RootRipperZilla

[TnAndy]

To bury what won't burn.

 

[4570Man]

Doesn’t that make a sinkhole later?

 

[TnAndy]

Hasn't so far, but I'll keep an eye out...........

 

[Captain Dirty]

Why do you dig a hole? I致e never tried that on large scale only with a campfire but I found it much harder to burn like that.

Short answer: The sides of the pit reflect heat back to the fire. With a pipe you can put forced draft at the bottom of the pit.

Longer story: My son had a 24" poplar stump with a 6' root ball plus an extensive collection of roots to dispose of. His solution was to power wash most of the dirt off the stump, although many rocks and some dirt remained. Leave the stump and unwashed roots to dry for a year. Dig a pit approx. 4' deep by 8' diameter with a sloping trench. Lay 20' of 6" galvanized pipe in the trench. install a 6A "bouncy house" blower behind a sheet metal shield at the on-grade end of the pipe. Use the roots and other brush to fuel the fire around the stump. After 12 hrs of burn the stump was reduced to about 10" x 10" x 10". When the blower was off to allow fire tending, the smoke was NASTY. When the blower was on the smoke was much cleaner. My wife, who remembered my return from numerous boy scout campouts, remarked that my clothing did not smell of smoke.