OT: Burn Barrel?

I have always put the ashes in hole I am trying to fill, mostly because I am worried about nails from junk wood I sometimes burn. So I only put a small drain hole in the barrel bottom and move the whole barrel to the hole with the tractor loader. The suggestions about setting things up so the wind can blow the ashes away interest me, but maybe this area is generally too dry for that to be safe. I have a square of 1/4" steel plate that I put over the barrel if wind comes up when I am burning or to keep rain or snow out. The steel will not put out the fire, but it will control it pretty well, if need be.

Burning is not technically legal in my area, but most people do it to some degree and the law is not enforced. But GOD HELP YOU if you are burning and the fire gets away from you. I have not started my barrel since July, and will probably not use it until mid October unless we really get some good moisture before that. Stuff is piling up..... Good luck, be safe!

Have fun

What I did was to cut the bottom out leaving 1" all around from the edge. I then welded another barrel to the top of that one, no 1" lip on the mid joint.

Then I sit the barrels on cinder blocks with a old refrigerator grate in the bottom on top of a center cinder block. This keeps the grate from sagging down after becoming too hot. Re-bar would also work well.

When the trash gets done, there's nothing but ash left over and the wind will blow that away. There is never any part of unburned trash left over nor does the smoke stink like trash burning. I hate that smell.

Caution:
If you add to much trash at one time, I can shoot flames 5ft above the top barrel and the barrel sides are cherry red.

T_Bone

I did mine somewhat like T-Bone's. I used one 55 gallon drum. Cut one end out, leaving a 2 inch rim around the flat bottom, then got a piece of expanded metal that is one inch larger in diameter than the hole and an inch smaller than diameter of the bottom. Set the whole thing of on a couple of bricks. Burns like a blow torch by drawing air up through the bottom. Like T-Bone said, very little ash, that blows away, and no rust.

Try it, you'll like it.

Dick

I used a 2 foot culvert.