For those of you that practice open-burning of leaves/brush..

   / For those of you that practice open-burning of leaves/brush.. #21  
I like having to have a permit. Our permits are free with the requirement of a minimum of 6” of snow on the ground. Helps keep down the jerks from starting forest fires.
The last time we had 6" of snow down here was around 1973 or there abouts. Cops shut down all the roads if they see a snowflake so you can imagine what it was like for a couple of days. No one down here even heard of a snow shovel. The city was trying to clear the snow with Street Cleaners and Road Graders. :rolleyes:

Well, I looked it up. Seems San Antonio had a 13" snowfall in 1985 but I wasn't living there then. At that time I was living in the North Coast snow belt outside Cleveland, Ohio. 13" up there was considered a dusting of snow. :laughing:
 
Last edited:
   / For those of you that practice open-burning of leaves/brush.. #22  
No permits needed in my area either. I had my house place cleared, and a dozer pushed up all the slash and stumps into a pile. About 3 gallons of diesel and a few matches later, I had a blaze of glory. Soldered for a solid week, but the flames died down by lunch the Saturday I lit it and stayed out there with it.
 
   / For those of you that practice open-burning of leaves/brush.. #23  
I have struggled with the idea of getting a wood chipper to chip the material. I can use the chips after all. However, I cannot afford a chipper that will be able to handle large logs. And deconstructing this pile... yikes. I'm not lazy, but that would be a massive job. Interlocking large brush pile with large material in it.

With a capable chipper, you chip as you cut the brush. You never end up with a large pile to begin with.
 
   / For those of you that practice open-burning of leaves/brush.. #24  
It is WAY more work. But, as much as I like a Gigantic bon fire, I'm gonna try and just leave as much brush in the forest or on fence lines as possible, simply as the more ecologically friendly thing to do.

Also as far as using a chipper. Who wants that thing screaming way as you go about collecting brush? Certainly not I.
 
   / For those of you that practice open-burning of leaves/brush.. #25  
With a capable chipper, you chip as you cut the brush. You never end up with a large pile to begin with.

Oh, I feel ya. But these piles were made by the loggers. They aggressively logged my property, with 24 loads, in about 3 days. There is no time for chipping at that rate. :laughing:
 
   / For those of you that practice open-burning of leaves/brush.. #26  
I lived in JT for about 10 years before moving further north in the Mojave. Go down to the County Fire Department on Park and get a burn permit. They are good for 1 year and free. They should give you a handout with regulations but if not here they are. https://cms.sbcounty.gov/portals/58/Documents/Programs/OutdoorFireRequirements.pdf You do have to call the AQMD line to get permission to burn and to let them know that there will be smoke from your property. That keeps them from false response.

There are no unusual requirements except for high wind days and high pollution days (rare up here) and a requirement to have a fire extinguisher and hose available.

What I do is dig a pit with my tractor that is 2' deep and burn in the pit. When i am done I just push the dirt back over the pit. Everything is now clean.
 
   / For those of you that practice open-burning of leaves/brush..
  • Thread Starter
#27  
I lived in JT for about 10 years before moving further north in the Mojave. Go down to the County Fire Department on Park and get a burn permit.

I'm not interested in burning and they closed the fire department in JT. The only thing I want to burn on my property are the Joshua Trees! They're not trees, they're not attractive, provide no shade.. you cant even touch them. Worthless weeds as far as I'm concerned, but the Desert Karen's seem to think they need to be protected, even on your own private property.
Lately, I've been clearing and leveling a corner of my place in order to have a new shop/office/mancave erected for when I retire next year. This place was a barren hillside years ago, The owners actually paid a landscaper to put in irrigation and plant (get this) creosote bushes! crappy worthless bushes right below tumbleweeds on the desirability scale, they got over 15 ft tall thanks to being watered. I shut down the irrigation and have been removing them - 26 of them so far. Cut the branches down to ground level, then dug out the root ball (with my LS MT125 backhoe) and hauled them to the 29 palms transfer station (no cost for greens) where they get picked up and recycled into mulch for the county. I never considered burning them since a 30 minute trip to the transfer station gets them out of my life much faster but wondered what people who burn routinely have to go through..
Recently I got a love-letter from the county informing me that now creosote bushes are protected, and it's now illegal to do ANYTHING within a 40' radius of a joshua tree, unless it's dead. The area I cleared has a tree 21' away so now I'm waiting to see if they're going to let me build, and I'm running an experiment to see if peeing on them kills them.... err, I mean if dogs pee on them..

Im also looking at prices for homes in Arizona... I want to move back to 'Merica.
 
   / For those of you that practice open-burning of leaves/brush.. #28  
Here in NE WA state there are times - late summer - when burning is prohibited. Potential start of wildfires. Need a permit? I don't know - I've never asked. I don't collect nor burn brush. I will, on occasion, burn entire pine trees. Limbs and all. It's a clean-up of pines killed by pine bark beetle. I only burn in the winter - after we have snow.

I use tractor/grapple to clean up limbs and move the five to ten foot long sections of tree trunk to my burn pit. Once it's all there - touch it off.
 
   / For those of you that practice open-burning of leaves/brush.. #29  
66F9D066-A717-4432-AD32-B312385788B7.jpegDA8B93C5-1CE7-434B-8219-811826BBB99C.jpeg

I burned everything. prescribed burn. Still Waiting, 14 months for the govt to reimburse me but......the virus.
 
   / For those of you that practice open-burning of leaves/brush.. #30  
I didn't know there was a govt. program to pay somebody to burn their property. Can you provide any details?
 

Tractor & Equipment Auctions

Unused Delta Crash Attenuators (A49461)
Unused Delta Crash...
2019 GENIE GTH-5519 TELESCOPIC FORKLIFT (A51242)
2019 GENIE...
2013 Isuzu NPR-HD 16FT Reefer Box Truck (A50323)
2013 Isuzu NPR-HD...
48ft Low Boy T/A Trailer (A49346)
48ft Low Boy T/A...
Gleaner R50 Combine (A50514)
Gleaner R50...
2019 New Holland Workmaster 95 MFWD Compact Utility Tractor with 632TL Loader - Poultry Special (A52128)
2019 New Holland...
 
Top