Behrens Manufacturing Galvanized Steel Outdoor Composter/Burner Trash Can for Garden, Yard, and Rubbish Waste 20-Gallon

I had 10 banker boxes full of documents to destroy and didn't want to spend 200+ dollars to have them shredded. While I live outside the city and have a fire pit, burning them creates too much ash flying into the air which is a big fire hazard. I purchased this inexpensive incinerator to try burning them more safely.This product works wonderfully for this purpose. There are only a few drawbacks to it but if you can manage them you will be very happy with it. It is essentially a galvanized trash can on little metal feet with a lot of holes it. Here's how I used it:I loaded a full box of papers and files into the can placed in the fire pit. It has holes in the bottom for ventilation and drainage so I tried to fluff up the papers and separate them to keep those holes clear but that didn't work. No problem though I found out. Then I lit some paper near the bottom of the can but found out subsequently that you don't have to do that. Just get a good flame going anywhere within the can with the lid off. I found it helps to reach in with the tines of a spading fork and twist the papers around to get as many on fire as you can. In about a minute the flames fill the can and ash starts to fly upward. Now it's time to replace the lid. Be sure to wear gloves or set it in place using the tines of the fork because it gets hot. This is where you run into the small problem.As soon as the lid is on it starts to smoke. The smoke really pours out of the can through all the holes for about 30 minutes and drifts into you neighbors yard. If they are not able to deal with this it could be a problem. I have asked mine and they're fine with it. That's because other neighbors burn leaves certain months every year and they're sort of used to it. Also, the heavy smoke decreases soon and in a couple of hours you can't even see the smoke or notice it. Don't assume that the fire has gone out though. Don't lift the lid to check it. If you do you'll just see s lot of charred paper and some unburnt sore in the bottom. This is okay because the remaining paper will continue to burn away slowly for about anoth 20 hours until the whole thing is reduced to ash. I think this is because there are enough holes in the can to provide ventilation and the can retains the heat keeping the embers alive.If you light it up on Saturday morning you can leave it alone and then empty it sometime Sunday . Just be sure it's cold because you could start your trash dumpster on fire. Better to let it sit a few days.i just pour mine into my compost bin the the following day. Good for the garden.So, if you need a nearly labor free method of destroying a lot of paper documents and can handle creating some smoke for about an hour and don't mind smelling a little smoky this is the ticket and for $31 is way cheaper than one of those $400 stainless steel incinerators. Sure, it will eventually rust out but the galvanized steel will last at least 3-4 years and you can keep it in the garage or shed when you're not using it.

Living “out in the country” we can burn our trash. My 55 gallon barrels are falling apart so looking for an alternative that might last longer I decided on this 20 gallon galvanized steel barrel with feet already attached to keep it above the ground for good air circulation. Holes all over it insure good quick burning plus the lid keeps ashes from flying in the wind. I love it so far (have used it maybe 5-6 times). It is lightweight so I can pick it up and dump out the residue left from last burning. No assembly required is a plus! I just took it out of the box and put it to work!Now I have used this little wonder about 4 months now, burning 1-2 times per week and I am more than satisfied with it! I "feed" my trash into this barrel instead of dumping it in all at once due to the size but it seems to gobble up items like plastic gallon containers and cardboard quite handily and before I know it my burning chore is done for a while! It is holding up quite well and I merely scrape the leftover debris from the bottom and shake it out so no build up of the residue. These really do the job!Now (7/24/2017) have used this burning barrel 7 months and burned in it maybe 30 time. Finally found I needed a replacement barrel since the first is finally falling apart (the lid is crumbling but barrel itself still intact). This impressed me so much I purchased a second one and consider that a high complement for the item! I fill plastic bags from the grocery store, tie them, so when I do burn trash I merely drop my garbage into the barrel one bag at a time and "feed" the fire so to speak! Works extremely well.... I still love it!

I have been using this can for burning paper and it works very well. The grate openings allow for air circulation that really helps the burning process. The lid is vented as well and prevents ash from flying out. The lid is rather tight so be prepared to hold onto the can when removing because you have to have resistance. That is not a negative. It doesn't blow off either! But if the can is hot or burning and you want to remove he lid to add more, it is very difficult. I don't push the lid all the way down, but almost, when burning so I can add to it more easily if needed. The can is not as heavy/thick as I thought it would be but so far it seems to be working well and of good quality. Worth the $$$$. The first time I used it the heat/burn did dull the finish, white rust as it is called, so I am watching to see what the "amber" rust factor will be over time.

The holes in this allow your yard waste to burn with very little smoke at very high heat. I have a laser thermometer and have achieved readings of 500 degrees or more. The air holes in the sides of the can allows oxygen to constantly feed the fuel during the burning process. It also allows you to feed oxygen to the fuel if you have a bellows or electric means of delivering more air. You can even blow on it if you don't mind the heat! The one challenge is that once you put the lid on, it's too hot to handle very quickly. You will need some mechanical means of removing the lid to add more fuel. So you basically feed your fuel in and that's it for the day, or you can just leave the lid off until you're through for the day.I always clear around the bottom of the can because hot ash does fall out of the holes and could start another fire. I keep it on a concrete pad. The concrete is a little discolored, so don't run this on your driveway or front walkway. That said, not too many burning embers escape and fly away unless I'm feeding air with a leaf blower (which I wouldn't recommend). Even with the lid on, you should keep an eye on the fire. You never know when a burning ember might escape, though it seems minimal.The only thing I would hope to improve on my next one would be the size. It doesn't burn much in one shot. Maybe one wheelbarrow full or two kitchen sized trashcans full of leaves and sticks.