Prairie grass burn

[lhfarm]

I planted prairie grass in an old hay field several years ago, but have never been able to do a spring burn. The field boarders the yard on one side and is surrounded by woods on the remaining sides. I would never attempt a burn without the aid of the fire department and over the years, time (I was only here on the weekends) and weather prevented us from having an opportunity to get together.

Last week, I called the fire department and they agreed to send a brush truck and crew out on Saturday, weather permitting. I would have my tractor with a 50 gallon sprayer (the tractor part of the project). They would instruct me in doing a controlled burn.

Saturday's weather was perfect. We have had several days of rain, but the day was sunny, with calm winds and high humidity. The crew of 3 arrived at 9 as promised, with a brush truck and a brush ATV.

I used a propane torch to start the fire as directed. With no wind and very wet ground, the fire burned slowly at first. The fire crew assured me that this was perfectly fine. The field is divided in two by a walking path and we started burning the second section. Winds of 5 to 8 MPH had been forecast and about half way through the burn, a breeze developed. The fire took off and looked more like the videos I had seen.

The crew was well prepared for this and used the truck and ATV water tanks to contain the fire along the breaks. The burn lasted about 2 hours and couldn't have been conducted in a safer or more professional manner. I plan to make a healthy donation to station.

 

[lhfarm]

I didn't have time to take many pictures, but here are a few more. The ATV and truck in action and the burn coming to and end at the last corner.

 

[lhfarm]

Final shots of the clean up. The tractor did come into play twice. The brush truck got stuck in a very wet spot and I pulled him out. This came at the very end of the burn. In the afternoon, I spotted one smoldering spot and used the sprayer hose to cool it.

When I drove the field in the afternoon I was amazed at how clean the burn had been. Eleven years of thatch had just disappeared. I'm expecting to see a beautiful summer crop of new grass.

I can't say enough about the crew and I'd give myself a pat on the back for the preparation I had done. I do need to double the width of one fire break, but otherwise I'm ready to do it again next year!

 

[brin]

Barry...Don't ya just love it when a plan comes together...Nice Job...I sure wish I could get our local fire dept. to come out and stand by for me to do a burn on a couple of my pastures...no such luck here though and I have board fencing and the pastures are surrounded by woods ...and I would never be able to get a permit in our area...Sure looks nice now..

 

[SandburRanch]

Final shots of the clean up. The tractor did come into play twice. The brush truck got stuck in a very wet spot and I pulled him out. This came at the very end of the burn. In the afternoon, I spotted one smoldering spot and used the sprayer hose to cool it.

When I drove the field in the afternoon I was amazed at how clean the burn had been. Eleven years of thatch had just disappeared. I'm expecting to see a beautiful summer crop of new grass.

I can't say enough about the crew and I'd give myself a pat on the back for the preparation I had done. I do need to double the width of one fire break, but otherwise I'm ready to do it again next year!

Good job lhfarm.

The wind usually switches directions at least 3 times when I burn. And then there was the time I was burning a brush pile within water well and hose reach. Sure the wind changed but also a contractor was re- surfacing the asphalt highway close by and some screwball backed his dump truck onto the county road with the bed UP and ran into overhead power lines with about 1400 volts. He lived and his brain was already dead so it didn't damage him in that respect but this made a transformer down the county road a few hundred feet sound like a 10 gauge shotgun starting a fire there and putting my water well down. Having plan B as a backup is now on my check off list.

 

[CompactTractorFan]

Great job! :thumbsup:

 

[treman]

Looks good. I may suggest that you burn every other year as if you try and burn every year you may not have sufficient fuel to carry a good fire. It looks great though and I am sure your pleased with the results, I know i would be from the looks of it you got a nearly complete burn.

Did you perform a back burn and create a black line surrounding the perimeter or simply light the head fire and let it slowly walk across the field? I ask because it seems as though your stating high humidity and recent rains would indicate that you waited for it to be rather wet. If you properly circle the area with a black line(50-75') you can simply light a head fire with a light 5-8mph breeze and it will rip across and give not only a cleaner burn but also will take substantially less time. Just curious as we are in the middle of our burn season at work. we have a couple hundred acres down and about 3-400 left to go if the wind and weather permits, otherwise we will have to wait for the fall.

Looks good and I'm glad it went off without a hitch. other than the stuck truck but thats to be expected from time to time.

 

[Longhorntractor]

That is wonderful. We are in Bastrop County Texas and mother nature involuntarily gave our pasture a real good burning last summer. The volunteer fire department did a great job containing the fire and no structures were lost. The grass is growing back real green do far.

 

[lhfarm]

Looks good. I may suggest that you burn every other year as if you try and burn every year you may not have sufficient fuel to carry a good fire. It looks great though and I am sure your pleased with the results, I know i would be from the looks of it you got a nearly complete burn.

Did you perform a back burn and create a black line surrounding the perimeter or simply light the head fire and let it slowly walk across the field? I ask because it seems as though your stating high humidity and recent rains would indicate that you waited for it to be rather wet. If you properly circle the area with a black line(50-75') you can simply light a head fire with a light 5-8mph breeze and it will rip across and give not only a cleaner burn but also will take substantially less time. Just curious as we are in the middle of our burn season at work. we have a couple hundred acres down and about 3-400 left to go if the wind and weather permits, otherwise we will have to wait for the fall.

Looks good and I'm glad it went off without a hitch. other than the stuck truck but that's to be expected from time to time.

I took my direction from the fire crew. They did have me back burn at the edges. I asked how many burns they had done and it was clear this was their first prairie grass burn. They were just using good training.

We have had a very strange winter. No snow, but lots of rain and warm temperatures. I kept waiting for drier conditions, but it just didn't happen. We actually had more rain last night and there is standing water in the field today.

I can't imagine the kind of work you are doing! My little spot beat me up. It would be great to see some pictures.

 

[lhfarm]

Barry...Don't ya just love it when a plan comes together...Nice Job...I sure wish I could get our local fire dept. to come out and stand by for me to do a burn on a couple of my pastures...no such luck here though and I have board fencing and the pastures are surrounded by woods ...and I would never be able to get a permit in our area...Sure looks nice now..

In the past, I hadn't been able to get the department out for a burn. There was always some reason. When I called this year, I really expected the same. But it was a new chief and he was happy to get some training in and even happier when I said I'd make a donation to cover fuel, etc. So I'd keep calling.

As I stated, I'd done a good job of preparing the area. Maybe if you ask for advise on how to conduct a safe burn, you could at least get the idea started. But I understand the frustration.