Because wind.
Even when the wind doesn’t knock it down, which it does daily, I’ve got ashes all over everything downwind. Colossal hassle.
So I had to ask around, but there actually is a guy in the little town nearest where I live who had some oil drums for sale. He had six on Wednesday, three when I went there with D&L this afternoon, and now he’s got two so I think I got lucky on the timing.
And this one’s got a lid, and none of the other drums I’ve used for fire barrels did, which is probably why they rotted out where the ashes met the rain water. I’m hoping this one will last more than a couple of years.
In the morning I drill a bunch of tedious holes.
Drill holes, drill holes..we don’t drill no stinking holes…
Gunfire
Why waste a perfectly logical marksmanship opportunity?
I would shot it full of holes. Also why not make a circular pad of concrete putting the wire in the wet crete about 6 inches or so. If needed put a pipe in it that comes up in the middle to draw air.
Properly done, ya get two holes per shot. 😉
Yeah, yeah, I could shoot it full of holes and that would be great fun. Call me OCD but since I have to look at the thing for (I hope) years I prefer a bit more precision in the placement than I’m likely to get by shooting it a lot.
If you have any heavy angle iron lying about, you could tie some to the bottom of the basket for stability
If you ever go the burn basket route again in the future, make sure you put it where you do not care about ash distribution downwind…
Become a NIMBY!!!
I use a cheap axe, the one thats used on tree roots and gets sharpened with a bench grinder.
Drums used to be easy to get here, not so much any longer. I need a new one now and my old supply (free) is gone.
If you dont want to shoot it, just spike it a bit with something like a rock hammer. Theres no points for pretty in this.
I just used a hatchet last year. little tap tap taps & done in about 10 seconds No problem.
Wind blowing ash around? Damn, another unintended consequence.
The comments about shooting it gave me a good laugh. 🙂 It’s one of the reasons I keep coming back to this blog. And yes, shooting the barrel is an option but bullets cost money and even far away neighbours tend to talk.
While using an axe is also an option for punching holes, it plays hell on the blade. And who knows, the axe might come in handy for other things like busting up wood pallets. Easier to use a large drill bit on a cordless drill and a sawzall.