Thoughts on Propane Weed Torch

[Caden]

Hey y'all -

I have some sidewalk, slag driveway, some pavers, etc. all with weeds growing up in them.
Roundup and the like works great. But I can't get past the health risk to myself and my animals in the area.

Have been doing research on the propane torches for weed control and I'm considering one. But I've never used one and I need some insight from others. I'm comfortable enough with torches in the oxy-acetylene world.

I see one for $70 at Tractor Supply that I'm considering. Is it worth it?

Any thoughts appreciated.

 

[Russell King]

I have used a Weed Dragon for eliminating weeds. They work very well and don’t think that you have to char the plant. It just needs to wilt significantly to die.

Get one with a valve that lets it burn at low flame then puts out higher flame when pressed, sort of like a flame thrower. If they have piezo electric starters that works well, else you have to use some type of hand held striker that can get exciting.

Depending on how much area you need to cover there are also small hand held ones that use a camping size propane bottle. The larger ones attach to a propane tank like a bar b que or larger. So if you get that size you need to think of how you want to move it around. They make backpacks but that seems like a problem with blowing yourself up but the wheeler we bought doesn’t roll around in rough pastures very well, it wants to turn over side to side too easily. We just put it in a cart and tow it behind the small garden tractor.

You may want to buy a longer hose extension also to cover more area before you need to move.

Go for it! But don’t burn down the county!

 

[Caden]

Thanks for the insight @Russell King .
I'm not crazy on the backpack either, I was thinking maybe a hand truck with decent sized tires.

Maybe best to use after a rain that soaks the surrounding dry tinder?

 

[Runs With Scissors]

I have 2 of these “El-Cheapo’s” that I have used.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09986GLDJ?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_2





They work pretty good, but here are some considerations that I would think about if I were to do it again.

1. They work fine….for the moment……. Although the visible weed part is gone “for now”….They returned in a week’ish or so….

2. Size matters………(no, not that, you sicko)….I am only 5’8”’ish and the ones I got had me “stooped over” too much. My back was soar in rather short order, so look for a long one if you can.

3. Keep an eye on your neighbor….when they see you using one, they will go buy one, and in my case the dumbass set one of his bushes next to the house on fire. ….Just imagine hearing “Get de hose!!!!Get de hose!!!!Get de hose!!!!!” (say it in your best Indian accent though)


Aside from the “comic relief”, I was underwhelmed with the actual results.


Although, as a “upside” if you have a concrete driveway my neighbor told me they work FANTASTIC for burning off oil stains…..I was amazed at how well they cleaned those up….absolutely amazed.


EDIT: I just connected it to the 20 pound propane tank I use for the grill, and dragged it around with me.

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

1. They work fine….for the moment……. Although the visible weed part is gone “for now”….They returned in a week’ish or so….

That's my thought as well. Kills the top but leaves the root. Sort of like that vinegar and water trick that was really popular a few years back. Dries up the top and a root sends another one right behind. I would think the end result wouldn't be much different than using a string trimmer.

 

[dirtydeed]

I use one of these:






It's long enough to stand upright while cooking weeds and I attach it to a 20lb propane tank (grill). I put the tank on a small garage hand truck.

2 potential issues:
1) obviously, fire. I once caught some leaves under a raised wooden walkway, doused that with a hose. I have a log home, so it makes me a little nervous

2) The other issue is that the propane tank valve tends to freeze up after about 10 mins of full blast.

I mostly use it now to start my brush fires. It works spectacularly for that purpose.

For weed killing, I mostly use a hypersaline (super saturated salt water) in a pump sprayer. It's easy and wont kill anything but vegetation (well, some bugs/slugs). Dissolve as much rock salt (or salt crystals for water softening units) as you can in some warmish water. Add some vinegar to step it up a notch if you want. Use that solution in your sprayer.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Have a high output water source with you when doing it and/or a large fire extinguisher.
I have seen way to many fires that were "we were just burning a few weeds" that turned into a fully involved out of control fire.
We get them all the time up here!

 

[Caden]

Dissolve as much rock salt (or salt crystals for water softening units) as you can in some warmish water. Add some vinegar to step it up a notch if you want. Use that solution in your sprayer.

Thanks.
I'd considered that option for the walkway and other areas but the driveway I think would not react well to vinegar and salt.

Being a slag steel byproduct I think I might get some rust staining.

 

[Russell King]

And I forgot to mention clothing while using these…

DO NOT wear synthetic clothing while burning the weeds. The tip gets hot and will melt the legs of your pants when you are moving it around. Also some seeds act like popcorn but will burn holes in synthetic materials.

And you do have to use it a few times on each weed (maybe 4 times) over a few days to kill the weed’s roots. You are basically just killing off the growth and they will come back, but each time they are spending stored energy and eventually don’t have anything stored.

If you really burn them to a crisp you might kill the root crown also.

I liked it best on weeds that put out prickly seeds that were hard to pull due to the stickers. I would burn those plants and seeds to a crisp so the seeds were no longer viable.

 

[Caden]

Have a high output water source with you when doing it and/or a large fire extinguisher.

Good point, I definitely have both available.

 

[Russell King]

Thanks for the insight @Russell King .
I'm not crazy on the backpack either, I was thinking maybe a hand truck with decent sized tires.

Maybe best to use after a rain that soaks the surrounding dry tinder?

On a sidewalk or driveway you have little to worry about since they are basically fire proof.

Of course you can start a fire with them but do it after a rain is perfect time. I just used a water hose to wet down a ring around where I was burning in the field. I usually had someone else watching for fire that was spreading and would just stomp it out or use the hose to extinguish it. Do not use on windy days though!

 

[Caden]

On a sidewalk or driveway you have little to worry about since they are basically fire proof.

Of course you can start a fire with them but do it after a rain is perfect time. I just used a water hose to wet down a ring around where I was burning in the field. I usually had someone else watching for fire that was spreading and would just stomp it out or use the hose to extinguish it. Do not use on windy days though!

Thanks
All of my areas that need work have either concrete or stone underneath.

Seems like weedeating down the majority of the growth then removing it with a blower would also midigate the majority of the risk if I only have the main stalk left in the area to burn.

 

[Lil Foot]

My neighbor let the weeds in her 1" minus gravel front yard completely take over and didn't want massive amounts of chemicals in the yard. (kids)
I bought the HF burner and toasted the weeds to death, then she used roundup sparingly to keep control after that.
Worked great, but this yard was gravel, bounded on two sides by concrete, one side by redbrick border, and the last side by a block house.
Not much chance to spread fire.

https://www.harborfreight.com/propane-torch-91033.html

 

[jimh406]

I have one, but I don't feel it works that well (it's plenty hot). I think I bought mine at Harbor Freight.