.leverton.org/blosxom (last update 29th March 2010) "The Internet, a sort of ersatz counterfeit of real life" -- Janet Street-Porter, BBC2, 19th March 1996 |
Burn barrel ventilation holes
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:-) regards -- Tim Lamb |
Burn barrel ventilation holes
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? Standard technique is to whack in some 1" holes using a pickaxe. |
Burn barrel ventilation holes
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. which excellent summer was that? 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? put it on bricks remove all the bottom and fit some expanded steel mesh flooring inside |
Burn barrel ventilation holes
|
Burn barrel ventilation holes
"Windmill" wrote in message ... 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? -- 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 I'm with Steve Firth on this one. Whack about 20 holes with a pick axe in the base, then stand it on bricks. If you cut 1/3rd of the top and 1/3rd of the bottom off a steel drum, then similarly whack in the holes they make a superb barbeque when set on a suitable frame, using weld mesh as the grilling surface. I've three done this way, and an angle iron frame to sit them on that neatly gets lifted to where ever we are feeding using forks on the back of the tractor. Last used a few weeks ago when we fed a couple of hundred people over two days. AWEM |
Burn barrel ventilation holes
On Sep 20, 11:08 pm, Tim Lamb wrote:
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 Tim Lamb That's interesting, thanks for that. The two rows of ventilation holes were to try to get it to act as a gasifier, with a primary and secondary air supply. This burns much more efficiently and cleanly than a simple fire for lots of reasons that can be found on the internet. On Sep 20, 11:54*pm, Grimly Curmudgeon wrote: On Tue, 20 Sep 2011 04:34:43 GMT, Pickaxe-sized holes around the bottom. Alternatively, one 2" hole near the bottom and feed it with blown air from an old furnace blower. Everything burns cleanly. 25+ years ago I used to have such an barrel rubbish burner with the ventilation holes as specified (pick-axe). I set up a blower with an old cylinder vacuum cleaner; the hose on some of these could be connected to the outlet if you needed a blower. Air was blown into the bottom of the barrel through a 10' length of scaffold tube, so the vacuum cleaner didn't get hot. After getting it burning, I set the vacuum cleaner going. Burning became very intense, all smoking ceased; 5 or 10 minutes later the barrel was incandescent, literally red (bright) hot. It started to collapse under it's own weight. Predictable; I'd made a blast furnace. A small blower would do this very well; a fan from a dead boiler or a car blower would do nicely. The latter would have speed controls. |
Burn barrel ventilation holes
In message
, Onetap writes On Sep 20, 11:08 pm, Tim Lamb wrote: 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 Tim Lamb That's interesting, thanks for that. The two rows of ventilation holes were to try to get it to act as a gasifier, with a primary and secondary air supply. This burns much more efficiently and cleanly than a simple fire for lots of reasons that can be found on the internet. I've given mine away. One point to watch; don't set one up under overhanging or nearby trees. regards -- Tim Lamb |
Burn barrel ventilation holes
On Sep 21, 9:40*am, Onetap wrote:
* 25+ years ago I used to have such an barrel rubbish burner with the ventilation holes as specified (pick-axe). By that, I meant a single row of holes around the base, not a two- row gasifier effort. Stuff burned but it smoked a lot, the ventilation gradually blocked with ashes and is smoked more, so I tried super-charging it, as described. |
Burn barrel ventilation holes
On Sep 21, 9:48 am, Tim Lamb wrote:
In message , Onetap writes On Sep 20, 11:08 pm, Tim Lamb wrote: 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 Tim Lamb That's interesting, thanks for that. The two rows of ventilation holes were to try to get it to act as a gasifier, with a primary and secondary air supply. This burns much more efficiently and cleanly than a simple fire for lots of reasons that can be found on the internet. I've given mine away. One point to watch; don't set one up under overhanging or nearby trees. unless you don't like them.... Jim K |
Burn barrel ventilation holes
On Wed, 21 Sep 2011 01:40:55 -0700 (PDT), Onetap
wrote: After getting it burning, I set the vacuum cleaner going. Burning became very intense, all smoking ceased; 5 or 10 minutes later the barrel was incandescent, literally red (bright) hot. It started to collapse under it's own weight. Predictable; I'd made a blast furnace. Hehe. I had best results by entering the air pipe tangentially - the incoming air cools the wall of the barrel as it spirals around. I got this idea from building a Turk burner for consuming old chip oil. http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_...arth/me10.html |
Burn barrel ventilation holes
On Sep 20, 5:34*am, (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? You cut or knock a largish hole in the middle of the base about 3 or 4 inches wide and stick a 3 x 3 down the middle of the barrel as you load it. Load the driest leaves into the centre around the timber then pack it down as you load it. Remove the timber and put a fire lighter or some kindling in the base. It will burn like a chimney fire when it warms up. Putting a lid on it with a small pipe to extend the chimney a yard or so and it will flare like a jet engine. Once it is burning nicely you can load it with wet leaves and it will keep going. Just pour them in around the sides so they feed into it slowly. |
Burn barrel ventilation holes
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 |
Burn barrel ventilation holes
Onetap writes:
On Sep 20, 11:54=A0pm, Grimly Curmudgeon wrote: On Tue, 20 Sep 2011 04:34:43 GMT, Pickaxe-sized holes around the bottom. Alternatively, one 2" hole near the bottom and feed it with blown air from an old furnace blower. Everything burns cleanly. 25+ years ago I used to have such an barrel rubbish burner with the ventilation holes as specified (pick-axe). I set up a blower with an old cylinder vacuum cleaner; the hose on some of these could be connected to the outlet if you needed a blower. Air was blown into the bottom of the barrel through a 10' length of scaffold tube, so the vacuum cleaner didn't get hot. After getting it burning, I set the vacuum cleaner going. Burning became very intense, all smoking ceased; 5 or 10 minutes later the barrel was incandescent, literally red (bright) hot. It started to collapse under it's own weight. Predictable; I'd made a blast furnace. A small blower would do this very well; a fan from a dead boiler or a car blower would do nicely. The latter would have speed controls. I'll have to see if I have anything which would do the job, though maybe just enlarging the holes would help. Your suggestion has brought to mind a memory from _many_ decades ago, of how effective small bellows were at resuscitating a fire from one or two embers. -- 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 |
Burn barrel ventilation holes
Nick Leverton writes:
When mine burnt through the bottom, it worked really well until it got chucked out. Sez she, "it had a hole in the bottom". I had to get a new one that didn't burn nearly as well ... I was hoping to reduce the mess by leaving the bottom in place and just perforating it a bit. I'll see how larger holes in the sides works out. I was actually surprised that it didn't burn better, but probably the fire was being starved of oxygen. -- 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 |
Burn barrel ventilation holes
Steve Firth writes:
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? Standard technique is to whack in some 1" holes using a pickaxe. Don't have a pickaxe, but I do have a 1" reduced-shank drill which fits a Bosch hand drill. I'm now reassured that larger holes won't have a negative effect. -- 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 |
Burn barrel ventilation holes
The Natural Philosopher writes:
Does anyone have recommendations for optimum ventilation? put it on bricks remove all the bottom and fit some expanded steel mesh flooring inside Think I'll try enlarging the side holes first; I'm trying to keep the assorted small unburnt (green) twigs etc. inside for easy removal. Of course if I got it to burn well enough, even the green stuff should be reduced to ash. -- 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 |
Burn barrel ventilation holes
Grimly Curmudgeon writes:
On Tue, 20 Sep 2011 04:34:43 GMT, lid (Windmill) wrote: Does anyone have recommendations for optimum ventilation? Pickaxe-sized holes around the bottom. Alternatively, one 2" hole near the bottom and feed it with blown air from an old furnace blower. Everything burns cleanly. Sounds as though I needn't worry about having too much ventilation then. -- 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 |
Burn barrel ventilation holes
"Andrew Mawson" writes:
I'm with Steve Firth on this one. Whack about 20 holes with a pick axe in the base, then stand it on bricks. Seems all my original holes are too small; I'll have to enlarge but hopefully still keep most of the ash inside. If you cut 1/3rd of the top and 1/3rd of the bottom off a steel drum, then similarly whack in the holes they make a superb barbeque when set on a suitable frame, using weld mesh as the grilling surface. I've three done this way, and an angle iron frame to sit them on that neatly gets lifted to where ever we are feeding using forks on the back of the tractor. Last used a few weeks ago when we fed a couple of hundred people over two days. Impressive. Farm wedding? -- 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 |
Burn barrel ventilation holes
Tim Lamb writes:
I've given mine away. One point to watch; don't set one up under overhanging or nearby trees. Branches on the bushes above are due to be lopped off anyway. Very green and damp so won't easily burn. -- 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 |
Burn barrel ventilation holes
On Sep 22, 7:17 am, (Windmill)
wrote: "Andrew Mawson" writes: I'm with Steve Firth on this one. Whack about 20 holes with a pick axe in the base, then stand it on bricks. Seems all my original holes are too small; I'll have to enlarge but hopefully still keep most of the ash inside. If you cut 1/3rd of the top and 1/3rd of the bottom off a steel drum, then similarly whack in the holes they make a superb barbeque when set on a suitable frame, using weld mesh as the grilling surface. I've three done this way, and an angle iron frame to sit them on that neatly gets lifted to where ever we are feeding using forks on the back of the tractor. Last used a few weeks ago when we fed a couple of hundred people over two days. Impressive. Farm wedding? travellers? Jim K |
Burn barrel ventilation holes
On Sep 22, 7:19 am, (Windmill)
wrote: Tim Lamb writes: I've given mine away. One point to watch; don't set one up under overhanging or nearby trees. Branches on the bushes above are due to be lopped off anyway. Very green and damp so won't easily burn. give it 1/2 an hour.... Jim K |
Burn barrel ventilation holes
|
Burn barrel ventilation holes
"Windmill" wrote in message ... "Andrew Mawson" writes: I'm with Steve Firth on this one. Whack about 20 holes with a pick axe in the base, then stand it on bricks. Seems all my original holes are too small; I'll have to enlarge but hopefully still keep most of the ash inside. If you cut 1/3rd of the top and 1/3rd of the bottom off a steel drum, then similarly whack in the holes they make a superb barbeque when set on a suitable frame, using weld mesh as the grilling surface. I've three done this way, and an angle iron frame to sit them on that neatly gets lifted to where ever we are feeding using forks on the back of the tractor. Last used a few weeks ago when we fed a couple of hundred people over two days. Impressive. Farm wedding? -- Windmill, Use t m i l l Wife's 60th !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AWEM |
Burn barrel ventilation holes
"Jim K" wrote in message ... On Sep 22, 7:17 am, (Windmill) wrote: "Andrew Mawson" writes: I'm with Steve Firth on this one. Whack about 20 holes with a pick axe in the base, then stand it on bricks. Seems all my original holes are too small; I'll have to enlarge but hopefully still keep most of the ash inside. If you cut 1/3rd of the top and 1/3rd of the bottom off a steel drum, then similarly whack in the holes they make a superb barbeque when set on a suitable frame, using weld mesh as the grilling surface. I've three done this way, and an angle iron frame to sit them on that neatly gets lifted to where ever we are feeding using forks on the back of the tractor. Last used a few weeks ago when we fed a couple of hundred people over two days. Impressive. Farm wedding? travellers? Jim K No not travellers, mainly home raised bacon burgers and sausages but I'd like to BBQ them though !!!!!!!!!!!! AWEM |
Burn barrel ventilation holes
On Sep 22, 8:20 am, "Andrew Mawson"
wrote: "Jim K" wrote in message ... On Sep 22, 7:17 am, (Windmill) wrote: "Andrew Mawson" writes: I'm with Steve Firth on this one. Whack about 20 holes with a pick axe in the base, then stand it on bricks. Seems all my original holes are too small; I'll have to enlarge but hopefully still keep most of the ash inside. If you cut 1/3rd of the top and 1/3rd of the bottom off a steel drum, then similarly whack in the holes they make a superb barbeque when set on a suitable frame, using weld mesh as the grilling surface. I've three done this way, and an angle iron frame to sit them on that neatly gets lifted to where ever we are feeding using forks on the back of the tractor. Last used a few weeks ago when we fed a couple of hundred people over two days. Impressive. Farm wedding? travellers? Jim K No not travellers, mainly home raised bacon burgers and sausages but I'd like to BBQ them though !!!!!!!!!!!! AWEM best worm em first and hang well ;) ?...bacon burgers? Jim K |
Burn barrel ventilation holes
On Sep 22, 8:04*am, Thomas Prufer prufer.pub...@mnet-
online.de.invalid wrote: (Never tried it myself, but a chap I know swears by old washing machine drums...) IMHO, they're a good start but they need work and aren't perfect. Their great advantage is that they're stainless, so they're allowed to be visible and don't have to be hidden away all the time.... An incinerator needs draught and this ought to be natural draught, not faffing about with a fan. So that means height. Barrels good, washing machine dums too short. A washing machine also has holes in the side, not in the base, so the draught is top air and largely robbing any useful draught you might get, in favour of just being a convector heater. The side holes are also on the small side, so there isn't really enough air through them. So for both barrels, your main air supply needs to be pickaxe holes in the base, or at least the bottom of the sides below a mesh burn platform. With a washing machine drum, this is enough for burning with secondary air for a clean burn through the side walls. More height wouldn't hurt though, so if you can get a second WM drum, cut the base and stack that on top (twisted fence wire loops will hold them together). If you're lucky, the drum spider can be used as a support to raise them off the ground. Mine's welded to a bit of old pipe and spiked in. |
Burn barrel ventilation holes
Andy Dingley wrote:
An incinerator needs draught and this ought to be natural draught, not faffing about with a fan. Natural gas is a sight easier to burn than wet biomass and most of us expect to have fans in boilers. Fans provide turbulence, one of the 3Ts needed for good combustion. Have a look at air curtain burners, one way of burning tonnes of waste wood fast, I have built several, including using a 45 gallon drum and an Earlex vacuum with thyristor speed control. AJH |
Burn barrel ventilation holes
In message , Tim Lamb
writes 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:-) I make a lot of use of mine for garden clearance and certainly hope they are never banned. It is essential to get good air flow and a hot burn otherwise there is a lot of smoke. I have been tempted to run a couple of lengths of 20mm steel electrical conduit into the bottom of the barrel and pump air through to liven it up a bit. The idea of raising the material up on a mesh is interesting, must remember to blag some stainless mesh off my dad next time I visit. -- Bill |
Pick ax works
My 38 did it better In the side and out the bottom - all good |
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