Flame guns for weeding

Does anyone have experience of using flame guns for weeding please?
I've seen 2 different types - Sheen, running on paraffin (kerosene), and one running on bottled propane gas.
Any thoughts on whether they are a good idea, and if so which is best?

We have large areas of gravel driveway to keep clear, and also I'd like to use in the veggie garden if they work well there...

LOL...gotta get new glasses...I thought you were asking about flame guns for a wedding!

LOLOL Ginger. That would make for a very WARM reception *G*

You're not alone, Ginger...I read wedding too, what? wedding? oh, weeding, okay, got it now! LOL

philo...I have one that uses the propane tanks.

It's convenient to use for small areas and on small weeds, or grass that grows up between walkway cracks. For larger areas and big weeds it is time-consuming. I suppose if you go for the weeds/grass when they are small would be the best bet.

Would also be good along fence lines. I don't use mine as much as I thought I would but it was worth the $15 I paid for it quite some years ago.

Well Ginger and Kooger you weren''t alone - I thoought I saw wedding too! That would have been some reception!
Dianne

Thanks for your advice Shoe :)

It's all the ladies that are seeing weddings lol....

Weddings scare me! Maybe I shied away from that thought, eh!?

(I woudn't have gone to my own wedding, but somebody said I had to be there.) :>)

*G* Shoe. You must love the lady a lot to go through all that ;oD

Well...ours wasn't so bad...a quick trip downtown.

Then a big barbeque party/get-together at the farm. Bigtime food and people from all over. (I liked that part!)

Ah - you're supposed to just say YES
LOL

Kidding - that sounds like the way to do it. Everyone having a good time :D

I said yes, eventually, becuzz.... the Justice distracted my attention as he was talking, then opened up the desk drawer to get his notary public seal thingy...that's when I saw his other"important things"...four marbles rolling around (one was a shooter I really wanted!), half of what looked like a turkey sammich (still wrapped in wax paper), 6 or 8 mints from the days when they weren't individually wrapped, and a half-empty pack of Redman chewing tobacco.

I felt a poke in my ribs, hollered out, "Yeah I do!" and it has been a "they lived happily the rest of their lives" episode for us. :>)

A tall friend gave me a propane one a while ago - now I know why. It's short, and I'm tall also (6'3"). I have to bend over too much to get the flame to get it where it needs to go. The result is a back ache. If the flame isn't adjusted juuuuuuust right, it blows itself out or there isn't enough flame to kill any thing. About the only thing this foul device is useful for is melting the ice off my porch stairs on a frosty winter's morning (as long as I can keep the pesky thing lit!).

chuckle! chuckle! (bet that flame thrower would work well for me - only 5'2" - a tad vertically challenged!

We had a flame thower device on the farm when I was growing up. It burned tractor fuel or kerosene, I don't remember which. The fuel ran through a metal tube that was coiled, the nozzle shot the flame through the coil. The flame heated the fuel so that it came out as a gas. It had a huge roar when it was operating. I do not remember what it was meant to be used for but I know that it would set green grass aflame. The tank held three gallons or so of fuel and you would pump it to provide pressure. Not that this information is good for anything today but I get to relive a memory.

George, That sounds like a blowtorch. In the early 60's we used them to melt lead in a ladle to fill the oakum packed joints when plumbing with cast iron pipe. Never saw one with 3 gallon capacity though. PVC pipe changed all that, of course. Talk about OLD memories!

This was much bigger. We had a blow torch and it held at most a half gallon of white gasoline. It had a flame maybe a half-inch in diameter and three or four -inches long.

This device had a flame four-inches in diameter and it shot out a couple of feet at least. When it was very cold in the winter time we would place it under the car engine to warm it so we could start the car. It must have had other uses but I do not remember now.

I do remember a plumber melting lead and using oakum to seal the joints on the sewer line. It must have been around the middle 1940's when electricity was brought out to the farm and we put a pump in the well and had running water in the house. That then necessitated a sewer line.

The neighbors down the road use their weed burner to get the barbeque going, Phil. What a multi-purpose tool! LOL!

Hilary, we use our propane one enough that I had to buy a second one so we can both use one at the same time. I do wish the pipe was longer than the ones we have but I think that can be remedied this winter at the welding shop. The long handled one was about $129.00 American and now I wish we had gotten one of those. The ones we got were $29.

They aren't the best for green plants unless you keep the heat on the plant long enough to kill the roots but they do work well for the more dried plants along the roads. Oh, don't let your hair get too close to it (don't ask how I know :~( ).

LOLOL Shoe!! *g*

Thanks bob - at 5'4" that should fit me just right ;)
Ah, kooger we could both do with that one lol
As we don't get much ice here that actually sounds like one to avoid, thanks bob

George, that sounds like the sort of thing :)
This is the current version
http://www.mower-magic.co.uk/acatalog/SHEEN_X500_Flame_Gun.html

LOL Weez - is that multi-purpose, or all it's fit for??
Do they like it for weed removal?
Great pic :D

I don't know if they have used it for weed removal. LOL! However, from the proximity of the propane tank to the fire, they may be using it for space travel! We borrowed the weed burner once a couple years ago to burn the dried grasses in our ditch along the roadside. It worked well, but it also seemed to use up quite a bit of propane. My father used to set small grassy areas afire to clear them in the spring. I guess it worked, since he always grew great plants. I really don't think that method heats up the soil all that much, so the worms, etc. should be fine. It might be advantageous in destroying weed seeds on the surface, however.

Yes, I was wondering if the party included a launch when I saw that *g*

I really want to clear weeds from the driveways without using chemicals, though cleaning seedbeds would be a bonus
I may be leaning towards the kerosene version as that has a hood to concentrate the flame where you want the damage to be.....

Phil, the Alaska Railroad has to keep its tracks clear of growth, and each time they decide to use insecticides, they receive a lot of criticism from the public. One year, they borrowed a locomotive from Canada that had a steam attachment. It shot how steamy water onto the tracks and the gravel, killing the plants. I thought it was a great idea, though I don't know how one would implement it in a gardening situation... another use for those electric teakettles you Brits love??

I was temted to get this too but for the wrong application... ahuge field of what we in Maine call bamboo. This stuff grows through asphalt. But Ive got a small field of it. Sigh

On the other hand, some 'weeds' actually thrive on flash fires. It is said that our local 'fireweed' is so named because the seeds lie dormant until a forest fire's heat sets off germination. Whether true or not, I know it is the first new growth after a fire.

I bought one for DH for Christmas. Works GREAT on our forever reseeding weed types around here. It is slow going but kills the seeds as well. RoundUp just kills the plants...the seeds live on forever!!!

LOL Weez, it'd take quite a few kettles full, though sounds as if it would work well.
Oooh what about one of those steam cleaners??
True that there are some seeds that it might trigger rather than kill Carol, but I'll take my chances ;)

Good luck with your bamboo greta - that sounds a horrific task! :(

Thanks for your experience Alohahoya - that's good news
What type have you got?

Yes, Phil, try the steam cleaner. I can just see the looks you'll get from the locals... 'that crazy English woman is out there steam cleaning her yard! She must be an obsessive-compulsive housekeeper!'

and anything FURTHER from the truth.......
;oD

We gardeners are into weeding beds, not making them!

Too true - even weeding is kept to a minimum. Hence this thread ;)

I can't agree more about the weeding being kept to a minimum. Especially this year when I am one handed and on a new medication that makes me dizzy when I lean over. My DH has been doing the weeding but if he keeps doing it for many more months I won't have any of my perennials left. He is having a very hard time remembering that he doesn't need to remove EVERYTHING. lol

We use our weed burner to kill the weed seeds on our driveway and love how it works. Our biggest problem with burning is it gets very dry very fast here in the high desert and you can't take a chance of burning your neighbor's property when you do your own. (Even though they have lots of noxious weeds.)

LOL Pond :)
Nice to see you

That's great to know your burner does the job
I'd need to be careful not to set light to too much, but it's not the problem here that it must be with you.

You're still one-handed? How are things going?
Know the problem with too many plants being removed!! ;)

this is all I have to say:
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?s=f827c9678e6c12e5db992c721eef704b&threadid=1107178&perpage=40&pagenumber=1

Well yes DeepRoots, that's all very macho and showy, but - being female I have to ask - does it work on the weeds????

i have no idea....
I'm just partly amused/partly frightened of the person who invented and used that....

I think it was Kooger up there ...
Re: " I have to bend over too much to get the flame to get it where it needs to go. The result is a back ache."

Surely you guys have considered building/constructing a push/pull cart device .. to hold the burner securely .. and roll it along the ground/fence row, what have you .. ? ..

'Strap' it in, in such a way to turn and hold it .. in the particular direction you want to flame to burn/torch ...

A lil two wheeled cart, easy to maneuver about .. in tight turns or spaces! Perhaps somewhat of a wide wheel .. or, a somewhat wider frame .. for extra stablity .. would be most ideal !! Could even devise a variety of height 'levels' one may find necessary ...

Also .. some of the torches themselves, can be modified .. with a wider metal, to enable the distribution of the flames into a wider 'path' ... cuts some time involved and going back and forth ..

Also, devise an additonal strap to hold a fire extinquisher on board. For one never knows!!! heee

Just an I D mindja ..

Don't forget the flame proof ironing board covers as 'cow catchers' in the front!

What a picture that all conjures up!!! ;oD

Thanks for the thoughts

Seriously, Phil, are you trying to keep the weeds back or destroy the root systems?