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Post by flyonline on Aug 29, 2013 3:41:11 GMT -8
I finished off my 10" stainless rocket stove a while back, and fired it up over the weekend to do a bit of cleaning. I've yet to find an external shell so I can insulate it, but the dogs like sitting next to it when it's a cold day (as do I  )   With 'helpers' It managed to get through about 4 cubic meters of prunings and fallen branches in about 1hr - probably not much slower than putting it through the chipper and definitely more environmentally friendly! Once it was going well, I was able to add up to about 20-25% smallish green material without it slowing down or giving off any smoke. I found that the easiest method was to bundle the smaller stuff up into something like the old fashioned faggots and mix them with the thicker branches, up to about 1.5" was easily taken care of as long as it was reasonably dry. All feeding was done from the top rather than the usual side, though I did push in a couple of bundles of eucalyptus leaves to get a bit of a boost when it was running slowly. Need to come up with an ember catcher as the eucalyptus leaves in particular send out a lot of embers. It might also be worth sinking a couple of 200L steel drums into a mound of dirt to make a monster rocket to get through the big stuff!! Steve |
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Post by matthewwalker on Aug 29, 2013 19:12:25 GMT -8
That's great man! I think that this is an underutilized function of these things. So much better than a smokey burn pile or a chipper.
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Post by flyonline on Aug 29, 2013 23:29:05 GMT -8
That's great man! I think that this is an underutilized function of these things. So much better than a smokey burn pile or a chipper. Thanks! A pet hate of mine is piles of slowly smoldering leaves/waste that sit there for days smoking everything out. While it might take a bit of forethought to get the most out of it, they certainly do a better job when it comes time to burn. Just a pity I'd already chipped our massive pile of fruit tree prunings before I thought of using this. Still, got plenty of other stuff to get rid of And the left over ash can be put into the compost pile or put around trees that like a basic soil so there is no waste left over!! Steve |
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Post by woodburner on Oct 28, 2013 9:58:59 GMT -8
I put prunings I can't be bothered to cut into straight sticks for later use,into a mincer rathe than a chipper. Just have to wait for the leaves to fall off. The result is load of peanut and hazel nut sized pieces which burn well in a gasifier stove (top down burner) I pack them into net bags and put them under cover to dry out.
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Post by Donkey on Oct 28, 2013 17:11:10 GMT -8
I live in a forest but.. I've grown to be VERY uncomfortable with burn-piles and burning of slash just to get it out of the way.. Which is odd, considering I LOVE burning stuff.. Its the bio-mass.. Anymore, unless I've got a direct use for the heat or the burn-products, I'd rather build Hugelculture Beds with it! |
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Post by woodburner on Oct 29, 2013 15:25:47 GMT -8
Nice to have space for a big bed, and a bucket loader to shift the soil. Even a small bed, by hand, on your own is hard going. And having some decent soil, we have light sandy stuff. It seems the preparation time for these beds is at least a year, possibly two. So I should be ok with mine next year. Not surprising really as the fungi have to do their work. Even ordinary composting takes two years as there is no fast way of decomposing wood. It is done by low temperature organisms, and they take time.
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Post by Vince Runza on Mar 25, 2014 7:52:52 GMT -8
Loved that info on Hugelkulture Beds! I tended a community garden in Manhattan -- raised beds on asphalt! Had to water the hell out of it, but it was impossible to over-water.
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Post by doggy1969bc on Mar 30, 2014 17:26:44 GMT -8
no no on the metal part but liked the fire ,perhabs chiped and TLUD transform into char wood be the best way but this is better than composting , piromaniac greetings
Donky can you use charcholed wood as an surplus in a hogel bed
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Post by Donkey on Mar 31, 2014 19:58:13 GMT -8
Charcoal maybe can be used, but it's really from a different place in the world.
Biochar (charcoal in the soil(terra preta)) was invented in places where biological action is TOO fast and needs to be slowed down for cropping to even work.
Hugelkulture was invented where the opposite is true, in places where biological action is naturally slow and water retention is needed more.
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Post by pinhead on Apr 1, 2014 7:13:58 GMT -8
Charcoal maybe can be used, but it's really from a different place in the world. Biochar (charcoal in the soil(terra preta)) was invented in places where biological action is TOO fast and needs to be slowed down for cropping to even work. Hugelkulture was invented where the opposite is true, in places where biological action is naturally slow and water retention is needed more. I'm very interested in Hugelkulture, Donkey. I have never heard of the word but a Google image search shows what I've only seen in "Greening the Desert" by Geoff Lawton. Do you have experience with this? Perhaps a new thread is warranted. |
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Post by matthewwalker on Apr 1, 2014 8:19:27 GMT -8
Pinhead, here's one of my beds going in. I'm a fan...
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Post by pinhead on Apr 1, 2014 9:07:36 GMT -8
Is that what Geoff Lawton calls a "swale" by chance?
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Post by matthewwalker on Apr 1, 2014 20:00:06 GMT -8
Yep, on contour swales.
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Post by malton on Apr 3, 2015 14:34:15 GMT -8
those Hugelkulture Beds look great! i will have to try one. im in the lower end of utah. 5 mins from arizona and we are a dry region!!
i am trying something similar. seems when ever you pick up wood worms are there. being new into rasing red wiglers im curriours. so i dug a 4' x 2' x1' deep pit and filled it with bark then with water and burried it. the plan is to check every 2 months and see if it attracts them.
i had a retort / rocket stove idea in mind with the motivation behind it being for the char as a soil additive . then realized it increases soil ph. and we are all ready hi . dang it.
i am trying to see if worms will consume the char and poop it out with a neutral ph.
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Post by pinhead on Apr 6, 2015 9:24:49 GMT -8
those Hugelkulture Beds look great! i will have to try one. im in the lower end of utah. 5 mins from arizona and we are a dry region!! i am trying something similar. seems when ever you pick up wood worms are there. being new into rasing red wiglers im curriours. so i dug a 4' x 2' x1' deep pit and filled it with bark then with water and burried it. the plan is to check every 2 months and see if it attracts them. i had a retort / rocket stove idea in mind with the motivation behind it being for the char as a soil additive . then realized it increases soil ph. and we are all ready hi . dang it. i am trying to see if worms will consume the char and poop it out with a neutral ph. Ash increases soil pH but I believe pure biochar/carbon is neutral when it comes to effecting soil. |
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