This may be a dumb question, but how do you burn a stack of logs that have about 2 inches of charred carbonized bark on them?

My first thought would be to pressure wash the logs and knock off a large portion of the burned bark from the outside logs. These logs will catch, but what about the charred ones inside?

Then, Slim told me about a guy who made a suggestion on burn night about how to get it lit. You throw a cup-full of diesel on the stack, get it lit, wait until it dies down a bit, and then throw on another cup. This dries out the wood, burns through the bark, and gets the heartwood ignited. These fires should naturally dry out the logs next to them and slowly spread to ignite the entire stack.

Another suggestion would be to wait a few months for the logs to dry out and they should naturally become more flamable.

I had suggested packing the spaces between the logs with smaller wood and build a campfire inside of the stack that would dry out logs and catch eventually. This would take a long time, but would foster a growing fire.

Either way, I would suggest making a few 1:10 scale models as soon as possible and trying out these techniques before employing them on the existing stack.

Any ideas?

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If you can read this in English, thank a Soldier.

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Then, Slim told me about a guy who made a suggestion on burn night about how to get it lit. You throw a cup-full of diesel on the stack, get it lit, wait until it dies down a bit, and then throw on another cup. This dries out the wood, burns through the bark, and gets the heartwood ignited. These fires should naturally dry out the logs next to them and slowly spread to ignite the entire stack.

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I heard this suggestion on burn night, and it seems plausible. Just keep feeding it until it can sustain itself.

Nepalm

HHH Hall - Hell Pot
R.I.P. Hotard

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It looks like we will be re-burning sometime after the burn ban expires.

By that time, the logs should be drier, thus easier to ignite... Also, we are going to soak the stack for at least 24 hours prior to try to get some diesel into the logs.

Whoop.

Why is diesel used?

Why didn't stack stay lit?

Maybe get a few hay bales or jam in a bunch of sticks and branches to feul the fire while the bark/carbon cooks off.

Like I said before--catch a sale and buy a hundred or so of those easy start fireplace logs--put them in the gaps, soak with deisel, add a little kindling--get one place going and it should eventually light the rest.

If all else fails, I'd like to cut a chunk out of the Hogs' log as a memento.
We'll get to the heartwood the hard way.

I was trying to implement that suggestion Sat night, opie & Keegan. I still think it is they way to go and the kindling suggested just enhances it. The charred logs won't be a problem. We can burn this thing down with a lot less fuel than most people think. It won't be spectacular but it would get the job done and save us some money. We should discuss this in more detail, off-line.

Scott Coker '92

Daniel - I have 3 feet of the Hog log at my house, gonna cut it into slices, I'll let you know.

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OC Hogs Build The Hell...

copper thermite

Friday, Feb 3rd, looks like a nice date....if you know what I mean.

Git some of Jethro's rubber tires!-yee-Hawwwww!

Seriously the burn will have to be part of some sort of public event. Just burning them to get rid of them may run afoul of TCEQ open burning laws and waste disposal laws.

You can burn your own trees on your own property but if you bring another person's trees to your property for disposal-that makes you a landfill.

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Friday, Feb 3rd, looks like a nice date....if you know what I mean.

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No, I don't know what you mean. What's significant about it?

My guess is this:

Feb 4 Sat @ t.u. *
State Farm Lone Star Showdown Austin, Texas 1:00 PM ESPN (Men's Basketball)

A question for next year:

Is pine suitable for Bonfire? Do you have an alternative?

Dual,

Student Bonfire 2004 was largely Hardwoods.

I'm told this was a difficult thing. The trees are far thicker, significantly harder to cut and several orders of magnitude harder to carry out of there by manual labor. In '04, the post oaks they were killing were so stubborn that the Browns often had to top them out with a chainsaw because bow saws would bind up and slowed production down too much.

To find another forest in the B/CS area that is largely 30'-40' hardwoods is difficult. Pine is king in Brazos Valley.

Also, if you start pine, you have to stay pine. Piling heavier oaks on pine is unstable and dangerous.


In short, hardwoods are possible, but very significantly more difficult. It would be better to build with pine and find a way to make sure it burns... likely by finishing stack sooner and soaking it earlier to get the diesel deeper into the stack.


Remember '99.
OC Hogs Build Bonfire!

[This message has been edited by daniel02 (edited 11/24/2005 1:23p).]

From a construction standpoint, pine is ideal - long, not too thick, and straight.

From a burn standpoint, oak is preferred.

The type of wood is really a function of what ASB can find for a cut site.

Hardwoods are better, not only because of the way they burn, but the fact that they create a lot of oxygen space deep inside stack by not being perfectly straight.

Or....Dura-Flame, the next sponsor of ASB.

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OC Hogs Build The Hell...

Thanks for the insight. I suppose lessons learned from this year will insure a proper pine burn in the future.

Hopefully, normal climatic patterns will resume next year so that we won't face the political problems. I never thought ankle-deep mud would be something I'd wish for.

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'm told this was a difficult thing. The trees are far thicker, significantly harder to cut and several orders of magnitude harder to carry out of there by manual labor. In '04, the post oaks they were killing were so stubborn that the Browns often had to top them out with a chainsaw because bow saws would bind up and slowed production down too much.

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The browns always topped trees in 2004 when we cut hardwoods. There was absolutely no downswinging with an axe, and I don't remember anyone having a bow saw out there that year, though I think FHK (and maybe someone else) had a couple of hatchets. I also remember people making fun of them for it. Moving logs was much more a team effort. You couldn't set two folks on each end of a highport jetting across the bowl for a fast stack like we did with those pines. I remember a couple days out in the woods when all the crews were gathered and sent to a specific area to move big logs that single crews couldn't by themselves. Those days are some of my fondest memories because I got the chance to meet people outside my crew. So even though moving them required more manpower, if I were deciding between pine and hardwood for Bonfire I would give that little importance due to the growing number of ASB participants and some of the side-benefits that such teamwork comes with.

I don't know whether I prefer the pine or the oak. In 2004, when a small crew killed 10 trees, that was a productive day. In 2005, when a small crew killed 60 trees it was a productive day. Pine carries more instant gratification, but I suppose I'll always be partial to hardwood because it lights easier and that's what I experienced first.

[This message has been edited by brown eyes (edited 11/26/2005 3:42p).]

wasn't hog log the heavy mf'er we couldn't get 30 people to f*** out of the woods?

That may be the truth, but I am going to tell everyone it was used for centerpole.

you know, what if we rigged up one of those large capacity propane tanks and run a line to the stack, not sure how we'd run it to the center but when it is lit, hit the gas, and that ***** would light up like a crazy mofo and i guarantee it wouldnt go out

FYI, Daniel, this was the first "modern day" Bonfire EVER built out of pine. The "Browns topping because of binding bowsaws" was just as BE said: Safety position of Bonfire at the time. Back in the old days we routinely topped oak by hand with no problem.

This new group has a harder time finding land donors than the days of old so a "Burn what you can find" mentality has been adopted. And rightly so. I'd imagine, if possible, the Grays will prioritize finding a nice post oak thicket next year. If that can't be found within a reasonable distance, however, I wouldn't be surprized to see pine again.

Scott Coker '92

Pine DID look really nice before it burned, though.

No doubt. That was one of the prettiest stacks new or old I have ever seen.

Scott Coker '92

COKEMAN - shoot me an email at dkeegan at aggies dot com.

Thanks.

Pine did make a hell of a pretty stack! :-)

If they use pine in the future for both availability and aesthetics, perhaps they can offset the slow-start problem by building the outer layers with several oak "high ports." They won't have the height of pine, but that won't be a problem with the outer layer and they are usually straight enough to blend in with the pines in order to keep an aesthically pleasing stack. :-D

Cokeman,

As I prefaced that paragraph, this is only based on what I learned from others while at Cut this year. There's more than one disadvantage to being a dead Ag with a virgin stripe.

I suppose I should've replied, "Sir, not being informed to the highest degree of accuracy, I hesitate to elaborate ..."

Oak or Pine, I still can't wait. Cut '06 is too far away.