Stump fire

wheelinguy · January 18, 2013, 07:45:11 AM

A couple of days ago I went out with the dog and started cutting some scrub that had grown up since we cleared our land, small stuff 10-12 feet tall maybe a couple dead trees. There is a large pine stump back there probably about three and a half feet across, I decided to burn on top of that to keep the fire out of the snow. I just kept thinking of different ways to get rid of that nasty old stump and couldn't come up with a good one. Today I get up, 3 days later, no I didn't sleep for three days, and there's a little glow coming form out back, the stump is burning down through the center flames and all not just smoldering. I guess wishes come true as long as they are small.

thecfarm · January 18, 2013, 07:52:47 AM

I have a few, :D,that I would like to get rid of. But some of mine are a little too close to the woods. I'm afraid I might get another tree on fire.
pineywoods,reply #5 has a good idea.

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,58371.0.html
Those white pine stumps will last a long time,but I can get the small ones out after about 6 -7 years with my tractor. The wood is still nice and hard and bright too. Most times the stump will hold together too. Now a maple one will just about root away in that time frame,if I keep the suckers off it. The red oaks ones are the hard ones. I should of got the lead out last week and tried the barrel trick on one of the stumps when it was warm out.
keep feeding her!!!! You got it going now.

Chuck White · January 18, 2013, 09:01:53 AM

Also have to be careful not to burn a stump that's to close to a building.

The flame or ember will follow a root for some distance and if the root went under a building, the building could go up with the stump.

jdonovan · January 18, 2013, 10:10:25 AM

drill it, put potassium nitrate in the holes, and wait a few months.

It will rot substantially, and at that point should be much easier to dig, or chop and get it below grade.

Al_Smith · January 18, 2013, 11:33:23 AM

Another way is to cover the stump with powdered milk,wet it down and cover it with a tarp .In a week or two it will grow mushrooms and sooner or later it will disappear .

Now don't be playing Yul Gibbons and eat the dang "srooms because they could have the nasties .You might wake up in the yard a week from now and be sprouting your own crop of fungus among us .Not good !

BaldBob · January 18, 2013, 05:59:52 PM

Be careful when walking anywhere near where that stump burned. I still have scars from second and third degree burns on my lower legs, acquired some 30+ years ago when the snow covered ground below me collapsed into a bed of hot coals from a stump that had caught fire several months before.

Texas Ranger · January 18, 2013, 09:38:15 PM

In the south, a burned out stump hole is a horse and man trap. Cost me a trip to the hospital when I stepped into a well covered pine stump hole.

PC-Urban-Sawyer · January 19, 2013, 04:31:14 PM

Quote from: Texas Ranger on January 18, 2013, 09:38:15 PM
In the south, a burned out stump hole is a horse and man trap. Cost me a trip to the hospital when I stepped into a well covered pine stump hole.

Could'a been worse. If you'd been a horse we would have had ta shoot you...

Course it would have been cheaper than a hospital bill.

:D

Herb

thecfarm · January 19, 2013, 04:35:47 PM

If and when I burn my stumps I will fill it in with dirt. All the stumps I plan on burning I mow around now. Won't have a hole for man or beast to fall into.

lumberjack48 · January 19, 2013, 05:11:41 PM

We used to drill-em full of one inch holes or use the saw, making deep cuts. Then fill-em full of number two diesel fuel. Do this a few times letting it soak in good, then build a fire on it.

WDH · January 19, 2013, 10:07:26 PM

TR,

I have stepped in a few stump holes myself along the way.

Al_Smith · January 20, 2013, 05:08:56 AM

I suppose it depends on what it is .A maple tree will rot out in about 5-6 years .An oak will last almost forever .

Magicman · January 20, 2013, 10:03:56 PM

Wanna trade for some Sweetgum stumps ??? ???

JuniperBoss · January 21, 2013, 01:04:59 AM

I laughed when I read this because we have a lot of "slash piles" from cutting. A funny incident was when I burnt a pile with a stump next to it. About two weeks after the burn I went up and the thing was literally flaming with flames a foot high. How can it burn that long???? Even if it is very hard, compact wood with little oxygen, it was flaming after 1/2 of a month!!! Crazy. smiley_whacko

Al_Smith · January 21, 2013, 07:09:43 AM

Ha I have no idea what a sweet gum is ,oak yes gum no .

wheelinguy · January 21, 2013, 07:20:20 AM

No worries about a stump hole here, it sits on a little rise not much bigger than the stump. Besides in the spring if has burned out enough I'm going to borrow my buddies mini excavator to tear it out!
Magicman, you can come get all the pine stumps you want I have some monsters on the hill in front of the house, but as far as the sweetgum goes you can keep 'em I've never heard you guys say one nice thing about them!

POSTON WIDEHEAD · January 21, 2013, 09:00:10 AM

Quote from: Magicman on January 20, 2013, 10:03:56 PM
Wanna trade for some Sweetgum stumps ??? ???

I might.....I wanna make some gun stocks. :D

PC-Urban-Sawyer · January 21, 2013, 05:29:07 PM

Quote from: wheelinguy on January 21, 2013, 07:20:20 AM
... but as far as the sweetgum goes you can keep 'em I've never heard you guys say one nice thing about them!

I don't know, I think Tom might have said is was pretty wood if you could get it to hold still long enough to take a picture...

davidlarson · January 21, 2013, 09:04:20 PM

Over the last three years I have been to several conferences on topics related to forestry, forest management, timber stand improvement, usually given by people trained in forestry, and have come to appreciate foresters' advice (especially when they suggest ways that help me to avoid work!). For example:

1. I used to want to clean up the forest floor to make the woods look park-like. The forester said it is better to leave the woods alone, and let the messiness turn to compost.
2. I used to want to burn brush, or at least run it through a chipper shredder. The forester said just pile it up, let it be a home for little critters, and eventually it will turn into duff.
3. I wanted to clean up the creeks, removing trees that had fallen across the creek bed, so it would look neater. The forester said leave the fallen trees, which are what the animals use as bridges to cross the creek.
4. I wanted to cut down standing dead trees. The forester said remove the dead trees near hiking trails, for safety of hikers, but leave the rest as snags, which woodpeckers will make holes in, eventually making homes for other birds, or for squirrels and chipmunks.
5. I wanted to clean up the cat-tails and alders on the banks of my pond. The forester said leave them, since they provide a home for frogs, turtles, and other wildlife.
6. I wanted to remove stumps, deep in the woods, or even on the slopes of the dam of my pond. The forester said leave the stumps, as they will eventually rot in the ground, and I won't lose their value as organic material in the forest soil.

You get the idea. I think the foresters are right in giving this kind of advice, and it certainly saves me a lot of unnecessary work.

David L>