Has anyone built a flame thrower?

KyAllroad wrote: I've tried flame to melt ice before. It didn't work, there simply wasn't any good way to transfer enough BTUs into the ice with an air type of flame...

Well, there is your problem. Military flame throwers are not really throwing "flame", they are throwing gelified gas.

I would suggest a simple valveless pulse jet. One of the "chinese" designs would probably be appropriate. The shock waves coming out the back will also likely help break up the ice. The extreme amount of noise it creates will make it easy to ignore your neighbors screams about all the noise and flames.

Gary wrote: Colin Furze the crazy inventor in the UK built a pulse jet snow blower/melter. Its on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpbKGvjqsxM

This is GRM, you need to build an appropriate vehicle to break up that ice. May I suggest something like a mine-clearing flail?

This could end badly....... and I want to see pictures!

i just salted the crap out of the 2" thick ice on my driveway that has a slope toward the road.

if i had concrete or rocks i would get a bunch of wood and start a fire on the driveway, but alas i have blacktop and that does not respond well to fire.

Wasn't there a guy a few years ago that got arrested for using a homemade flame thrower to melt snow and ice?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Bare-Ground-BareBlaster-Propane-Ice-Torch-BB-100/202025224?cm_mmc=Shopping|Base&gclid=CJnTpa_u2sMCFRJcfgodryUA9Q&gclsrc=aw.ds

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/category_snow-ice-removal+torch-kits

The issue with melting the snow with heat is that it becomes a liability when it regroups as an ice flow somewhere nearby.

Unless it goes directly into the sewer system, it is going to become a problem for somebody and an opportunity for their lawyer.

NOHOME wrote: The issue with melting the snow with heat is that it becomes a liability when it regroups as an ice flow somewhere nearby. Unless it goes directly into the sewer system, it is going to become a problem for somebody and an opportunity for their lawyer.

Nah. You just need more heat and change it's phase another time. Sublimation!

pinchvalve wrote: This is GRM, you need to build an appropriate vehicle to break up that ice. May I suggest something like a mine-clearing flail?

Also a military mine clearing method, but a C4 rope thrower might work.

Demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCkDowx6qwc

I'm having tacos tonight, I could swing by afterward?

Well, then try this as a DIY method.

Seems to be what you want and the video shows it in action. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpbKGvjqsxM

Has anybody ever heard of rock salt? It works! Really! And it's cheap! There's a good chance that your local town/city/county/state highway dept. uses it too!

jimbbski wrote: Has anybody ever heard of rock salt? It works! Really! And it's cheap! There's a good chance that your local town/city/county/state highway dept. uses it too!

Depends on the temp. Doesn't seem to work too well below around 27 degrees F. So it depends on the situation.

In reply to jimbbski:

It really doesn't work at all below 5F. Below around 17F it just turns everything to greasy slush that tracks white salt all thru the house (dogs get it everywhere).

I use it mixed with sand to make it safe and walkable when I have no other choice. A massive, dangerous implement of fire would be a choice

Mark Pauline has made some at his Survival Research Laboratoty, http://www.srl.org/.

Here are some details

This is the first start of the 550CC Two Stroke powered Flamethrower for the SRL Motoman UP50 Robot Arm. This is a light weight unit with a mixed flow axial fan generating 15000CFM of air, mixed with 9 gallons per minute of diesel injected at 4000 PSI. The Motoman arm will be programmed to wave it around, making it the worlds first robotic flamethrower. (Note the Aluminum puck on the rear of the unit. Thats where it attaches to the Motoman UP50 Arm). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efCi6tz_J5c

You know you can get snow melt salt that goes down to -10°F?

Push button start

http://www.harborfreight.com/propane-torch-with-push-button-igniter-91037.html

Cheaper one

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

just walk/drive carefully. It will melt someday.

Google "Fargo man arrested for.....flamethrower"