Burn barrel

[ididntdoit99]

Well its 52° on January 5th, I believe they said we would break records for the high today. SO you might as well all get here, I was just outside in my t-shirt... its beautiful out.

 

[sissy]

don't get a winter burn and know what you mean it is 60 here

 

[ididntdoit99]

whoa... try that again. copy and paste from another wbsite didnt work well

i just checked the weather and it says its 58°

normal temp for today is between 6-26°
record high is 55° in 1956
record low is -26° in 1942

 

[Catfishnut]

ground is frozen... no hole digging for me.

Catfishnut... I do have some contacts in the plastics industry, but I spose I could just as easily (and probably much cheaper) take a sheet of stainless steel, punch perforated hole pattern all through it, roll ot arounbd and weld it together into a round drum. May do that if i wear steel drums out too fast.

Standard steel barrels or drums will last you a LONG time if you provide drainage holes in the bottom so that rainwater does not stand in it. Then, make a small platform for it to rest upon so that the bottom is not sitting on dirt. Just a few small red street paver bricks will do fine. Make a sort of foundation with plenty of open areas between the pavers for air flow.

Drill or shoot MANY holes in the barrel for air flow. The more air flow you have, the faster the debris will burn and that reduces the heat contained in the barrel. This makes the barrel more of a chimney than a firebox and that will extend the life of the barrel.

I always set a screen of sorts over the top of the barrel to keep the burning paper embers from lofting out and starting fire to the grass, leaves or whatever. Just a safety precaution.

A 55 gallon steel drum is probably the best as they are so readily available. But, keep your eyes open for one of those stainless steel collectors that I mentioned. Or, like you stated, make one. You can get perforated SS sheets and roll it into a cylinder and weld the seam pretty easily. Like I said, I have had mine for 12 or 13 years and it has virtually no degradation. Maybe a dent or two and some melted plastic on the screen, but that is not of any concern. It works GREAT! I keep this burn barrel of mine out behind an outbuilding where it is protected from the wind. I can fill it to the top, light it and I almost cannot get back to the house for another load before it has all burned up. This is the trick to maintaining a burn barrel. Get the debris to burn fast and keep the barrel as cool as possible. And of course, don't allow water to sit in the bottom. Better yet, cut the bottom out of the barrel and set the barrel on a grate like a BBQ grill or something. Then just kick the ashes away from the bottom when they begin to pile up.

Gordy

 

[Catfishnut]

whoa... try that again. copy and paste from another wbsite didnt work well i just checked the weather and it says its 58° normal temp for today is between 6-26° record high is 55° in 1956 record low is -26° in 1942

It reached 71°F in Fremont, NE today! That is a record.

Gordy

 

[taherrmann4]

Good warm weather coming my way.

 

[j.w]

Chili today hot tamale