Weed burners - any views?

[CloudPop]

I like the idea of getting rid of weeds without chemicals but the reviews of weed burners are not great. Any views would be gratefully received !

Yes we have one. Ds2 loves using it and it does kill the weeds. I'd recommend it.

My friend had one, didn’t find it effective and it languishes in the shed.

I wouldn’t use one because I wouldn’t want to kill the worms and insects that you find under weeds. Also if the weeds are perennial, you need to get the roots out. Burning off the top growth just lets the weed grow again.

I bought one and found it quite laborious. Also I didn’t like the smell of burning plant.

Fantastic for husbands with pyromaniac tendencies. Although now I've bought him a firepit, he can get even bigger thrills ...

I had one and found it didn't kill the weeds, just the leaves.

The above ground growth will come back on perennial weeds so they'll need burning regularly until they are so weakened they die off. You could do the same thing with cutting the top off every week or so. A burner would be much better than chemicals for wildlife.

Eggysmom, same here - and if there's a gadget involved DH will happily do the job, so we have window vac, rug doctor, leaf blower etc etc............ Weed burner takes ages - you can do the job by hand in quarter of the time and have more chance of getting the roots out too.

I have one in the shed. It does work but gets incredibly hot and not worth the faff.

Thanks all, that's helpful

(I thought you meant like a bong )

Great for creme brulé.

Not that useful on our drive.

I had one, I don’t think I could have been using it properly, burnt the bricks on the drive and used a mass of paraffin, might have been ok if I’d used it on weeds in the garden itself though.
Sold it in the end.

I've got one, love it. Burns weeds and gets right down into cracks so sometimes gets the roots. No laborious work, just standing watching things crackle away. Then a stiff broom to clean up.
Insects move away quickly ime.

My weed growback since I've had it has been minimal. Wish I could do the weeds on the decking too!