• Thank you for visiting HeavyEquipmentForums.com! Our objective is to provide industry professionals a place to gather to exchange questions, answers and ideas. We welcome you to register using the "Register" icon at the top of the page. We'd appreciate any help you can offer in spreading the word of our new site. The more members that join, the bigger resource for all to enjoy. Thank you!

Land clearing, to burn or not to burn

joshbowling45

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2019
Messages
48
Location
Crane, Missouri
I've been dipping my toes in the land clearing water here recently and I'm just looking for some tips and advice from guys who do it every day. This is a side job for me, I already work a full time job but with the hours that I work there I can definitely swing another gig. I started running a 953 for a guy and liked it so I bought a truck and trailer, he furnishes the loader and we split the rate. I've worked a few jobs so far and everything has went pretty good minus the obvious break downs and what not. But a question I keep having is, do you guys burn the brush piles yourself while still green or come back later after everything has dried down? If you do burn them, how do you charge for that? I pushed a thickly overgrown quarter mile fencerow out for a lady and she wanted me to bury it all after I already bid the job. I pretty much told her that I don't even know how to bid how long that would take, plus we were in a flat open field, nowhere to really get dirt from without going straight down. Which would mean digging a 10 foot deep hole 100x80. I could see burying it if you had a hillside to work with and not an enormous amount of brush to bury but I didn't feel like I could get that done without having a ton of time in it. I know there's lots of work out there and I'm motivated to go get it, just looking for some advice to help grow the business. I want to do the best work I possibly can, while keeping costs low. And If this has already been covered posting the link will help out too. Thanks!
 

Welder Dave

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2014
Messages
12,257
Location
Canada
You could use a burning sloop. It's a big steel skid you dump the brush in. Some people set them up with a big burner and a large fan to basically make a huge incinerator. I think most let the pile dry out and burn in the winter but a big enough fire will burn the green stuff. The other issue is if the county allows burning and what permits and safety measures need to be put in place. You could dig a hole and bury the brush but that would be easier with a hoe and then you have to figure out what to do with the big pile of dirt.

http://www.a1-cats.com/component/rdautos/detail/21-miscellaneous-burning-sloop-30-ft-burning-sloop

https://www.ccerc.net/photo-gallery-2/sloop10-018/
 

colson04

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2016
Messages
2,057
Location
Delton, Michigan
When we clear, we typically bury the stumps or haul/dump them in a spot we can't farm. The brush gets wind rowed and burned. We typically do our land clearing in the winter so brush is dryer, but it's still fairly green. We don't wait for it to get any dryer, we just do what we have to to get it to burn down. A leaf blower works good for stoking fires up too.

Building a fire with pallets or dry wood helps to get things lit off. A blower really makes a difference in how hot the fire burns. A pit burner will burn anything once it's going

 

mowingman

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 10, 2010
Messages
1,228
Location
SE Ohio
Occupation
Retired
Better check with county and state officials before you burn any brush pile. There are a lot of state and county burn laws/permits you usually have to deal with.
 

walkerv

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2016
Messages
1,125
Location
wingate nc
Owner of my company is reclearing old farm land to farm again he burns it in a pit with one of those air burners, we did have a mishap though and burned up a brand new cat rental excavator
 

joshbowling45

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2019
Messages
48
Location
Crane, Missouri
You could use a burning sloop. It's a big steel skid you dump the brush in. Some people set them up with a big burner and a large fan to basically make a huge incinerator. I think most let the pile dry out and burn in the winter but a big enough fire will burn the green stuff. The other issue is if the county allows burning and what permits and safety measures need to be put in place. You could dig a hole and bury the brush but that would be easier with a hoe and then you have to figure out what to do with the big pile of dirt.

http://www.a1-cats.com/component/rdautos/detail/21-miscellaneous-burning-sloop-30-ft-burning-sloop

https://www.ccerc.net/photo-gallery-2/sloop10-018/
I like the idea of the burning sloop, seems pretty efficient that way you could get it going while you're there. I've also heard that brush piles burn pretty good around like day 7 after being pushed out. Apparently they off gas and that helps with getting a good fire going. I can't confirm or deny this, just what I've heard. I just hate clearing out a thick patch of trees and getting everything all graded back out just to leave a big nasty brush pile for the customer to deal with. But I also can't hardly hang around for two or three days burning brush piles as a complimentary service. So I'll do some looking into that. Thanks for the tip.
 

joshbowling45

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2019
Messages
48
Location
Crane, Missouri
When we clear, we typically bury the stumps or haul/dump them in a spot we can't farm. The brush gets wind rowed and burned. We typically do our land clearing in the winter so brush is dryer, but it's still fairly green. We don't wait for it to get any dryer, we just do what we have to to get it to burn down. A leaf blower works good for stoking fires up too.

Building a fire with pallets or dry wood helps to get things lit off. A blower really makes a difference in how hot the fire burns. A pit burner will burn anything once it's going

Yeah I bet clearing land in the winter when there is less moisture in the brush would help alot as far as getting it to burn down. A leaf blower is a good idea, hadn't thought about that. That pit burner looks pretty slick, maybe one day when I really get to rolling. Thanks for the tips.
 

joshbowling45

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2019
Messages
48
Location
Crane, Missouri
Better check with county and state officials before you burn any brush pile. There are a lot of state and county burn laws/permits you usually have to deal with.
With my full time job, I'm actually very familiar with the city that I work in ordinance on burning. I'll just say it'd be very ironic to get the fire department called on me. Haha. I'll check into the burn permits, thanks!
 

Welder Dave

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2014
Messages
12,257
Location
Canada
X2, Mowing Man, X2. Local regs will get you, specially if an A-hole neighbor reports you!:eek:

You didn't read the 2nd post? If you have everything in place and all the permits there's nothing a neighbor can do.

"The other issue is if the county allows burning and what permits and safety measures need to be put in place".
 

wrwtexan

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2011
Messages
558
Location
Cooper, Texas
Occupation
Indy Farm Wrench, heavy land clearing, rancher
I am on a 70 acres so far brush and mostly smaller junk timber clearing job now (when dry weather permits restart) with my D6C and a JD 790ELC hoe. I clear with the hoe, push it up with the 6, let it set for a couple of weeks, burn and tend it as far down as it will go, let it cool and sift it back out with the hoe and push that back up. If enough is left, I'll reburn, if not, I cut a trench what I think is bigger than the burned pile, push it into the cut and level back over it. I am working by the hour (no way I'll ever bid a job) so I just keep the clock running at my normal rate and add in a little bit for handwork lighting piles. The owner had grass planted last summer over the 40 acres I finished clearing in 2017.
 

DIYDAVE

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2007
Messages
2,410
Location
MD
You didn't read the 2nd post? If you have everything in place and all the permits there's nothing a neighbor can do.

"The other issue is if the county allows burning and what permits and safety measures need to be put in place".

I was responding to the OP, not you...;)
 

treemuncher

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2006
Messages
733
Location
West TN
Occupation
eatin' trees, poopin' chips
When I used to burn, I would dig a rectangular pit about 4'-6' deep with a trench running off one side. Pit size is dictated by the size of the job. At the head of this trench, I would place my blower (former city leaf vacuum T-VAC run off tractor pto as a blower). The air from the blower will pretty well follow up the trench or you can add metal culvert pipe if you need to direct the air better.

A small 12 volt fuel pump that puts out about 50 psi and run through a couple sections of 1/2" black pipe with a METAL sprayer tip on the end will provide atomized diesel fuel to stoke that fan fed fire. You can reset the metal pipe into the fire as needed and pull it out with ease. You want a flow rate of about 10 gph so a 5 gal bucket of diesel will last 30 minutes. If you use more than 1 bucket of diesel, you are doing it wrong.

I want to burn while I'm on site. I don't have patience to wait for things to dry. I've started fires in downpours with this method and I burn it as fast as I can pull it and put it into the fire. When the burning is done, roll the sides of the pit over the remains and the job is done clean with minimal disturbance. You should only need the diesel spray to get things rolling along and then fan as required to keep it hot.

Another method I've used is cribbing up my brush piles on cross stacked logs to allow natural air entrainment as the fire burns. This can only be done with a track hoe so you have enough reach to get it up high. This results in an incredibly hot and fast fire without added fans. You should be able to start this in a pit with incoming air trenches to keep things cleaner. The key to any burning is maximum airflow - the faster you get that oxygen to the fire, the faster, hotter and cleaner it will burn.
 

check

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2012
Messages
800
Location
in the mail
I pushed a thickly overgrown quarter mile fencerow out for a lady and she wanted me to bury it all after I already bid the job.
People tend to assume brush clearing includes making the brush disappear. You have to tell them that the bid is to move brush from point A to point B and making brush vaporize is extra.

Around here the burning laws allow for un-permitted burning during the month of April. Loggers sometimes pile brush with the stipulation that they will come back and burn it next year or even the year after. Some species of wood take forever to dry with the bark on.
 

joshbowling45

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2019
Messages
48
Location
Crane, Missouri
People tend to assume brush clearing includes making the brush disappear. You have to tell them that the bid is to move brush from point A to point B and making brush vaporize is extra.

Around here the burning laws allow for un-permitted burning during the month of April. Loggers sometimes pile brush with the stipulation that they will come back and burn it next year or even the year after. Some species of wood take forever to dry with the bark on.

Yes I learned that lesson from that job in particular and made it very clear on the last couple jobs. The last job I worked on was about 8-10 acres and he was more than happy with manageable sized brush piles that he could burn and push up with his tractor.
 

joshbowling45

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2019
Messages
48
Location
Crane, Missouri
When I used to burn, I would dig a rectangular pit about 4'-6' deep with a trench running off one side. Pit size is dictated by the size of the job. At the head of this trench, I would place my blower (former city leaf vacuum T-VAC run off tractor pto as a blower). The air from the blower will pretty well follow up the trench or you can add metal culvert pipe if you need to direct the air better.

A small 12 volt fuel pump that puts out about 50 psi and run through a couple sections of 1/2" black pipe with a METAL sprayer tip on the end will provide atomized diesel fuel to stoke that fan fed fire. You can reset the metal pipe into the fire as needed and pull it out with ease. You want a flow rate of about 10 gph so a 5 gal bucket of diesel will last 30 minutes. If you use more than 1 bucket of diesel, you are doing it wrong.

I want to burn while I'm on site. I don't have patience to wait for things to dry. I've started fires in downpours with this method and I burn it as fast as I can pull it and put it into the fire. When the burning is done, roll the sides of the pit over the remains and the job is done clean with minimal disturbance. You should only need the diesel spray to get things rolling along and then fan as required to keep it hot.

Another method I've used is cribbing up my brush piles on cross stacked logs to allow natural air entrainment as the fire burns. This can only be done with a track hoe so you have enough reach to get it up high. This results in an incredibly hot and fast fire without added fans. You should be able to start this in a pit with incoming air trenches to keep things cleaner. The key to any burning is maximum airflow - the faster you get that oxygen to the fire, the faster, hotter and cleaner it will burn.

Digging the burn pit seems like a good efficient way to handle the brush, then if you have any dirt from pushing trees it all goes in one spot. Good to hear that you could pretty well burn while clearing with this method, because I am also short on patience. Sounds like I need to invest in a fan.
 

joshbowling45

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2019
Messages
48
Location
Crane, Missouri
I am on a 70 acres so far brush and mostly smaller junk timber clearing job now (when dry weather permits restart) with my D6C and a JD 790ELC hoe. I clear with the hoe, push it up with the 6, let it set for a couple of weeks, burn and tend it as far down as it will go, let it cool and sift it back out with the hoe and push that back up. If enough is left, I'll reburn, if not, I cut a trench what I think is bigger than the burned pile, push it into the cut and level back over it. I am working by the hour (no way I'll ever bid a job) so I just keep the clock running at my normal rate and add in a little bit for handwork lighting piles. The owner had grass planted last summer over the 40 acres I finished clearing in 2017.

I have tried my hand at pushing little piles into a natural trench that I dug out a little extra to cover them and that part where you said "trench bigger than the pile" is very important. Haha. Can turn into a mess in a hurry when you just have a general purpose bucket on a 953. I also like to hear that you never bid a job because in this line of work it seems like everyone wants to know to the dollar amount and then they want to hold you to it. After I bid the first job and made enough to cover fuel I decided that I'm sticking to the hourly rate and I'll just keep them updated as I go. Since I'm mainly working for farmers and smaller jobs right now that seems like the fairest way to do it. Here's another question, do you call utility locating services on a job that size? How do they mark it?
 
Last edited:

treemuncher

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2006
Messages
733
Location
West TN
Occupation
eatin' trees, poopin' chips
Here's another question, do you call utility locating services on a job that size? How do they mark it?

Locate utilities on ALL jobs regardless of size or location if you are digging below grade level. Once you've given them the time to locate anything on the site, you are then in the clear regarding any damages to utilities that were not marked.

You should be able to dial 811 nationally these days for utility location services. It won't cost you anything and it will release you from liability. It IS the law, too.
 
Top