# Burn barrel/cage



## weaselfire (Feb 7, 2018)

Got a friend who's looking for a burn cage for her paperwork and some other paper trash. She's looking at something that costs a couple hundred bucks. When I used to have a burn barrel for household waste, it was a 55 gallon drum with holes around the base. Any reason for an expensive cage?

Thanks, 

Jeff


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

Insurance.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

You recycled a waste product is she looking at a new purpose built item ?


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

weaselfire said:


> Any reason for an expensive cage?


None that are logical.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

You don’t think it’s logical that a newly built purpose built item cost more than recycled waste ?


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

It’s by the same folks who build DR trimmers, etc. 


https://www.drpower.com/inquiry/bur...qMmBm7jZjA6vZNBh3VFsgIAjODBHKvFMaAocvEALw_wcB


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## anniew (Dec 12, 2002)

I think a barrel is fine...but there should be a top, maybe a heavy screen made of wire so that the embers don't blow out and set something on fire.


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## CKelly78z (Jul 16, 2017)

I just burned about 5 bags of household burnable trash today, along with some cardboard boxes. I always use standard steel 55 gallon barrels that last about 2-3 years in the elements burning every week....just make sure your important papers are the first thing to burn. and stir them around with a poker.


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

A burn barrel is a pretty good multipurpose tool. I use it for everything from burning cardboard to tree stumps to portable bases for scaffolding. 
Fill it full of lye for noncombustible and discreet disposal.
$5 for new barrels locally, $10 if you want the lady to cut the lid out first.


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

Burn barrels work fine. Remember when we used to make bonfires to burn leaves? No lid on them.


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## anniew (Dec 12, 2002)

I mentioned a lid because my neighbor used to open burn and embers would fly around. One time they almost set my plastic covered greenhouse on fire...and it could cost you a lot if you set someone else's property on fire...and possibly injure them.


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

It all depends if you use common sense do's and don'ts when burning - or not.


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## anniew (Dec 12, 2002)

of course, but since a lot of people don't have common sense, a lid would improve the chance of not having a problem.


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## Farmerjack41 (Jun 6, 2017)

Burn barrels are not legal to use in our county and maybe anywhere in the state. Have seen the fire department show up and put them out.


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## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

We sort our trash and burn anything that will burn in a metal barrel. Anything that won't burn goes in the bin to the landfill.
Probably burn trash every other day on average. When barrel gets too full of ash, I scoop a little hole with the backhoe, dump ashes in hole and cover them up.

The best part about burn barrels is prepping them with ventilation and drain holes using a semi auto rifle or pistol.


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## anniew (Dec 12, 2002)

Farmerjack, what state are you in?


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

Burn barrels are illegal in some states for a very good reason. They produce toxins that get spread by the wind. If a person is too cheap to haul their garbage to a landfill they should be ticketed.

We simply cannot continue to treat the earth like a dump and expect to leave anything for our children.


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## crehberg (Mar 16, 2008)

fishhead said:


> Burn barrels are illegal in some states for a very good reason. They produce toxins that get spread by the wind. If a person is too cheap to haul their garbage to a landfill they should be ticketed.
> 
> We simply cannot continue to treat the earth like a dump and expect to leave anything for our children.


Not trying to start an argument here...but what's wrong with burning trash so long as it isn't hazardous? Less in the landfill would seem better to me.


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## CKelly78z (Jul 16, 2017)

fishhead said:


> Burn barrels are illegal in some states for a very good reason. They produce toxins that get spread by the wind. If a person is too cheap to haul their garbage to a landfill they should be ticketed.
> 
> We simply cannot continue to treat the earth like a dump and expect to leave anything for our children.


We have a large landfill about 1 mile from our house (in Ohio) that receives construction trash from NYC by the trainload...mostly at night. I have no problem with burning paper/cardboard as needed in my burn barrel, and burying the ash on my own property like "Fishindude". 10 years from now, that ash will be usable soil, and out of sight. 10 years from now, all that construction trash will continue in it's offgassing process under 120' tall mountains, and continue to stink (rotting Chinese drywall), and foul the eco system, and local water.


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## flewism (Apr 2, 2007)

Luckily I can burn in our areas as long a I don't produce black smoke. I have a 8-10ft boulder circle fire pit out back. Important papers get burned in the wood stove. I've never owned a burn barrel.


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## Farmerjack41 (Jun 6, 2017)

anniew said:


> Farmerjack, what state are you in?


Washington


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

crehberg said:


> Not trying to start an argument here...but what's wrong with burning trash so long as it isn't hazardous? Less in the landfill would seem better to me.


Burning produces all kinds of chemicals that weren't in the original components. Some of those chemicals are known to be toxic.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

CKelly78z said:


> We have a large landfill about 1 mile from our house (in Ohio) that receives construction trash from NYC by the trainload...mostly at night. I have no problem with burning paper/cardboard as needed in my burn barrel, and burying the ash on my own property like "Fishindude". 10 years from now, that ash will be usable soil, and out of sight. 10 years from now, all that construction trash will continue in it's offgassing process under 120' tall mountains, and continue to stink (rotting Chinese drywall), and foul the eco system, and local water.


How do you keep the smoke on your property?


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## CKelly78z (Jul 16, 2017)

fishhead said:


> How do you keep the smoke on your property?


The same way I described the landfill not keeping leaking fluids, and stench on their own property....What about NYC keeping their own trash locally, and living downwind of it.


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## crehberg (Mar 16, 2008)

fishhead said:


> Burning produces all kinds of chemicals that weren't in the original components. Some of those chemicals are known to be toxic.


I guess I'm going to have to do some research here. I mean, I could understand in densely populated areas, but out here in the "country", I don't see where it would be any more harmful than prescribed burning.

Ya got me thinking though!


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

CKelly78z said:


> The same way I described the landfill not keeping leaking fluids, and stench on their own property....What about NYC keeping their own trash locally, and living downwind of it.


Modern landfills collect the leachate that comes from waste. I think our county either runs it through a plasma furnace at extremely high temps or takes it somewhere else and has them do it. That's completely different than a low temperature burn barrel.


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## MichaelZ (May 21, 2013)

The burn cage will allow a lot more air in while keeping the papers together. One could make their own by forming a cylinder with hardware cloth and putting a top and bottom on it all. We are able to use a barrel, but I always cut a hole in the side and also there is a small hole in the bottom. Without the air flow, not much will burn very well in the barrel.


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## Cornhusker (Mar 20, 2003)

My uncle used to burn trash and never worried about it.
He'd get an old barrel, take his 30-30 out and shoot it full of holes and light it up, even on windy days.
How he never started a fire, I'll never know.
A friend of mine got tired of pay $60 a month to get his trash hauled once a month, so he dug a burn pit, lined it with concrete blocks and covered it with wire mesh.
It's big enough to burn a full size car.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

That is how I prepped my burn barrels in the other Texas location. Can’t do it here in Travis County. Too close to the fire station. The burn laws are STRICT.


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

No burning near to the fire station? Ok then...


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Travis County, Texas, outdoor burning regulations

1. No house hold trash or garbage. (Technically no cardboard)
2. Natural materials only. (Technically no building materials)
4. Must be attended _AT ALL TIMES_
5. Must be out cold by dark (This means absolutely no coals or smoke. They will cut the chain on your gate to put it out.)
6. Winds can not be less than 6 mph or greater than 15 mph
7. 100' from structures (oops)
8. Must be cleared around burn pile
9. Water must be onsite and ready to use. Water hose that reaches past burn pile.
10. Can not burn within any City Limits ( Manor, Webberville, Austin )

Edited to add:
*Domestic waste:* 
Household trash or rubbish (domestic waste) may be burned at a property designed for and used exclusively as a private residence that houses not more than three families, *when the collection of domestic waste is not provided or authorized by the local government entity* having jurisdiction, and when the waste is generated only from that property. Domestic waste includes such things as kitchen garbage, untreated lumber, cardboard boxes, packaging (including plastics and rubber), clothing, grass, leaves, and branch trimmings. Items such as tires, non-wood construction debris, furniture, carpet, electrical wire, and appliances are not considered domestic waste and cannot be burned.

(So, as I don't have trash service here, I can legally burn my Amazon boxes.  )


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

My neighbor learned not to put an old fiberglass boat on his brush pile to burn, either. It was going to be a $5000 fine, but the Fire Marshall retired, and the matter was dropped.


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