OT- burning a brush pile

K. Peters · Dec 20, 2011

We have some big soft maple trees at the farm that are on the edge of a hay field that I would like cut down. I'm wondering if we can burn the brush/branches in the hay field without hurting the alfalfa. All the snow we had is gone so this burn pile would be right on the dormant alfalfa stubble. Please advise.
Thank you.

gene bender · Dec 20, 2011

Wherever you burn the brush will kill anything that did grow there untill some dormant weed seeds that have been ther for eons will probably grow but the Alfalfa sure wont.

souNdguy · Dec 20, 2011

um... if you make a burn pile.. it's gonna kill the stuff under it.. and next to it..

soundguy

James Howell · Dec 20, 2011

We usually have four or five large brush piles to burn every year.

Make your brush pile in an area in your field that does not produce very good.

It will take a couple of years for the grass to grow again if you do not reseed/replant.

We have a couple of areas, none in our hay fields, that we use every year to burn brush and the grass does not grow back.

Hope this helps.

LJD · Dec 20, 2011

Do it here in New York and the fire-police come and get you. That is, unless you've got a special permit or can prove you have a legitimate farm and are burning only approved materials.

Kind of a idiotic laws passed a few years ago to keep people from burning trash in populated areas. So now - I can be in the middle of 100 acres I own, burn some brush and get arrested is someone sees the smoke and calls it in.

nickg · Dec 20, 2011

pretty much not gona be able to avoid hurting your alfalfa. You wont have a lot of luck cutting them down and burning them immediately so there gonna have to sit there for a while and then keepin your piles pushed up so they will burn will also mean driving over more of your field. Might already know this but when you stack your piles up stack all your butts/stumps to one end and try to keep as much dirt out as you can.

paul · Dec 20, 2011

It'll kill the alflfa under it.

Had a cookout bon fire this summer on the lawn, I put down a bucket load of sand, put the fire ring on that. Fire got hot enough it even scorched the grass through that sand, small circle of burned off grass. Not sure if the deeper roots survived and will come back this spring slowly - we got so dry all the grass went dormant and did not grow at all in fall.

Alfalfa depends on the crown, and it shall get damaged with a fire on it.

--->Paul

Wardner · Dec 20, 2011

Any govt body that has a little authority likes to exercise it. This applies to the fire dept as well. I've given up burning branches due to harassment and permit fees. Any thing over three inches is burnt in the wood stove or maple evaporator, the rest is ground up with a heavy bush hog and left in place after it is converted into splinters. Some of the longer branches (maple especially) will come out as poles. They get re-sawed or used in the garden.

randallinMo · Dec 20, 2011

The advice the others have given you is right on correct. I'd go ahead and cut the trees and get the brush piled up. Lay a long log chain under the pile before you start piling. Wait until the ground is frozen and then go wrap the log chain around the pile and simply drag the whole thing out to a suitable burn site. I"ve done that several times with good success.

K. Peters · Dec 20, 2011

Wow you guys are fast. Thanks for the quick answers. Looks like I'll have to haul the brush/branches off the field, going to be a big job...
Thanks again.

JMOR · Dec 20, 2011

(quoted from post at 13:11:45 12/20/11) Wow you guys are fast. Thanks for the quick answers. Looks like I'll have to haul the brush/branches off the field, going to be a big job...
Thanks again.

f you have much of a field, then a spot the size of a brush pile is insignificant & will eventually recover with some vegetation. Around here, it is about one or two seasons.

Russ from MN · Dec 20, 2011

We do not burn our brush piles, if you leave them they make a good place for the grouse to hide from the coyotes! But we have lots of woods to pile it in.

chevytaHOE5674 · Dec 20, 2011

(quoted from post at 10:29:12 12/20/11) We do not burn our brush piles, if you leave them they make a good place for the grouse to hide from the coyotes! But we have lots of woods to pile it in.

Also makes a great place for skunks, racoons, opossums, mice, and other not so nice critters to live. So if you want to leave them for the wildlife that is good I just wouldn't put them near your place of residence.

Paul Shuler · Dec 20, 2011

Dont know about your hay, but I have been burning Hedge trees all fall and winter every weekend that got busted up in our 07 ice storm. I have had multiple burn pile sites and it seems that the turkeys and rabbits and other critters seem to love playing around in the ashes. I have left maybe 10 or 15 brush piles but I am burning all the rest. I am so sick of thorns, scratchs and flat tires. They must die....all of them.

flying belgian · Dec 20, 2011

It ain't going to burn decent until it dries for a year anyhow so pile it on the bale rack and haul it back to the grove and leave it lay for a year. That way you can keep adding to it all summer the twigs and branches that the wind creates.

641Dave · Dec 20, 2011

Do you have a box blade?

Move about a foot of top soil out of the way first and burn away. Put it back when your done.

What would be even better would be to put the fire out before all the wood is burnt completely. The charred wood will fertilize for years to come.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biochar

Here is a pic of my burn pile from Sunday. My neighbor's tractor came in handy with the front loader as we kept the fire tended. I'm planning on moving the soil back over the burn site when it dries out with my box blade and planting some trees.

JMS/.MN · Dec 20, 2011

MN has an improved permit system. Used to be we got a free permit from local Fire Marshal....good for several days, certain hours, etc. Now you get the same, but good for the balance of the year, and each time you want to burn you call the toll-free number, write down the new permit number, and lite it up. Info is accessed by sheriff if someone reports it. Failure to do this is $700 fine.

Pitch · Dec 20, 2011

LJD have you known anyone to be hasseled due to that law? My burning has continued as if nothing ever changed,so has my neighbors.
Celebatory fires are exempt from the law. Keep a sixpack nearby and every once in a while jump up and say "Yahoo" you are now legal.

36 Coupe · Dec 20, 2011

Hardwood bush piles rot fast.pile them out of the way.

Rollie NE PA · Dec 20, 2011

Yes it will kill whatever the burn pile is on. I burn brush all the time. I think we are allowed to use 1 tire ( Ag Security Area ) to start the fire. I don't like using tires.

fixerupper · Dec 20, 2011

It will burn, but you have to pack it in a tight pile and then get it really hot. I burned a couple of wet fesh-cut piles last fall and they were very reluctant to burn but I got it done. The brush was so springy I couldn't get it pushed up real tight so that was strike one. Burning tires didn't do much good but what finally got them going was spraying diesel fuel on the fire with a pump sprayer. The spraying diesel fuel got it so hot I had to back away. You've gotta have a wind blowing through the pile too. If you can't do that, then it'll have to sit there a year to dry out. Jim

LenND · Dec 21, 2011

We don't need a permit for farm burning yet. But they want us to call the rural fire department with name and mainly location. That way if someone else reports the fire they know it is yours and don' have to make a run. I use good old used diesel oil to start mine and let it soak a while before lighting it.

OT- burning a brush pile

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