When we bought the cabin, there were several wood piles in-front of the cabin. There were 2 little piles and 1 big pile. Unfortunately, We didn't have enough time to split the big pile into smaller piles for burning.

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Our original plan was to burn the piles over New Year's weekend. Unfortunately, it was WAY too windy AND I forgot to bring the fuel to start the burn.

My plan was to buy some Coleman fuel and flares to get the wood burning. Since there was about 3 ft of snow on-top of the pile, I had to dig down to expose the wood.

Unfortunately, our first attempt was unsuccessful. We found out that Coleman fuel is too volatile. It would start burning, but wouldn't burn long enough to get the wet wood burning. The snow didn't help.

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On the second attempt, I used a friend's advice and brought a few gallons of diesel. We got about 2 1/2 feet of snow between the first and second attempt, so I had to shovel it off again.

When I got the top exposed, I poured about 2 gallons of diesel onto the pile, then a few cups of Coleman fuel and ignited it with a flare. When the wood started going, and cleared a hole in the snow, I poured another gallon of diesel into the pile. This started burning deeper into the wood pile.

Once the fire got deep into the pile, I knew it was going to keep going. About 1:30 in, it was SO hot that you couldn't stand at the edge of the snow. The snow kept it well under control. The pictures below show the fire in various stages of burn.

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The second slash pile burned pretty much exactly like the first. With the help of a couple of gallons of diesel and a little Colman fuel, the wood started burning. It took about 15 minutes to get going, but once it started burning down in the pile, it was obvious this was going to keep going.

Finally in the winter of 2013, I was able to burn the big slash pile in-front of the cabin. We were a little worried about burning such a big pile, but the conditions were perfect. The snow was deep, the wind was calm, and it was snowing. The burn went off without a problem.

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