[jack russell]

hi

has anyone used a flame gun or flame wand

if so is gas better or worse than paraffin

and more to the point does anyone near me have one i can lend


or do they sell them in b&q  or homebase

cheers

jr

[Aunt Sally]

Aunty was going to get a flame gun for weeding but Shaun reminded Aunty that she's made of wood  :shock:

[Gwiz]

ive used both. parrafin good, cheaper than gas, but needs a bit of fettlin to get it to work well.
gas easier, but far more expensive to run. as well as the ethics of disposable gas canisters (aluminum/steel)


mind you, parrafin is a petroleum product as well..............
it's an ethical nightmare out there, be carefull.

[richyrich7]

I had a paraffin one years ago, only once ever got it to work right. Most of the time it was like a WWII flame thrower, set fire to my plot and two more in the process  :oops:  

[jack russell]

ok cheers guys    and you be careful aunt  :shock:

i think i might give the gas a go if i can get a hold of one,  seems easier to use

cheers

jr

[David.]

If you get one, and have galvanised rabbit fencing, don't use it to burn weeds off the fencing or you will also lose your protective coating (or so I was warned, so I never did it).

[jack russell]

nice tip about the galvy cheers

i bought a gas wand from maxwells today for £20 and large cans of gas are £2.25 each  

i works a treat have cleared approx half the lotty this afternoon

cheers

jr

[shaun]

i like fire it makes you feel very manly

[jack russell]

yes it does shaun

alas today we received a letter from the parish council who run our site and we are informed we must not have fires,  they are banned as the residents of the local houses have complained.  I will be on the phone to the district council tmw to ask why a total ban as i think a fire after 6 pm would be acceptable  :shock:  

see what they say before our lotty meeting on the 18th

cheers

jr

[shaun]

fires on our site are allowed after 7pm but you can light a barbi any time you like  :?

[bikerjohn]

Flame guns kill the foliage, but not the roots.  So, if like on my plot,  you have docks and couch grass, after a short while, it all starts growing again.  The only real solutions to this are either digging the weeds out, or using weedkiller, i.e. glyphosate.  Like the documentaries on the T.V., after a forest fire, everything springs to life.
John.

[Trillium]

Agree with Bikerjohn. Hope you kept the receipt jack.

[jack russell]

i did originally spray with weed killer,  and there was a lot of dead weeds and grass left to clear
 
 that is why i needed the flame gun to get rid of that lot so i could see where i was walking as it is very undulated ground.

cheers

jr

[Trillium]

perhaps it's time to smooth out the walkway a bit with shovel and rake. The rain you're getting in the UK should have the soil quite soft and workable now. And super great for loosening those big perennial roots.

[Bigbadfrankie]

I am thinking of useing the scorched earth policy to keep the weeds off the onions and carrots ECT before they come up .its all a question of timing.