I'm planting prairie grasses right now to restore an old oak savanna, and I'll need to burn every three years from what I have heard. Good to see someone actually burning. Great video guys!
I am a big fan (no pun intended) of utilizing the BACKFIRE technique more so than the HEAD FIRE. A backfire burns slower and more completely, and is also SAFER! A head fire, especially in grass, can sweep through so quickly that a lot of debris is not burned. The one advantage of a fast moving head fire is that it is less likely to damage your desirable shrubs and trees. Just my opinion.
I like the way you maped it out and the birdseye view. I would be nervous about doing a burn also. Is there any disadvantage in letting the fire go against the wind for the entire burn?
The only disadvantage would be stopping the slow burn.... it should stop when it hits your fire lane, but by starting the burn with the wind on your fire lane, it guarantees that the fire is contained... if you trust your fire lane then by all means let it slow burn up to it.
Takes too long. While you're standing there waiting for the thing to back up at 100 feet/hour, the wind's going to change and your back fire becomes a head fire and blows out an unsecured edge.
I was one of the first people anywhere in the country to burn CRP, back when the NRCS didn't know it was necessary and every fire required a variance from the county committee (it's now usually mandatory at some point in the contract). These fires were up to 160 acres, done by no more than 6 people with only hand tools. My advice, don't do anything the way these guys did it. Nobody was dressed properly. If you can't have Nomex or Kevlar clothing, go with all natural fiber, long sleeves, and wear leather gloves. If you put in mowlines, do it in the fall and remove the hay. You'll have a real greenline by spring. Forget the blackline, just do it once and get it over with. If you must blackline, it is a separate fire with it's own prescription, under cooler, damper conditions, basically when everything other than the CRP is non-flammable. This is why you had the spot-fire/slopover. For that matter, most CRP fires can be conducted under extremely low-end conditions, high RH, low air temp, because of the quantity and quality of the fuel. That stuff will practically burn in the rain. I once started a CRP burn at 98 percent RH and with heavy dew still on the canopy. It was flammable near the ground and we got complete burnout. Get some real equipment. Throw away the gas burner and get at least two drip torches; Panamas ( www.panamapump.com/html/handheld.html) with 19" snoots, not the crappy government design. You can make a fire do amazing things with a proper torch. Get some "flappers." Had you used it much, the snow shovel would have melted/caught fire. Don't "flap" with the flapper. Use it like a mop, back and forth over the ground. If you are burning around heavy fuels, you need a Pulaski and some water. Had the fire gotten into the heavies, you would have been helpless. Don't slam the downwind side with 30' of headfire, as was done at 6:25. A little more wind and your line would not have held anywhere. Light the very edge and create a true backing fire from the beginning. If you want to widen out the black, use strip headfires after the edge backfire is in. Don't light deeper into the fuel than the width of black down wind. You really need some form of pumped water on site, even if it's just an ATV with a cheap weed sprayer. It would have saved your butt if the fire had involved any heavies during the slopover. For best management results, burn CRP as late as the authorities will allow. This is not only safer, as surrounding fuels are greener, but invasive cool-season species (smooth brome, bluegrass that invade decadent stands) are more developed and will be damaged more. For woody control, burn after leaf out if possible for the same reason. There are many good online resources for grassland burns, mostly from state universities. Here are some I was involved with: Grassland Management With Prescribed Fire - extensionpublications.unl.edu/assets/pdf/ec148.pdf Conducting a Prescribed Burn on Warm-Season Grass CRP Site - nfs.unl.edu/documents/fireprotection/Ext%20NebGuide%20G1649.pdf Management of Eastern Redcedar on Grasslands - digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2297&context=extensionhist All in all, Oklahoma State University has the best educational resources for grassland prescribed fire - fireecology.okstate.edu/patch-burning/benefits/prescribed-fire-program
Thanks for the feedback sounds like u know hour stuff. I would agree your methods sound professional and the best methods, but they also sound like they are more costly and time consuming. We do this every year without issues and it accomplishes our goals. This video is meant for those backyard DIY guys l8ke me who want to jus get it done and it’s good enough. Thanks again though for your very through and professional advice. I enjoy learning and will keep everything you said in mind for next time.
We use the 15 gallon 12 volt sprayer from tractor supply company to douse spot fires along our fire breaks. They help with breakouts as we ring our 50 acre field when we burn it. Usually we make a couple of passes with a turning plow and then creep a black line around it. Once we are confident that we have a sufficient line downwind we set the head and watch it rip. Amazing how pretty and green the grass is after a burn. On a side note, if the wood lot on back is bordered by a river, you would likely benefit by burning through it occasionally. Enjoyed watching.
@@TheBrushcutter Absolutely correct on burning the woods. It can be done without a river, just put in a narrow dirt line by raking out the leaves and backfire off it. Small sprayers on ATVs, such as you use, are indispensable for patrol and rapidly attacking spots with enough water to be helpful. In my original comment, I should have pointed out that state and local laws vary widely across the country, in terms of planning and organization required, and whether some sort of permit is needed. In any case, follow local laws and regulations. NRCS planning requirements have gotten completely out of hand, as they were designed as one-size-fits-all for every locality and every unit, designed by desk jockeys with no fire experience whatsoever. If possible, leave them out of it.
I'd say there's no need to burn the black line that you tried at the beginning; it's definitely an option but do black lining during winter or on calmer days. I'd recommend widening the firebreak and go a little slower if you don't have much water, crew, or appropriate tools. Well done with what you had available though.
You don't call the fire department and tell them to ignore all calls from this location, just you are doing a controlled burn and will call if you lose it.
That is what I told them. I also called them when I was done. What that means to them is that they will ignore any calls about smoke from my property!!
Good video but next time have better ways to stop it, leaf blower, flapper. Even having some water on hand. You almost lost control before you even started. I know guys that till a big path around what they're planning on burning.
ummmm.... "The fire is going to go whoosh" ?? No, this is not a safe burn. As someone suggested, an atv with water tank is a minimum. A better start would have been to cultivate or plow around the edge of the field. This would eliminate the risky step of burning out a strip to begin with. Once the downwind edge is ignited, burn off strips of the field moving upwind about 30m at a time. This will reduce the "whoosh factor". If you give that fire a running start from the upwind edge, it will easily spot across your downwind blackline. Keep the fire intesity and your heart rate low.
I'll admit I'm addicted to adventure and adrenaline... It would have been safer to simply not light the upwind side and just let it slowly burn against the wind.. and atv with water tank would not doing good for a fire this size in my opinion but some good ole fashioned flappers and a leaf blower would do wonders.
Any pressured water supply on hand is better than none. And with winds such as you had there added to the lack of a established plowed or short mowed break there is an added risk of ignition in areas you don't want to ignite. BUT. As you have stated there is a river on the back of those woods. What I see here, is a missed opportunity to mess with your viewers heads. Same video title. But have the wood lot prepped with fire breaks and act like it got away from you. Our heads would have exploded. LMAO
You could have enhanced your safety markedly, by wearing some eye protection (even sunglasses will help). Also, long sleeves and a hat. If someone got a burning ember in their eye, it could be life changing / ruining!
Not sure what that's supposed to mean!? Obviously you are being sarcastic but I am curious just what you think is illegal about me burning my field? Doing this is required of me by the state of Illinois government. They pay me to do it.
@@syntm230 You use them to knock down the edge of the fire. This was an Rx fire, they didn't want to put it out, just keep it in. I published research on using them on Rx fires in the mid 90s. Don't go by how the idiot Brad Elder does it in the video cited by Adog.
Actually, no, it won't if used properly. It can, and will blow embers into fuel if you don't direct it toward the burned area. But backpack blowers are used with great success to fight fire mostly by establishing black lines and sweeping fuel away from a break line.
It’s true, it puts the nutrients back into the soil for the next set of crops. Fire farming was one of the first methods humans used for agriculture :)
Fire farming may be ancient, as well as cheap quick and easy, but it's still a terrible idea. Pollution in untold tons, it's the fast way to desertification, and CO2 in the sky. Cheap-easy-quick =bad anything.
Are you a scientist, specifically a fire ecologist? If you were you would know that grasslands evolved with fire, and the transient carbon emission is offset tenfold by the resulting carbon sequestration by the rejuvenated pasture regrowth.
downbntout if it decomposes it releases methane which is 20x (or around there) more effective at trapping heat than co2. The burn stimulates prairie grass to grow which has roots 6'+ deep which is fantastic at sequestering carbon. Also the black ash left over is carbon to, which the plants use as fertilizer.
Downbntout: The carbon is going into the sky at the same annual rate regardless of how it's oxidized; burning, decomposition, or animal metabolism. The only difference is that with burning it happens all at once, rather than over a longer period. Also, burning produces a certain amount of bio-char, or charcoal, which enters the soil and stays there essentially forever, so burning reduces the net CO2 content of the atmosphere. A given soil in a given environment will only hold so much organic carbon, but you can keep adding bio-char forever. See info on the terra preta soils in South America: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_preta For more information on the ecological role of fire in general, see The Association for Fire Ecology: fireecology.org/
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I'm planting prairie grasses right now to restore an old oak savanna, and I'll need to burn every three years from what I have heard. Good to see someone actually burning. Great video guys!
Cool good luck man
Did you think to ask the fire department for a standby, this is great training for them as well especially before the fire season gets going ?
fresh green pine saplings are a very good tool to put out grass fires. It suffocates the fire pretty easily. three or four feet trees work great
I am a big fan (no pun intended) of utilizing the BACKFIRE technique more so than the HEAD FIRE. A backfire burns slower and more completely, and is also SAFER!
A head fire, especially in grass, can sweep through so quickly that a lot of debris is not burned. The one advantage of a fast moving head fire is that it is less likely to damage your desirable shrubs and trees. Just my opinion.
I like the way you maped it out and the birdseye view. I would be nervous about doing a burn also. Is there any disadvantage in letting the fire go against the wind for the entire burn?
The only disadvantage would be stopping the slow burn.... it should stop when it hits your fire lane, but by starting the burn with the wind on your fire lane, it guarantees that the fire is contained... if you trust your fire lane then by all means let it slow burn up to it.
Takes too long. While you're standing there waiting for the thing to back up at 100 feet/hour, the wind's going to change and your back fire becomes a head fire and blows out an unsecured edge.
@@johnortmann3098 yup happened to me.
Purchase a few McCloud’s. Scratch a line around the perimeter before you burn. Buy two drip torches also. 75:25 diesel:gas mixture.
I am pretty sure you meant Mcleod rakes, correct?
I was one of the first people anywhere in the country to burn CRP, back when the NRCS didn't know it was necessary and every fire required a variance from the county committee (it's now usually mandatory at some point in the contract). These fires were up to 160 acres, done by no more than 6 people with only hand tools. My advice, don't do anything the way these guys did it.
Nobody was dressed properly. If you can't have Nomex or Kevlar clothing, go with all natural fiber, long sleeves, and wear leather gloves.
If you put in mowlines, do it in the fall and remove the hay. You'll have a real greenline by spring.
Forget the blackline, just do it once and get it over with. If you must blackline, it is a separate fire with it's own prescription, under cooler, damper conditions, basically when everything other than the CRP is non-flammable. This is why you had the spot-fire/slopover.
For that matter, most CRP fires can be conducted under extremely low-end conditions, high RH, low air temp, because of the quantity and quality of the fuel. That stuff will practically burn in the rain. I once started a CRP burn at 98 percent RH and with heavy dew still on the canopy. It was flammable near the ground and we got complete burnout.
Get some real equipment. Throw away the gas burner and get at least two drip torches; Panamas ( www.panamapump.com/html/handheld.html) with 19" snoots, not the crappy government design. You can make a fire do amazing things with a proper torch. Get some "flappers." Had you used it much, the snow shovel would have melted/caught fire. Don't "flap" with the flapper. Use it like a mop, back and forth over the ground. If you are burning around heavy fuels, you need a Pulaski and some water. Had the fire gotten into the heavies, you would have been helpless.
Don't slam the downwind side with 30' of headfire, as was done at 6:25. A little more wind and your line would not have held anywhere. Light the very edge and create a true backing fire from the beginning. If you want to widen out the black, use strip headfires after the edge backfire is in. Don't light deeper into the fuel than the width of black down wind.
You really need some form of pumped water on site, even if it's just an ATV with a cheap weed sprayer. It would have saved your butt if the fire had involved any heavies during the slopover.
For best management results, burn CRP as late as the authorities will allow. This is not only safer, as surrounding fuels are greener, but invasive cool-season species (smooth brome, bluegrass that invade decadent stands) are more developed and will be damaged more. For woody control, burn after leaf out if possible for the same reason.
There are many good online resources for grassland burns, mostly from state universities. Here are some I was involved with:
Grassland Management With Prescribed Fire - extensionpublications.unl.edu/assets/pdf/ec148.pdf
Conducting a Prescribed Burn on Warm-Season Grass CRP Site - nfs.unl.edu/documents/fireprotection/Ext%20NebGuide%20G1649.pdf
Management of Eastern Redcedar on Grasslands -
digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2297&context=extensionhist
All in all, Oklahoma State University has the best educational resources for grassland prescribed fire -
fireecology.okstate.edu/patch-burning/benefits/prescribed-fire-program
Thanks for the feedback sounds like u know hour stuff. I would agree your methods sound professional and the best methods, but they also sound like they are more costly and time consuming. We do this every year without issues and it accomplishes our goals. This video is meant for those backyard DIY guys l8ke me who want to jus get it done and it’s good enough. Thanks again though for your very through and professional advice. I enjoy learning and will keep everything you said in mind for next time.
Spoken like a true gentleman E Factor Outdoors.
We use the 15 gallon 12 volt sprayer from tractor supply company to douse spot fires along our fire breaks. They help with breakouts as we ring our 50 acre field when we burn it. Usually we make a couple of passes with a turning plow and then creep a black line around it. Once we are confident that we have a sufficient line downwind we set the head and watch it rip. Amazing how pretty and green the grass is after a burn.
On a side note, if the wood lot on back is bordered by a river, you would likely benefit by burning through it occasionally.
Enjoyed watching.
@@TheBrushcutter Absolutely correct on burning the woods. It can be done without a river, just put in a narrow dirt line by raking out the leaves and backfire off it.
Small sprayers on ATVs, such as you use, are indispensable for patrol and rapidly attacking spots with enough water to be helpful.
In my original comment, I should have pointed out that state and local laws vary widely across the country, in terms of planning and organization required, and whether some sort of permit is needed. In any case, follow local laws and regulations. NRCS planning requirements have gotten completely out of hand, as they were designed as one-size-fits-all for every locality and every unit, designed by desk jockeys with no fire experience whatsoever. If possible, leave them out of it.
Integrating and helpful. I feel a lot better about burning now.
+Anders Moore great!
Don't do it please, it's awful farming.
I'd say there's no need to burn the black line that you tried at the beginning; it's definitely an option but do black lining during winter or on calmer days. I'd recommend widening the firebreak and go a little slower if you don't have much water, crew, or appropriate tools. Well done with what you had available though.
turned out great. good edit, nice map
Flares taped to a broom handle work well, in the absence of a drip torch.
10-4 I guess so!
You don't call the fire department and tell them to ignore all calls from this location, just you are doing a controlled burn and will call if you lose it.
That is what I told them. I also called them when I was done. What that means to them is that they will ignore any calls about smoke from my property!!
at 747 748 what was the object that flew from the ground looked like snake or?
When you burn tall grass, ashy burned pieces and stems blow away in the wind. That is what it was.
Thx for the vid
Good video but next time have better ways to stop it, leaf blower, flapper. Even having some water on hand. You almost lost control before you even started. I know guys that till a big path around what they're planning on burning.
Agreed! Haha. This year my plan was to let the 10 acres of forest floor in that woods burn also since the river surrounds the whole field anyway.
How to safely burn... 5:18 Oh, God! Oops, we had a little wildfire. Let me put it out with this PLASTIC snow-shovel.
ummmm.... "The fire is going to go whoosh" ?? No, this is not a safe burn. As someone suggested, an atv with water tank is a minimum. A better start would have been to cultivate or plow around the edge of the field. This would eliminate the risky step of burning out a strip to begin with. Once the downwind edge is ignited, burn off strips of the field moving upwind about 30m at a time. This will reduce the "whoosh factor". If you give that fire a running start from the upwind edge, it will easily spot across your downwind blackline. Keep the fire intesity and your heart rate low.
I'll admit I'm addicted to adventure and adrenaline... It would have been safer to simply not light the upwind side and just let it slowly burn against the wind.. and atv with water tank would not doing good for a fire this size in my opinion but some good ole fashioned flappers and a leaf blower would do wonders.
Any pressured water supply on hand is better than none. And with winds such as you had there added to the lack of a established plowed or short mowed break there is an added risk of ignition in areas you don't want to ignite. BUT. As you have stated there is a river on the back of those woods.
What I see here, is a missed opportunity to mess with your viewers heads. Same video title. But have the wood lot prepped with fire breaks and act like it got away from you. Our heads would have exploded. LMAO
How did you set the fire
The tool used in the video is called a propane weed burner
We're you guys located
Central illinois
I watched your video I am looking to help people with burns
We burn every year in feb-april. Your more than welcome to come help.
How many acres do you guys burn a year
5
Drone footage woulda be dooope AF!
Yeeeeaaaaa
You could have enhanced your safety markedly, by wearing some eye protection (even sunglasses will help). Also, long sleeves and a hat. If someone got a burning ember in their eye, it could be life changing / ruining!
I followed your directions and for some reason I am writing this from jail with arson charges on my ass
Not sure what that's supposed to mean!? Obviously you are being sarcastic but I am curious just what you think is illegal about me burning my field? Doing this is required of me by the state of Illinois government. They pay me to do it.
E Factor Outdoors - DIY Hunting Fishing A joke
10-4!
E Factor Outdoors - DIY Hunting Fishing lol
why not just mow the burn strip then just burn the freshly mowed stuff?
I did mow most of the burn strips. Problem is I don't have a bush hog. I'm using my zero turn mower. That took long enough as is.
The backing fire probably would've done the job lol.
How did i get here lol...badass tho!!
I always took a plow an made about 4 runs around the field
Good idea! I never had any Ag equipment during the making of this video.
yeah it's high got to make do with what you have y'all did good
Gods way
The BEANS are not gonna BUURN
Don’t use a Leaf Blower. Because it’ll give the fire oxygen and it’ll burn even stronger
Actual it wont fire fighters actualy use them to put out small fires
th-cam.com/video/j4FTBp9jX44/w-d-xo.html
Adog Supreme well if they are “small” enough then yea. But ain’t no one burning land in a super small area
@@syntm230 You use them to knock down the edge of the fire. This was an Rx fire, they didn't want to put it out, just keep it in. I published research on using them on Rx fires in the mid 90s. Don't go by how the idiot Brad Elder does it in the video cited by Adog.
Actually, no, it won't if used properly. It can, and will blow embers into fuel if you don't direct it toward the burned area. But backpack blowers are used with great success to fight fire mostly by establishing black lines and sweeping fuel away from a break line.
2000 acres later....
trudeau would put a carbon tax on that
Bureau of Land Management has arrested people for accidentally burning some of their lands. (talking only a few feet)
Bugs and ants by
that was short and boring
That’s what she said
You deal with muslims the exact same way.
No jews
How I wish you wouldn't do any burning. Put all that carbon through animals and give life to the earth instead of putting it up in the sky.
It’s true, it puts the nutrients back into the soil for the next set of crops. Fire farming was one of the first methods humans used for agriculture :)
Fire farming may be ancient, as well as cheap quick and easy, but it's still a terrible idea. Pollution in untold tons, it's the fast way to desertification, and CO2 in the sky. Cheap-easy-quick =bad anything.
Are you a scientist, specifically a fire ecologist? If you were you would know that grasslands evolved with fire, and the transient carbon emission is offset tenfold by the resulting carbon sequestration by the rejuvenated pasture regrowth.
downbntout if it decomposes it releases methane which is 20x (or around there) more effective at trapping heat than co2. The burn stimulates prairie grass to grow which has roots 6'+ deep which is fantastic at sequestering carbon. Also the black ash left over is carbon to, which the plants use as fertilizer.
Downbntout: The carbon is going into the sky at the same annual rate regardless of how it's oxidized; burning, decomposition, or animal metabolism. The only difference is that with burning it happens all at once, rather than over a longer period. Also, burning produces a certain amount of bio-char, or charcoal, which enters the soil and stays there essentially forever, so burning reduces the net CO2 content of the atmosphere. A given soil in a given environment will only hold so much organic carbon, but you can keep adding bio-char forever. See info on the terra preta soils in South America: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_preta
For more information on the ecological role of fire in general, see The Association for Fire Ecology: fireecology.org/