Step 2: Starting the burn
Once you have your wood cut, start a decent fire in your barrel and get it going good. You will need a fairly strong fire going in the bottom of the barrel before you add your hardwood. Let your fire burn for a while so you get some good coals and strong flame in the bottom of the barrel.
When your fire is burning good, start adding your hardwood. I have found this works better by adding just like a layer at a time and let it start catching fire before adding your next layer. When burning in a 55 gallon drum, I will usually do like 3 layers of wood. It takes longer when adding the wood this way, but the burning process goes faster because you don't have to wait as long to get the fire all the way up to the top of the wood.
After all of the wood is added, let the fire burn until all of the wood in the barrel is on fire. This is an important step because you are removing all of the wood gas this way. Your wood should be burning and you will begin to see the char on the outside of the wood.
When your fire is burning good, start adding your hardwood. I have found this works better by adding just like a layer at a time and let it start catching fire before adding your next layer. When burning in a 55 gallon drum, I will usually do like 3 layers of wood. It takes longer when adding the wood this way, but the burning process goes faster because you don't have to wait as long to get the fire all the way up to the top of the wood.
After all of the wood is added, let the fire burn until all of the wood in the barrel is on fire. This is an important step because you are removing all of the wood gas this way. Your wood should be burning and you will begin to see the char on the outside of the wood.
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Hycro
says:
Dec 31, 2010. 5:15 AMReply
When I'm making a fire for heating, and it's unusually cold in the building I'm trying to heat, I'll have my tinder, then kindling, then my small "large bits" then some larger ones on top, especially if it's out camping in a hunting camp of sorts (we go there for drinking, since none of us usually hunts) and the wood I'm using is kinda frosty...that way it's "preheating" the larger bits, and I don't need to be there watching it the whole time it's trying to catch, just need to be sure the kindling caught, then I don't need to worry about it going back out again for a while. (our trips are usually short-planned, and somehow on the coldest nights is when we have the worst wood, even if my buddy brought some from his woodpile at home, it still doesn't work the greatest, I end up getting green brush and dried twigs from outside, hence why they liked me coming along 'cause I didn't mind going outside to get that stuff, 'cause I'd always be dressed for colder than it was when we went out to the camp :D)
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