Has anyone ever tried one ? I have been toying with the idea of doing one or two next year at the local Christmas walk about. I’m reasonably sure that I could borrow a steel feed bunk or two from some rancher. Thinking of putting a layer of sand or fine gravel in the bottom. The new barrels with the snowflake cut outs were a big hit, now I have a tough act to follow and up my game a bit more. Swedish candles or torches are also under consideration. But I think long log fires would be pretty cool, err, warm rather for more people to gather around. Setting the downtown on fire…part 2
Are you talking about burning a whole log ? Like 8’-12’ long ? If that’s what you are thunking then I would think it will be hard to get it dry & it will end up smoking something terrible. If you going to use “bunks” , I would think you could just stack some splits the length & get a good clean burn on. Old propane tanks/boilers cut in half lengthwise would work well, they won’t warp/disfigure like lighter thinner bunk material will. Plus the thicker steel will absorb & radiate a bit of heat also.
More here: As Thick As A Capercaillie: How To Build A Long Log Fire How To…. Build a Finnish Rakovalkea Gap Fire I think that vertical support posts will be vital, to ensure that the top log doesn't roll off and cause any injuries. The flat faces on the logs are supposed to stop this but better safe than sorry. You could make a cradle at each end from rebar, with the top of the rebar bent over like a walking stick handle, to prevent puncture injuries if anyone fell on them.
If that's the case it won't work very well to warm people up, over half the flame is cover! What's the reason to burn like this in the first place?
I was thinking mostly along the lines of As Thick As A Capercaillie: How To Build A Long Log Fire one.
Already have 5 of those that I use for this event. So I was thinking about something 2 or 3 times as long.
Weld barrel halves together. You might need to weld in cross supports when/if the tops and bottoms are removed. A few cinder blocks underneath should cradle/hold it in place.
Not sure about "can't" but probably shouldn't. Like some said, long propane tank or maybe anhydrous? I doubt the local Co-op would even miss them.
I can’t see going through that much effort to build something when I could borrow a feed bunk or two. A bunk would be heavier steel also
The annual event is coming up on December 5th I believe. Gonna do practice run tonight. Standing dead elm logs about 5 1/2 feet. Made some steel saddles to help keep the logs in position. Kinda hard to get a matched set of 3 reasonably straight logs in this country. If this goes well tonight I have 3 more picked out that are 9’6” and a little larger diameter for the main event downtown. I’ll light it up shortly after sundown and get y’all some pictures