Topic: Does anyone use a flame gun?

[Melbourne12]

I'm thinking of getting a flame gun to clear weeds on the second half of our recently acquired allotment.  So far we've been digging them out, then going over each bed again to turn the soil and remove as many of the remaining roots as we can.

Although it's very satisfying to clear a bed in this way, it's quite a slow process, and as we move through the plot, we’re seeing more and more brambles and thistles which are unpleasant to deal with.

I was thinking maybe if I first applied some Weedol or Roundup to kill the weeds and roots, then took a flame gun over it to burn off the dead tops, then just dig it over once, that would give a good result.

Does anyone use one of these machines, and are they as effective as the makers claim?  I’m talking about a Sheen-type flame gun, not just a butane-powered lance thingy.

Thanks for any advice!
 

[robsa]

I've never used one but apparently they can be effective and are used by commerical growers to kill weeds that pop up after a crop has been sown but before it's germinated.

Apparently, you don't have to burn off the weeds - just heat them enough so that when you press a leaf between finger and thumb it goes dark green. This means the cell walls have been weakened and will start to break down after a few hours.

Robin

[growmore]

I have a big one i used to use but the price of paraffin makes it a no go now ..
A  guy on next plot but one to me has one even bigger on wheels  it looks like a cannon  :) but he feels same as me its too expensive to use them  now...

If you apply roundup and leave it a few weeks to kill roots etc they wil rake off very easily .You can then grow in soil straight away
Weedol kils on contact but doesnt kill roots so they will come back Cheers Jim ,

[Kepouros]

I have a Sheen (complete with wheeled trolley and flame hood) which I bought in 1958 and is still in regular use.  I find it best for the following purposes:-

Killing off heavy weed top growth (give the stems a quick blast at ground level, then leave them to die off)
Burning off dead foliage (it won`t burn off green stuff)
Sterilizing the soil surface to destroy weed seeds before cultivation
Sterilizing the soil surface of potato blight spores immediately after removing the potato foliage and before lifting the crop
It`s also great for starting bonfires and comes in handy for odd brazing jobs.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I have one (not a Sheen but very similar), but I still have tostrip it down and clean it out to get it burning properly. How long do they go on a gallon of paraffin?

[Melbourne12]

According to messrs Sheen, their model's one gallon tank should be filled two thirds full, and will then burn for 45 minutes at full power.  Which equates to just under a gallon an hour.

[Kepouros]

That`s about right, Melbourne, and you can do an awful lot in an hour`s burning.

Robert, I strip my Sheen and clean it about once every 5 years and replace the washers about once every 10.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Where do you get the washers? I don't know whether they'd fit mine, but as it's so similar it would be worth a try. I've managed to fudge them, but it's far from ideal and won't work forever. Sooner or later I'll have to make new ones if I can't buy any. Stripping it is going to be difficult as it's rusted up solid, but I'll get there.

[djbrenton]

Sheen are round the corner from me at

Greasley Street
Bulwell
Nottingham
NG6 8NG

phone 0115-927 2321

I've yet to visit them to see if they have a shop there.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Thanks.

[philcooper]

I have a Sheen (complete with wheeled trolley and flame hood) which I bought in 1958 and is still in regular use.  I find it best for the following purposes:-

........
Burning off dead foliage (it won`t burn off green stuff)
Sterilizing the soil surface to destroy weed seeds before cultivation
Sterilizing the soil surface of potato blight spores immediately after removing the potato foliage and before lifting the crop

If you are using the flame gun to burn off heavy top growth please make sure nothing is living in it!!

Sterilising is just that - to heat up the surface enough to kill seeds and spores requires a lot of heat so you will either:

apply enough heat to kill the spores/seeds and in the process kill off a lot of the organisms necessary for good soil
  or
not apply enough heat and be left with some/all the seeds/spores.

I think better approaches are:

for weed seeds - let them germinate - it only takes a week at this time of year, then lightly flame them, that kills them all without damaging the soil.

for blight spores - clear the diseased haulms and leave the ground for 3 weeks before lifting the tubers. The spores cannot exist for 3 weeks without a host - this saves energy, weedkiller fuel and the soil.

Phil

[shaolin101]

I just use my Uzi and Samurai sword - but now i want a flamethrower!!!

evil grin. mwa ha ha ha haaaaaa

[Kepouros]

Phil, one does not use a flame gun to "burn off heavy top growth" - this would take hours and cost a fortune. The flame gun is used simply to kill the growth. Any burning off takes place when the foliage has died and withered and is no longer heavy. And of course I make sure that there are no animals present, as I`m sure any sensible gardener would; there are probably many more small mammals injured by carelessly wielded scythes and badging hooks than by flame guns.

However, as to your comments on the sterilising the surface of seeds and spores I simply cannot agree.  The temperature at the hottest point of a Sheen flame is approximately 2000 deg. centigrade (according to my manual).  It is not necessary either to "burn off" foliage or to heat up the soil surface. Passed quite quickly across plant stems it causes immediate disruption of the cellular structure and the stem dies.

Passed steadily and evenly over bare soil surface it causes smaller seeds to incandesce, while larger ones again have their structure disrupted. Fungal spores are destroyed immediately.  There is no question of either applying or not applying sufficient heat for the purpose - it`s not like burning off paint with a blowlamp or boiling a kettle - it`s instant at that temperature.

The flame is not pointed downwards at the soil surface, but played along it, and you will be pleased to hear that it does not heat up the surface to any appreciable degree, nor does it dry up a moist soil surface unless done very badly.  I am not sure just what essential organisms live on the surface of the soil - I am sure that most of them live beneath it, and are completely unaffected. However, I will agree that surface pests such as slugs explode dramatically.

As to potato blight -  however carefully the diseased foliage is removed there are invariably numerous small broken-off bits of stem and foliage left behind to harbour spores.  Additionally, blight spores are quite capable in wet weather of penetrating the soil where they will attack any tubers near the surface.  A few minutes with a flame gun will effectively deal with both debris and spores and safeguard the crop

I would also add that the waiting period between haulm removal and lifting the crop really depends on the relative maturity of the crop at the time. Only when the crop is relatively immature when the haulm is removed is it necessary to wait for 3 weeks for the skins to set. If the crop is mature then 14 days is adequate if the soil surface has been effectively sterilised, and an additional week in the ground simply gives slugs and wireworm (as well as skin spot and gangrene) an extra week to wreak havoc with the crop.

[flowerlady]

Thanks for all the tips about flame guns people.  I think that I too may have to resort to using one this year - if I don't then I may never get anything planted. 
And, I would like my patio back cos it's covered in little pots of everything at the moment.!
Oh, and where does one buy parafin these days, from the hire shop?

[Kepouros]

Quite a lot of garages still have a paraffin tank and pump.  Focus D.I.Y also stock it under the Parasene label for use in greenhouse heaters.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Homebase do parasene, ironmongers usually do it if there's still one in your area.

[flowerlady]

If anyone would like to sell their flame gun let me know!  Parafin variety  please not gas.

[philcooper]

.....it causes smaller seeds to incandesce, while larger ones again have their structure disrupted.... Only when the crop is relatively immature when the haulm is removed is it necessary to wait for 3 weeks for the skins to set. ....

The seeds don't asll sit on the soil surface, they cunningly hide just below it, whcih is why I say that you won't effectively kill them unless you heat the soil (above them) to a temp which damages it. This is why waiting for them to germinate when a mere touich of heat will kill them is mor effective.

The waiting is for the spores to die, not the potato skins to set.

Phil

[Kepouros]

The waiting is for the spores to die, not the potato skins to set.

Phil

And during those 3 weeks vast numbers of spores can wash down from the surface through the soil to the tubers and infect them.  Which is why a flame gun can save the crop.

As to your argument as to not all seeds sitting on the surface, we`re all of us all too well aware of that, but if all the ones that are on the surface are destroyed, that`s a heck of a lot less to germinate later.

[telboy]

Hi All,
I own a Sheen (bought on e-bay).
Parts can be ordered from Sheen themselves, but beware, their charges are high!
I find the tool very effective for withering the brambles/nettles that grow inwards around my plots - a very good tool indeed!