Outdoor burning laws

[lilranch2001]

With all the finger joints and glue lams in today’s construction lumber it does not surprise me more localities would outlaw burning them.

Last year a new addition was built across from me and it seems like there is a finger joint every foot or so in 2x material

 

[etpm]

With all the finger joints and glue lams in today’s construction lumber it does not surprise me more localities would outlaw burning them.

Last year a new addition was built across from me and it seems like there is a finger joint every foot or so in 2x material

I am gonna hijack this thread. Sorry(not).Back in the early 80s I had a friend that worked at a place that made garage doors. They had a couple finger joint lines that would (wood?) basically make endless lengths of wood. For whatever reason the shortest pieces of wood that could be processed were about 14 inches long. So all the short pieces were given away to employees. My friend didn't burn wood for heat but I did. So several cords of short lengths of kiln dried soft and maybe some hard woods made it to my house for heat. I was really impressed with the operation. I was given a tour of a finger jointing line. Lengths of wood would be fed into the machine continuously. Any part of any length that was not straight enough would be cut out. Then the ends of the pieces of wood got finger jointed, then glue was applied, then the pieces would be pressed together, and finally the glued finger joint would be cured with microwaves. And the wood moved constantly through the machine. All cutting, finger jointing, glueing, pressing together, and glue curing was done with the wood in constant motion. All the wood processed arrived at the factory as random lengths of dimensional lumber. It was all milled to size. I don't know why some sections were so curved that they were unusable, but I saw some myself. Maybe after milling to size the wood warped. The finger jointing machine also detected defects like knots and cracks and cut them out. Much of the wood I got was warped or had knots. I was and am still impressed by this very efficient use of wood. The finger joints were stronger than the wood.
Eric

 

[Redbug]

About the Emerald Ash Borer and issues concerning transporting wood...what do the loggers do about transporting logs to the mills?

 

[Torvy]

Not sure...I saw a guy at Dollar General the other night with 3-4 ~10-12' pine trunks in the bed of his pickup. Smuggling?

Maybe that's how they transport the Ash.

What's left when they uproot the trees?

Ash holes.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

. The finger joints were stronger than the wood.

I just broke in two an old piece of door brick molding. It broke at the finger joint.

 

[etpm]

I just broke in two an old piece of door brick molding. It broke at the finger joint.

I'm sure that's true, however your sample of one has means nothing compared to the operation I saw. Who knows who did the finger joint you broke? Do you? If I was you I would never trust a finger joint again. Even one you did yourself. That way you will be happy that there are no finger joints in your constructions that may break before the surrounding wood.
Eric

 

[HawkinsHollow]

In the county my property is at there is a burn ban from May 1st until October 1st. It is a summer air quality thing. I have a couple good piles to burn this winter.

On the subject of moving wood, I get it and I try not to do it. Normally we camp in close proximity to the national forest so I bring my chainsaw and drive up into the forest and harvest enough for our stay. There is usually some left for the next group.

 

[Jrasband]

Finger joints are defiantly not stronger than wood. I think your getting finger jointed confused with laminated. Laminated wood is much stronger than regular wood.

 

[ponytug]

Finger joints are defiantly not stronger than wood. I think you're getting finger jointed confused with laminated. Laminated wood is much stronger than regular wood.

I can't speak to homemade finger joints, but for commercially made ones, there is quite a bit of data that they are much stronger than stick lumber, in part because they are defect free.

This quotes a strength increase of 60%;

https://iitimber.co.uk/timber-products/engineered-timber/

All the best,

Peter

 

[two_bit_score]

I burn in the winter - if needed. Always a concern for late summer/fall wildfires. I have created a rather large pit. I pile dead trees and limbs there. Mostly stuff that has died from Pine Bark beetle. I only burn trees - nothing else.

I live on my 80 acres - out in the middle of thousands of acres of range land.

I love to burn with snow on the ground. Don't get to do that very often in Texas outside of the Panhandle.

 

[two_bit_score]

Got 4 old tires to burn tomorrow. Someone here told me the fire chief don't approve of tire burning.
My reply back was, I didn't ask for his approval !

Attach them together and use them as a drag for your pasture. You might even be able to sell it to somone.

 

[Oaktree]

On the subject of moving wood, I get it and I try not to do it. Normally we camp in close proximity to the national forest so I bring my chainsaw and drive up into the forest and harvest enough for our stay. There is usually some left for the next group.

Is that allowed in your area? At least in the White Mountain National Forest, the only wood you can take is dead and on the ground. It requires a (fairly inexpensive) permit.
This is mainly a "firewood" thing, not sure about campfire wood, though I suspect going in with a chainsaw is not encouraged.

 

[Jstpssng]

About the Emerald Ash Borer and issues concerning transporting wood...what do the loggers do about transporting logs to the mills?

The borer is just finding it's way here and areas where it's been found are quarantined, so mills out of the area can't take wood from quarantine areas. It's going to take over eventually, but they are experimenting with various methods of eradication.

 

[Dftodd]

Have to laugh at how times have changed. In the late 90’s, I had just married and bought my first house On 3/4 acre.
It was a shambles. I tore out 100’s of feet of studded walls in the basement, picnic tables, old firewood, random burnable junk and threw it on a big pile in the back yard.
I let my neighbors know it was going to be smoky for a few hours before an upcoming rain and was doing some burning.
Neither cared and I burned junk for about 3 days.

Now, in that same township you can’t burn. It all has to be buried in a landfill.

I've had numerous fires on my property this summer. As long as there is no burn ban, I can burn pretty much anytime I want within reason.

I did have the fire department called on me one day. A large rotted stump caught fire. The fire actually traveled through the roots under ground.

All of a sudden it started burning from the inside out.

A guy doing roadside mowing freaked out and called the fire department.

By the time the fire department came down the street, the stump was down to a dull roar. I was sitting in a camping chair in the shade where I could keep an eye on things.

Fire department missed the fire all together. They went screaming by the property. Then about 5 minutes later they stopped and asked if the roadside mower guy was parked here.

I replied yes he was. That's when the fireman told me about the call. I brought up the old stump that went up and that it was pretty impressive to watch. But other than the ground being scorched around it, it didn't travel anywhere.

Fireman wished me a good day and headed back to the station.

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

maybe as a way to stop people from having a "bring a pallet" style of party that is getting popular.

Couple hundred kids get together each bringing a pallet or two gets out of hand really quickly.

I am perfectly OK with not letting people get together in the middle of the night to burn pallets on public lands.

 

[Dftodd]

maybe as a way to stop people from having a "bring a pallet" style of party that is getting popular.

Couple hundred kids get together each bringing a pallet or two gets out of hand really quickly.

I am perfectly OK with not letting people get together in the middle of the night to burn pallets on public lands.

View attachment 825171

That reminds me of the homecoming football games at my local high school. On homecomingz they would set up a big pallet bonfire on the edge of the field

 

[two_bit_score]

I did have the fire department called on me one day. A large rotted stump caught fire. The fire actually traveled through the roots under ground.

All of a sudden it started burning from the inside out.

Bet that was neat to see. I’ve always heard about that happening but never witnessed it myself.

 

[Dftodd]

Bet that was neat to see. I’ve always heard about that happening but never witnessed it myself.

Yeah, but I can also understand why the dude mowing the roadside flipped out and called the fire department.

Since it was internal, it had a chimney effect and actually made it look like the woods behind the stump was on fire

 

[two_bit_score]

Stump fires can burn roots and fires can pop up in odd places. You may have been luckier than you know @Dftodd.