I was wondering if anyone could help me with estimating equipment time maintaining burn piles resulting from clearing and grubbing operations. I can estimate how many equipment hours per acre for the clearing & grubbing part but im not too sure on the equipment time needed for maintaining burn piles so i end up guessing those allot of the time. most people would just say through a day or two with an excavator to maintain the piles as your burning but on some my estimates the clearing & grubbing is a result from over 100 acres of medium to dense forest with allot of it non sell-able timber. heres the scenario say i have a pile of typical timber and brush, root balls and all. assume the dirt has been mostly cleaned out of the root balls with the excavator. also assume the trees have been allowed to set for 60 days to dry out prior to burning. lets say the pile of trees is 100x100 and 15' tall overall average dimensions. - how long will it take to burn? - I assume you will need an excavator and a man there the entire time its burning to make sure its burning well and also to put it out each night. i just need some type of way i can gauge equipment & man hours for cost estimating, even if you have some experience that doesnt match this scenario that would help. most ideal would be if someone could tell me "per 10 acres of medium to dense woods = XXX hours of burn pile maintenance time with an excavator" very much appreciate the help guys - Project Estimator
Yair . . . IsaacEssex I won't be of much help to you, but will make some general comments. You folks do things completely different in the 'States and to begin with I can't imagine using an excavator to stoke piles. Why do you need to put it out each night? . . . to do that you are going to need more than an excavator. It depends on the timber and conditions. Clearing with a 'dozer with a tree pusher and rake I would not end up with heaps so large, much easier to have smaller heaps and shove them together as they burn. I always like to work them hot and the last paddock of around three hundred acres we lit them one morning, gave them a stoke during the afternoon, let them burn overnight and finished out next day . . . tractor was an old Seven with a twenty four foot rake. I might add I always like to flood the belly guards before stoking fires and carry a cream-can or such like of water on the floor plates . . . properly set up tractors have a water tank built into the canopy but you don't see it much these days. As I said none of what I mentioned will be of assistance but I thought may be of general interest. Cheers.
A 100x100x15 pile of brush and trees that have had 60 days to dry (assuming it hasn't rained 45 of those 60 days ) should be able to be burnt with an excavator in a few days. I say a few days because I don't know the tree types, cleanliness of the piles, etc. Also, add a guy to watch the fire at night and don't put it out if you can do that. Stack the pile up at quitting time and let a guy watch it during the night. When the next day starts, chunk the pile up - no lost time or wasting a bed of hot coals. The night time labor will be money well spent in burning production.
Yes, putting out the fire at night is not the best idea. Also you might want to look into an air curtain destroyer, or similar pit burner. basically they pump the air right to the fire greatly reducing the burn time, think of it as a super charger for the wood stove. I do a little bit of clearing here in pa, and here are some pointers. 1. sell any tree anyone will buy, below the log markets are the chip and firewood markets, very few are pure un-marketable. 2. If its anywhere close to an urban population, check with the big mulch yards. You should be able to get something for it, but if you had to give it away and they ground and hauled, its still faster than burning. And when you burn, dig a pit and burn in that, the sides reflect the heat and it works much better, above ground pile burning will hardly burn a stump here, and in a pit they disenegrate. Oh, and from experience, pay attention to wind direction, the state police do not appreciate one smoking out their highways, should you be near one..
Don't have all the stump's on the same end, make the pile's tight. To get the fire started use a couple of gallons of diesel. Once the fire is burning good. Use a back pack leaf blower and a small sprayer with diesel. The wind from the blower and sprayed fuel will blow the fire out the other side or end. I always started my piles on the end.
Listen to the stumpjumper on the multch/chip/powerplant market. Ive done my share of big ag clearing, burn in a deep pit makes cleanup like sweeping it under the rug, burn it fast all at once. Dont be scared be smart. This will be the biggest hottest fire you will ever see! With the pit if things need to be shut down push it in. You will have a unpleasant time unwinding your mess if you pile up then pick apart to burn. Big trackhoe with a thumb/material claw works the best.
Not sure where you are in this process, but saw a blower on Ebay. Not something I see every day, figured I'd pass it along. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Burn-blower...51305498310?pt=Excavators&hash=item3a82f996c6
reading the replies, I think you must listen to those who have the T shirt.Your one comment about putting the fire out everynight told the story.
If at all possible , pit burn it and it will take considerably less time and will be a clean burn with no stumps left. Having to push or clean a burn area on the ground is a nitemare, plus a great chance to get ride of a machine. We use a pit blower with a curtain and wind direction and smoke are next to no concern then , at the end of the day we stack the pit overfull with the excavator and move the blower away then in the morning it is a huge bed of coals and just start throwing more on it and repeat the day over agian. As mentioned - the amount of time is very dependant on size , species , and how clean the debris is. Also to mention - pit burning does not need drying time , while you are clearing the burning is being done at the same time.