Stump+Burning

The following pictures show how to burn large stumps. Three years ago, my parents had two large trees removed in preparation for a renovation. The stumps have been sitting by their garden ever since. They’re huge and have a lot of dirt mixed in with the wood, so they don’t burn easily, despite being several years old. The stumps, pre-fire: This is how they got the fire going really hot and strong to catch the inside of the stumps on fire. Obviously, I missed the initial lighting because there is a lot less wood in the center now, but they all assured me this was a good recreation. The leaf blower is attached to one of the pipe, while the other end is pushed as far under the stump as possible. The rush of air causes the fire to flare up and get very hot. The guys stayed on the fire for most of the day, adding fuel and shifting around the fuel already burning. The goal was to keep the fire as hot as possible, especially underneath the stumps. Because there is still so much dirt attached to the roots, the fire must be hot or the dirt will smother it.

The fires were started on Saturday and according to reports from my parents, they are continuing to smolder, even though it’s been almost a week. The next time I visit my parents, I’ll take an “after” shot to show just how much stumps can be burned down by adding some very dry pine and a lot of air and post it.