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I bet with the extra air, the smoke is not as bad. The extra air means more heat, and a cleaner more efficient burn.
Other counties in the Sierra offer free pickup in yard waste bags. All you have to do is load into the bags. They have figured out that the needles and organic matter can be turned into compost or fuel that can be sold for additional profit.
I bought a metal grate with another person from Angels Camp Sheet Metal (4’* 8′ split in half) and dug a small
hole, lined it with rocks, and laid the sheet metal on
top. The air circulates underneath and the yard debris
burns really fast. Very efficient.We also burn in an open area with no trees around. If any new trees start growing, I cut them down. I used to have an adjustable air flow door on the fan but it finally came off and I decided we really don’t need it. If the fire gets too big, we either spray it with the water nozzle, unplug the fan, or both.
I can’t find any information about adding air under a burn pile, and there’s never anything on the burn recording about adding air under a fire. Plus they’ve never said anything about it when I get a burn permit in May every other year. Another thing some people may not be aware of is only 30 feet of clearance is required for pine needles and twigs, sticks, etc. are required to be removed 100 feet away or to your property line, whichever is closer. We always clean our entire lot, but it’s not necessary.
It might be; I’m not really sure and I’m not going to ask any questions. Every time I get a burn permit they go over the rules and have never mentioned putting air under the fire. It works really well and eliminates most of the smoke. However, like I said too much air causes embers and I suggest being careful and not using too much air. I have experimented with both my blower and a leaf blower. A leaf blower is definitely too much air. But using my blower the fire burns fast without any embers. Plus we always clean all flammable yard waste at least 10 feet away from the fire circle. Here’s a picture of our burn pile a week or so ago. I figure if they don’t like the way I burn, they will let me know without giving me a citation. If it’s in the burn laws, it’s never been brought to my attention. You can see the pipe going under the fire. It’s hooked to my blower motor on the end not shown in the photo. Oops. Now my post has two photos. They are both the same photo but I don’t see an easy way to delete one……
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I believe that using a fan like that, or any sort of accelerator, is illegal. You might want to ask down at the fire department.
I don’t know how many cfm the fan is rated at, but the opening for the fan is 3 3/4 inches. A leaf blower is too loud and it supplies too much air. Lots of embers with a leaf blower. A shop vac “might” work (if it has an air out opening) but they are too noisy for me too (and I’m hard of hearing. 🙂 You can buy squirrel cage motors at Grainger in Hayward or buy them online from (I think) http://www.grainger.com. Harbor Freight or Northern Tool, both online, might have them too.
Here’s a couple of fans. The first one is very expensive and would be an overkill, and the second one “should” do the job, but dont’t blame me if it doesn’t. 🙂
http://www.centaurforge.com/Dayton-115-volt-Blower/productinfo/D5/
Oops. Here’s the squirrel cage fan.
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Here’s a couple of pictures of the burn setup we use. The squirrel cage fan came from an old IBM copying machine. My friend used to work for them back in late ’80s. The pipe is an inch and a half diameter galvanized pipe, eight feet or longer, threaded on one end for a galvanized cap. Black pipe should work fine too. The slits are on three sides. I used a metal cutting blade for my circular saw to make them.
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I used the place off Summit Level Rd for years. I haven’t been there for a few years now because I hire someone to clean my lot.
ScottI heard Brian might open for a little while this summer too. I don’t know for sure though. We are up here full time and try to burn before the burning season is over. If you use an 1 1/2 inch steel pipe with slits cut in it (the last four feet) and a squirrel cage motor on the other end of the pipe, burning is really fast. We can’t burn it as fast as we put it on. I use an eight foot pipe with a cap on the end. It will usually last two or three years.
Any information on where I can drop off needles and trimmings would be great. I have used the miller yard but another location/option would be great.
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