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using tractor diesel to start fires in fireplace with doors

As the first reply states, diesel fuel does tend to create a bit of smoke so I wouldn"t recommend it. That said, why would you need diesel fuel to start a fire in your fireplace? I"ve started mine hundereds, if not thousands of times with nothing more than newspaper and some good, dry, kindling, a d seasoned fire wood. If it"s taking diesel fuel just to get a good fire going then your problem is probably that the wood your trying to burn is still too green/damp to burn like it should. If that"s the case then you probably need to be looking at the creosote buildup in the flue caused by burning wood that hasn"t seasoned properly because, as several posts on this site lately will attest, that is something that will easily burn a house to the ground given the right circumstances.
 
Thanks for your response. When I was a kid my parents used coal oil to start fires in the wood hea ter. We all survived. Yes diesel smoke does carbon up my doors, but is it safe to use? Roy
 
We got a box of fire-starters the other day, and they work great- just stick it in among the logs, light it, and away it goes. Much safer and less messy than a liquid accelerant.
 
Paper to start fire in the wood stove is always in short supply around here( no newspaper).
I always use a bit of diesel to get the fire going...works fine.
 
Thanks for your reply. My daughter thinks there is some poisonous fumes that shouldn't be inhaled. Roy
 
Paper and split kindling is all you need to start a fire. I have started them many hundreds of times in woodstoves and outdoors since I was a kid and have never needed or used any liquid fuel. Three of my relatives three generations back were killed in two incidents in which they threw gasoline on a laid fire prior to lighting it and the gas was ignited by coals. Both incidents burned the house to the ground and both involved alcohol. I am not saying that what happened to them will happen to you but their stories make me leery of using anything explosive around a fire.
Zach
 
I agree with that using explosive material to start a fire. However diesel and kerosene are not as explosive as other fuels, and it only takes a small amount to get a fire going. Thanks for your input. Roy
 
small pieces of cardboard combined with kindling wood. cardboard ignites quickly and burns longer than paper.
 
You can soak a little on a rag or paper towel, dip a piece of cardboard, etc., I'm not talking dripping wet with it, small amount will work just fine, even if there are some hot coals left, of course you had best have the tinder, kindling and small dry wood all together and placed at once if you don't have draft or have to establish it. A friend in the HVAC business, his dad always used or got rid of heating oil rags that way, they both worked in the business, so oil clean outs/service, always had oils soaked rags, and you don't want to keep those or oily rags around anyway, they can combust eventually, supposed to be in an approved metal container. Using gasoline, is foolish, too many vapors, its just unsafe, too low of a flash point. I will use gasoline in a cold OUTSIDE burn barrel sometimes, shake well, douse and please, use a torch, toss it from a distance !

Typically with my stove, I have excellent draft, depending on how the wind blows, 95% of the time, take an incense stick to check it at the clean out at the Tee at the 90 deg turn, it will pull that smoke, yet if I use any combustible, petroleum based products, spray, fuel or what have you, I will smell it in the area. I do burn pine and keep a stock of it for this reason, its plentiful, has sap/resin in it, dry/seasoned pine does make excellent kindling and tinder if you shave some off. Additionally, I constantly tear off shards from my split wood and keep in a bucket, whenever I have hot coals left from the night or day before, a handful of those, and some pine or hardwood kindling, small pieces, works fine, pine smells great, I may toss a large piece in on occasion, seeing my set up does not create any significant creosote. I try to keep a 1/2-2/3 cord of pine on hand, seasoned just for this reason.

I've got 2 fireplaces with doors, intake air from outside and used to use them both, years ago. As long as you have draft, and do NOT over do it, its fine, just be sure to soak a SMALL amount of it on something first, you will likely still smell it in the house though, thats why I like pine or small shards of black cherry, its aromatic pleasant odor when first firing up is nice, unlike fuel oil or similar.
 
I would think a squirt of charcoal starter would do the job, or a squirt of diesel or kerosene from a squeeze bottle. Never, never gasoline.

That said, my natural gas starter bar sure does work beautifully.
 
At $8.00 1/2 gal, charcoal lighter fluid is a bit pricey to use to start a fire in the fire place. Diesel would be a good alternative.

Any flammable liquid used to start a fire, should be used with caution (common sense?).

As you said, never, never, never gasoline or a disposable cigarette lighter.
 
My grand parents heated with a coal fired space heater in the living room. They kept a short pail beside the stove with coal oil soaked corn cobs to start a fire if it went out. The difference in the diesel and coal oil would be the smell using it that way. The cobs never flared up when lit. The cobs would light much like a coal oil lamp wick. I buy the wax fire logs to start my fire place. After it burns a few minutes I add the fire wood. Takes a lot less dinking around getting a good fire going.
November82003-vi.jpg
 
She is right, poorly combusted diesel will have by products you would want to avoid, the same as an exhaust stack of an efficient diesel engine. If you soak a small rag, cardboard or what have you, it will burn longer, do what you want most likely, as soon as it ignites you will want to close those doors, thats why I mentioned above, build your fire right, combustibles up to the small, then larger pieces, dry seasoned wood, you won't have to fool with it until you need to add wood, screw that up, get a bad start, it goes out, best let those fumes draft up and out, if you open those doors, you may not appreciate it LOL! I go through this with my stove, do it one time right, if it fails and I have to go back in, I always get smoke in the area as its a top loader, but has a bottom door which is even worse if you have to go back in. I try keep the fire further back from the flue so the flames don't go up the chimney on start up, it can go like a blast furnace, turn the pipe red, even with the damper choking it off. I don't waste as much heat up the stack, stove puts out more heat, the drawback is on start up, if I have to fool with it, I get smoke inside, of course I can build a small fire towards the back, let it go, then rake it back when I reload works too, and I can stoke without smoke coming out. I learned to make the fire right the first time with this arrangement or I will get the above. Once the flue is warm, wood has burned a little while, I can open the top to a certain point and stoke as needed, no smoke or fumes, all of this is unique, but I thought its worth a mention as I think I see what your concerns are, no sane person wants half combusted diesel/wood smoke/fumes in their house LOL !!!!
 
Nope!!! I did it once!! Poured a little diesel on what I thought were old coals. Well they had a little life in em. Started smoking. Before I could get the match in, there was a good bit of smoke.

Lit the match, got it inside the door, and when it hit the smoke, fire shot about about 8' into the room, singed the hair off my head, face, arms.

Dont do that anymore.

Gene
 
I use diesel all the time to start fires in my wood burner. Just make sure it's all diesel and no gas in it. I also use diesel with some use motor oil as a mix. Might not want that mix for a fireplace, it's a bit messy. A squirt bottle works good. Or a pumper oil can.
 
I actually find cigarette highly lighters annoying for starting fires in the stove or fireplace, you have to get too close, in my situation I much rather prefer a long match, or being the savvy firewood user that I am, I make my own with by tearing off long strips/shards from the split wood, they make great matches, reach where you want, don't get hot and burn you. Not that you asked but, figured it worth mention now I see why there are those long matches, LOL ! I've made some on my table saw,about the same size as inlay stock I use sometimes. Light those with the lighter, then to the firebox. Might be irrelevant, I either get burned or the lighter seems to get too hot, of course its probably just me, but..... LOL !
 
I'd never do something like that, I just use a match, newspaper, small kindling and cardboard if needed, then again my wood boiler never goes out, After I start in in November it burned until april most years. I'd be afraid if some smoke got in the house it would stink, or if you accidentally spill some fuel it will smell in your house. That being said it won't hurt anything.
 
Split cedar kindling and news paper. If the fire is "t fully caught and everything burning within 5 minutes. The wood is too wet and the draft if poor.
 
(quoted from post at 09:58:19 01/17/14) Thanks for your reply. My daughter thinks there is some poisonous fumes that shouldn't be inhaled. Roy
Click to expand...

Well, YEAH... It's burning diesel fuel... What do you think it gives off?

The problem with diesel or kerosene mostly is that if you drip a drop of it anywhere it stinks the place up and doesn't go away. My kerosene torpedo heater leaked a little when I was transporting it to a party in the back of my truck on January 1st, and the truck STILL stinks like kerosene.
 

I have found the best fire starter and is only a SMALL piece of Celotex...about the size of a 50 cent piece or smaller..

I cannot believe that was used as exterior sheeting on most homes..!!

Get a piece and it will last you for years..

Ron.
 
I start my wood stove with firestarters and splintered white pine kindling and dried bark off dead tree when I can find some. I also use old news paper and cardboard boxs. I have used kerosene and fuel oil in the work shop stove.
 
Use denatured Alc. Way safer, I use it all the time. Just about 3 shot glasses full will work. I use it for lighting the pellet stove.
 
amen ,,. granpas way is best,,,diesel fuel in plSTIC JUG has been in my basement furnace ,,, did the trik ,,, but damnot a ggood practice
 
When I"se a kid, the only (local) diesel-operated equipment was the county"s heavy equipment; 2 uncles ran D 6 Cats and would "give" us 5 gallon on occasion. The only downside was the smell. At LEAST once per year, some local family would burn their house down....often with loss of life......by using coal oil to start their morning fire in their wood stove. It was the fire starter of choice and worked great.........as long as there were no coals left in the stove; coal oil on coals equals explosion. I sometimes read the archives of the county paper and if it"s in the Wintertime, you don"t have to read very long to find a coal oil-caused explosion.
 

It is safe provided that your experience with the fireplace is that it draws reasonably well. As Gene MO said don't do it if there are any coals because you will get smoke very quickly. Diesel is better than charcoal lighter fluid which burns fast enough that it should not be used in anything closed just like it tells you on the can. Diesel is only combustible and not flammable. It's flash point is 144 degrees so you still have to heat it up to get it to burn. Your daughter is correct that just like anything else that you burn in your stove or fireplace it will release things that will hurt you, so close the doors as soon as you get it lit.
 
One from our neighborhood:

"About dawn on 23 Oct 1950, when he applied coal oil to kindle a coal stove, it exploded. The one and one-half story frame house had only one exit, at the rear, and the stove was near that door. The front door led to a porch which had been boarded up to provide another room. Four sons died in the fire, their bodies were found piled near a screen window."

It doesn't mention that the boys grandmother also died in the fire, but not before she was able to toss her baby grand-daughter out of an upstairs window. The baby survived. The four boys who died were between the ages of five and ten. This tragedy is still talked about in our neighborhood, 63 years later.

I start fires in my shop furnace with paper, cardboard, kindling, etc.

Outside boiler burns year round. Probably only had a half dozen fires built in it in 15 years. Paper and kindling for it too.
 
sounds like a good way to start a chimney fire to me. A few pieces of match light charcoal will work if you don't like conventional fire starting methods
 
"Get a piece and it will last you for years.."
Only last me two three days at the most.
 
I agree 100% if diesel or kerosene smokes when applied the vapors are almost as flammable as gasoline. I didn't have your experience with the fireball in the house but I have had it happen when burning in the fire pit.
 
Every time I use the wood splitter, I end up with a lot of pieces of bark and splinters of wood. When done splitting I pick up that stuff and put it into a five gallon pail - and put it in the wood shed for kindling.
That and a little junk mail is all I need to get a fire going.
 
I grew up with folks using corn cobs soaked in "coal oil"? I use a thin fragment of the fire starter squares and gently put small twigs and power line tree trimmer crew wood-chipper stuff and add bigger. I have a roaring fire going in a few minutes. I don't use any fluids?
 
Small sticks, newspaper and build up, then add bigger wood. Once it is burning good and the thermostat is where I want it, I bank it back and add smaller pieces to maintain the temperature.

Larry
 
gone to more than one house fire and that was the cause. container caught fire and that was it, when an accelerant was used usually a complete loss.
just not worth it use kindling and paper.
 
Take a coffee can, fill it with charcoal and pour enough kerosene or diesel in it to cover the charcoal. a couple chunks of charcoal and a match, will get your fire going quickly. If you use highway diesel rather than farm diesel you will get less smoke.
 

Celotex was made with a heavy concentration of what appears to be Tar-based and fiber.

Very flammable and lights easily.

Goes a long way, a piece the size of a 50 cent piece is plenty big, along with some kindling to start any stove.

Should be easy to find in any building or construction site.

Ron.
 
Here is what I do. Burned wood to heat entire 5000 square foot old farmhouse for years. I buy the small blocks of fire starter, break them in half, take a corn knife or hatchet and cut them into 3/4 inch square chunks, and store them in an ice cream bucket to keep them fresh. One square will start cured wood easily without any of the above dangers mentioned. I am blessed with an inside three flue chimney with excellent draft. Works for me, try it, you'll like it. Brian
 
My wife buys old candles at garage sales and auctions for almost nothing, then puts sawdust or dryer lint in cardboard egg carton sections and melts the wax in a water bath and pours it into sections, mixing with sawdust or lint.
After it dries, just cut sections and it makes 12 fires starters that don't flare up, no smell and lots of heat to start the fire. We did six dozen last month.
 
I get the fire starter gel from Orshlen's, $7 a quart, lasts me quite a while. Squirt a little on a piece of cardboard, lay it in the stove, toss a few small pieces on it, light it with the coleman torch, and keep filling. Now and then it does go out before lighting the wood, but usually because I put too big a piece directly over it.

Never could get anywhere with paper.
 
I dident mention that, I figured no one heard of it. My wife bought this big box of it, she gave some to people for Christmas, but I agree with you, it workes great.
a142108.jpg
 
FWIW- for as long as I can remember our fireplace at camp had a large brass mug with a cover on it. Sticking out of the cover was a steel rod handle and on the rod in the mug was an oblong stone of a porous type. I'm not sure what the stone was, pumice maybe? Anyway, the mug had kero in it. You put the stone at the base of the fire and built your wood around it. Then you lit the stone. It stayed in the wire till the fire died. Always seemed liek a good system for on again, off again fires. I've seen similar items on Ebay.

At home our fire rarely goes out from Oct to May. If it does a little kindling gets it going. I've used diesel too with no problem, but then again, I'm a believer in moderation in all things!
 
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