A friend is in the construction industry. He replaced the brakes on his 6-wheel dump truck and I was able to get one of the old brake drums. It's well over 1/2" thick steel, round, and conical with an open bottom. It's sturdy and thick enough that it should outlast my grandchildren. I can set it directly on the ground to make charcoal, similar to this device, just round. It works extremely well for me. I also set it up off the ground on fire bricks to use as a backyard fire pit/grill. The the thick steel holds heat well for cooking on a discarded grill grate.
The inverted pyramid pit in the ground is one of the classic ways to burn for biochar, so it makes sense that an inverted pyramid "portable fire pit" like this would work well.
Beautiful, if you get a piece of steel plate for a lid you can do all sorts of cool things in the absence of oxygen. One thing i always do when i make char is mix in about 30 % volume wood chips as it finishes to quickly add mass. I dont have a lid so i can only mix in so much, or it begins to smolder. With your pit and a lid you could probably mix in up to 60 % wood chip in and cover it for for an hour or so and have it turn out perfect.
Thanks for posting this. I was going to replace my crude concrete block maple sap evaporator this week with a 55 gallon drum & a stove conversion kit but you gave me a different idea to pursue. I think I'll contact Andy to explore a combination fire pit / biochar kiln / sap evaporator. I'm just a short hop south of him in Pennsylvania.
I think there is amazing possibility of incorporating biochar production with maple syrup production... Maybe there is a copper circut that runs around the outside that preheats the sap or runs in a loop to get it far along... You'd want to keep the top mainly open so you can work it...
We put a tap on the bottom! I was going to talk about it, but it clogged up during the first burn so I don't think we'd want to incorporate the time and cost of having them in future models.
I'll make a more thorough video showing the flow of making it. Having done it for almost 10 years I finally feel like I understand the art of it, and some really intense 'poking' with a stick or metal pole (tpost!) during the whole process crushes the char nicely, helps bring up logs and branches that aren't finished to the top where they can finalize and releases a ton of good heat... Only one decade of experience to learn 'poke it with a stick'... ha!
Awesome video! If you don't have chickens or animals per-say - is there a benefit to adding any to a worm bin? Do you need to crush it down anymore before you distribute it to perennial plants in the spring? THANKS
I wonder if an open or screened bottom would allow charcoal bits to fall out as it burns, then the whole thing could be mounted over a puddle or other water source to quench as it falls
I was thinking 4 small (1/4" maybe) drain holes in the bottom, but anything larger could allow extra air in from the bottom, which is not desired. As you add more material on top, the bottom bits get less oxygen and don't turn to ash. But a screen would keep it burning and you'd lose charcoal that way.
I think an open screen would convert way too much to ash... . I saw a design where someone incorporated an auger into the bottom that would screw into the bottom of the container and transfer ash through a solid pipe up and into an open container with water to quench it.. .That coudl work but would be complex. . The system is decent as it is, I don't know that it needs that level of tweaking...
The auger sounds interesting to prevent air, but yes it probably is too complex. It will be interesting to see what designs come from people trialing this.
Very cool design. I was unable to find an example online of potential uses for a standard rounded backyard cooking grill. I know it’s got to have it’s drawbacks, but if you closed the vents in the bottom, wouldn’t it have the same pyrolysis concept?
Very cool design, biochar is amazing stuff. What's a good way to connect with you guys as I'd love to offer up some muscle as we move into the growing season.
I don't have a particular opinion but I would say super super fine doesn't seem to make a ton of sense because it's so dusty and just disappears in the soil. Various size from dust to sand all the way up to blueberry and even a few golf ball chunks all seem beneficial for different reasons. In otherwords, don't sweat it!
It was to drain off fluids... I didn't mention it in the video because it was a little bit of a dud design wise on my part, it clogged nearly instantly!
Maybe a stupid question... but I was always told that eating charred food was carcinogenic. Is this a concern for the chickens that are pecking through this char? Is the main goal the odour absorption, or the speed of the carbon entering the compost? Because I'd assume that the wood rotting naturally would introduce as much of not more carbon to the compost? I guess I just don't fully grasp how biochar fits in the permaculture model. Cheers!
Worth researching biochar as a concept, there is a lot there! The carbon in this case is super persistent in the soil, like 100s or 1000s of years. Short run it absorbs lots of excess odor, long run it holds onto nutrient for incredible lengths of time. No concern about the chickens pecking it, I don't think they eat much, but what they do is probably good for their guts.
I woudl encourage that half decomposed branches woudl be ideal to be in garden beds / hugelmounds rather than burned. Dry wood and dead dry is ideal for charring.
Question: if you put a hinged top/lid on your kiln and close the lid. Bolt it down to make it air tight. Would that work instead of pouring water onto it? Starve the fire of oxygen. I am thing about doing a pyramid for the top, but putting a small diameter chimney with a lid. When you see the smoke has change from mostly water vapor to clear smoke close the chimney. Your thoughts.
I wouldn't do that... It may be dangerous to build up the gasses. If you have limited water you can soak burlap or other like material in water and put that on top to smother, but water is helpful for this process and makes it safer I think...
@@edibleacres I heard adding water while it is hot helps with expanding the internal surface area as it forms pores like a honey comb which is important for microbes to be able to make lumps of biochar their home. I don't remember where I heard this so it would be nice if someone can confirm or deny my belief that this is a benefit of adding water. Thank you so much for posting your videos they are awesome.
Hello. Thanks for a wonderful video. Loved it. Did this kiln work better than a kontiki kiln or even a regular cone pit system for you? Is the quality better or the speed higher? I’d love to get more feedback on why you think this Biochar (and/or the process of making it) has turned out better than your previous experiences. Warmly, Taimur
Much more complex answer to give the full picture, BUT... This time of year the ground is super saturated and ice cold.. Digging a cone pit in the earth would result in horrible results. Some areas the ground is too frozen to dig anyway. This mimics the dimensions of the cone pit in a decent way and makes for very good charcoal at a very decent speed. Being mobile, able to operate at this time of winter and still be clean and fast makes it quite exciting an option. I haven't used a kontiki so I can't say, but I'm pleased with this basic design for sure...
From what I've seen online of the kontiki kiln, it is much the same thing but a lot bigger. I think Sean's one looks a lot more realistic for most people than the kontiki
Neat design seen a similar one but was flanged and could be bolted together think it was called the Pennsylvania pit still haven't videoed grinding up char with my outdoor garburator yet lol... Denis
I don't know how thick the steel is, but it looks like it's thin enough to go through heat warping. I can just imagine it warping during a burn and catapulting some of its contents. Some thing to keep in mind.
@@puffcrusader696 So did my friends father with one he bought one from the store. It suddenly bowed in and threw smoldering charcoal out of it. Luckily it was set up on pavement away from any structures.
Just have in mind that 1 kg of wood has thermal energy (burned efficiently) equivalent to 5KWh or 3.6 MJ. So in a case where the wood is being burned, without heat capturing, that energy is being directly pushed to the air. With the heat, the wood you burn (let say100 pounds) produces, you can heat 266 gallons of water to 144 F ( or 62 C). That is theoretical maximum, in reality, as you are not oxidizing most the carbon itself the energy captured will be likely 3x smaller. But even that, almost 90 gallons of water at 144 F is something to be considered when people think about natural resource preservation.
I am quite interested in integrating a copper coil on the outside of a kiln like this with insulation that can grab a lot of the side heat from this and put it in a large container.. I need to research more!
If what I had was perfectly uniform small chunks of dry wood, I could use the TLUD or other method commonly promoted.. BUT, if I had that material I'd rather save it to make charcoal in the small stainless steel retorts we have for our wood stove! This approach lets me take prunings pretty much just as they are and convert them pretty darn effectively into charcoal! No wood chipper, no chop chop chopping everything down and packing a retort... It feels super effective.
It’s a great method, versus burying a barrel. Only trouble is that I can’t find anything with keyword ‘biochar’ on Craigslist within 250 miles. Wish I knew how to weld.
Another option which might take less water (not an issue for your site but maybe another) that can use the standard 55 gallon barrel TLUD design: ua-cam.com/video/RTQfNsfcXUA/v-deo.html which is used for making water filter charcoal in their case but would work for biochar of course: www.aqsolutions.org/charcoal-biochar-water-treatment/ In this case, they use a gallon or two of water to make a small mud pit, and after all the wood inside is burning, the barrel is placed in the mud to block the bottom air intake, a lid is placed on top, and some of the mud is used to make an airtight seal around the top too. This prevents any more combustion without pouring water on the biochar, you just wait a couple hours for it to cool off instead. So you trade water use for time needed.
That is appropriate for a contained TLUD style, or a definitive and isolated retort section of the kiln, but this is maybe a ltitle funky/complex to do that way. One route could be to have a sheet of steel cut to lay on the top exactly, and quench the char a bit with water, lay a fully saturated burlap sheet over the charcoal and then put the metal on top with weight... But this only takes 15-20 gallons of water to fully put out so I'm OK with that volume.
That could be one way to approach it, although this kiln which renders 40-50 gallons of charcoal only takes about 20 gallons of water to fully quench (probably less). So it isn't that big a deal...
Looks like an Agnihotra burner. Indian / Hindu spiritual ritual. The resulting ash is said to have healing properties including for the land an agriculture.
You should run these videos as how to make charcoal and throw the biochar stuff in as well, but you may garner more views with how to make charcoal. You aren't actually making the biochar in the kiln remember, it isn't biochar until, well you know... push the how to make charcoal and you'll probably get a ton of views, thanks as usual!
Good point. THis is just charcoal anyway, although folks who want charcoal for forges or grills would be sad to see me crush this up and then pour water on it!
I got the Solo Stove small fire pit, “Ranger” model - it’s a cylindrical stainless steel fancy high tech secondary burn system that looks like it’s modeled on a rocket stove. www.solostove.com/solo-stove-ranger/ I haven’t fired it up yet but I did get it to burn all the little wood and sit on top of my plastic deck, near structures and not cause fire. I’ve been thinking of using it to make biochar. I don’t know if it can take quenching, don’t see why not. I’ve also thought of getting same shape but smaller stainless steel lidded hotel pans and making the char in a similar way you do inside your home wood stove. What do you think?
I'd be careful with quenching that stove, it may be a bit fragile with extreme temp changes? One idea woudl be to use a watering can and quench only in the center so you don't shock the metal as much, and then gently stir to distribute the water, and then maybe take a few super saturated burlap sacks or the like and cover everything thoroughly... Just a thought.
Sorry, but this is not biochar and that is not a boichar kiln, its not even realy a kiln. Its an open fire, biochar is made in the absence of oxygen, its completely different.
The absence of oxygen comes from the many layers of wood that suffocates the wood beneath. If this is not bio char then what properties does this burnt wood not have that correct bio char in your opinion does have?
Jesse, it would be good for you to research more ways that folks make charcoal. This style of open pit approach works incredibly well to convert nearly all material to charcoal because the flame front, where Oxygen is introduced, keeps climbing up and up, leaving an O2 free zone directly below it. Properly fed and managed you get massive yields of super high quality charcoal from this approach.
@@edibleacres Yes thats my point, you get high yields of charcoal, not so much biochar. Whatever works for you, I have made biochar and experimented with collecting the gas and will soon be doing batch production for the garden and I will try to store the wood gas for later use.
perfect is the enemy of good . dont listen to this guy he's prob too scared to compost his food scraps because they were not grown organic. some people dont have thousands of dollars to spend on a gasification system this is taking a very simple way and maybe not getting 100% biochar but dont let perfect be the enemy of good
I like to have some nice dry wood to get it going and to help out if it gets smoky/punky but overall it just rips through any feedstock we offer it, green seems fine so long as the branches aren't more than 2" in diameter.
A friend is in the construction industry. He replaced the brakes on his 6-wheel dump truck and I was able to get one of the old brake drums. It's well over 1/2" thick steel, round, and conical with an open bottom. It's sturdy and thick enough that it should outlast my grandchildren.
I can set it directly on the ground to make charcoal, similar to this device, just round. It works extremely well for me. I also set it up off the ground on fire bricks to use as a backyard fire pit/grill. The the thick steel holds heat well for cooking on a discarded grill grate.
Wonderful work Andy! Great video with a wealth of information and inspiration. Thank you!
My pleasure!
The inverted pyramid pit in the ground is one of the classic ways to burn for biochar, so it makes sense that an inverted pyramid "portable fire pit" like this would work well.
The geometry really works nicely. The heat is focused to the center and makes for a very nice and clean burn.
Beautiful, if you get a piece of steel plate for a lid you can do all sorts of cool things in the absence of oxygen.
One thing i always do when i make char is mix in about 30 % volume wood chips as it finishes to quickly add mass.
I dont have a lid so i can only mix in so much, or it begins to smolder.
With your pit and a lid you could probably mix in up to 60 % wood chip in and cover it for for an hour or so and have it turn out perfect.
Interesting idea. I'm thinking about what it looks like to integrate more wood chip -> biochar!
Thanks for posting this. I was going to replace my crude concrete block maple sap evaporator this week with a 55 gallon drum & a stove conversion kit but you gave me a different idea to pursue. I think I'll contact Andy to explore a combination fire pit / biochar kiln / sap evaporator. I'm just a short hop south of him in Pennsylvania.
I think there is amazing possibility of incorporating biochar production with maple syrup production... Maybe there is a copper circut that runs around the outside that preheats the sap or runs in a loop to get it far along... You'd want to keep the top mainly open so you can work it...
I guess I'm kind of randomly asking but do anyone know a good website to watch new series online ?
@Alden Brennan I use flixzone. Just search on google for it :)
Excellent! And perfect timing for chopping back and converting into useful material!
Late winter is a good window to prune so this is hopefully helpful to folks.
Suggestion: Add a tap at the bottom to drain off the quenching liquid, especially if you quench with a nutrient rich liquid to inoculate the biochar?
We put a tap on the bottom! I was going to talk about it, but it clogged up during the first burn so I don't think we'd want to incorporate the time and cost of having them in future models.
@@edibleacres perhaps some kind of hinged bottom?
That stuff looks great,so even in size.
I'll make a more thorough video showing the flow of making it. Having done it for almost 10 years I finally feel like I understand the art of it, and some really intense 'poking' with a stick or metal pole (tpost!) during the whole process crushes the char nicely, helps bring up logs and branches that aren't finished to the top where they can finalize and releases a ton of good heat... Only one decade of experience to learn 'poke it with a stick'... ha!
Awesome video! If you don't have chickens or animals per-say - is there a benefit to adding any to a worm bin? Do you need to crush it down anymore before you distribute it to perennial plants in the spring? THANKS
Crushing a bit has good value, and adding to a worm bin seems super super beneficial.
I wonder if an open or screened bottom would allow charcoal bits to fall out as it burns, then the whole thing could be mounted over a puddle or other water source to quench as it falls
I was thinking 4 small (1/4" maybe) drain holes in the bottom, but anything larger could allow extra air in from the bottom, which is not desired. As you add more material on top, the bottom bits get less oxygen and don't turn to ash. But a screen would keep it burning and you'd lose charcoal that way.
I think an open screen would convert way too much to ash... . I saw a design where someone incorporated an auger into the bottom that would screw into the bottom of the container and transfer ash through a solid pipe up and into an open container with water to quench it.. .That coudl work but would be complex. . The system is decent as it is, I don't know that it needs that level of tweaking...
The auger sounds interesting to prevent air, but yes it probably is too complex. It will be interesting to see what designs come from people trialing this.
Very cool design. I was unable to find an example online of potential uses for a standard rounded backyard cooking grill. I know it’s got to have it’s drawbacks, but if you closed the vents in the bottom, wouldn’t it have the same pyrolysis concept?
Something to experiment with perhaps.
that looks like a cool way to make it. Also I'm guessing you have a little pyro in you.
I used to as a kid...
@@edibleacres and there’s a kid inside us all 🔥
Dude you reading my mind!? Just signed up for a biochar workshop put on by UofArizona Ext 🙌🏾
That is awesome! I hope you learn a ton and WAY more importantly, you make so much great biochar!!!
Very cool design, biochar is amazing stuff. What's a good way to connect with you guys as I'd love to offer up some muscle as we move into the growing season.
Thanks for the offer! Reach out through sean @ edibleacres.org as we get thawed out here over the weeks to come :)
Love biochar, though a surprisingly difficult part is crushing it into powder and avoiding inhaling it.
ua-cam.com/video/p0a_9INKqsw/v-deo.html - a video where I show how we crush charcoal. No dust to deal with :)
Love your video! I was wondering what the "best" size part for crushed biochar is for the garden??
I don't have a particular opinion but I would say super super fine doesn't seem to make a ton of sense because it's so dusty and just disappears in the soil. Various size from dust to sand all the way up to blueberry and even a few golf ball chunks all seem beneficial for different reasons. In otherwords, don't sweat it!
@@edibleacres )))) Thanks for the swift reply!!!!
is the purpose of the pipe and valve on the underside to drain water or to calibrate aeration? both??
It was to drain off fluids... I didn't mention it in the video because it was a little bit of a dud design wise on my part, it clogged nearly instantly!
Maybe a stupid question... but I was always told that eating charred food was carcinogenic.
Is this a concern for the chickens that are pecking through this char?
Is the main goal the odour absorption, or the speed of the carbon entering the compost?
Because I'd assume that the wood rotting naturally would introduce as much of not more carbon to the compost?
I guess I just don't fully grasp how biochar fits in the permaculture model.
Cheers!
Worth researching biochar as a concept, there is a lot there!
The carbon in this case is super persistent in the soil, like 100s or 1000s of years. Short run it absorbs lots of excess odor, long run it holds onto nutrient for incredible lengths of time.
No concern about the chickens pecking it, I don't think they eat much, but what they do is probably good for their guts.
Biochar is not anything like charred food. It is more like the activated charcoal they feed you if you ingest poison.
That is impressive.
Sean, can we use branches and twigs that are already beginning to decompose? We have a lot of those.
I woudl encourage that half decomposed branches woudl be ideal to be in garden beds / hugelmounds rather than burned. Dry wood and dead dry is ideal for charring.
@@edibleacres Thank you, that makes perfect sense.
Does your friend have a website? It appears the Craigslist link has expired
That is a great bio-char kiln!
I'm happy with it for sure.
Does it require dry wood or can green wood be used? Seems hot enough once it gets going. I have tons of brush and limbs to burn. Some small logs too.
Question: if you put a hinged top/lid on your kiln and close the lid. Bolt it down to make it air tight. Would that work instead of pouring water onto it? Starve the fire of oxygen. I am thing about doing a pyramid for the top, but putting a small diameter chimney with a lid. When you see the smoke has change from mostly water vapor to clear smoke close the chimney. Your thoughts.
I wouldn't do that... It may be dangerous to build up the gasses. If you have limited water you can soak burlap or other like material in water and put that on top to smother, but water is helpful for this process and makes it safer I think...
@@edibleacres I heard adding water while it is hot helps with expanding the internal surface area as it forms pores like a honey comb which is important for microbes to be able to make lumps of biochar their home. I don't remember where I heard this so it would be nice if someone can confirm or deny my belief that this is a benefit of adding water. Thank you so much for posting your videos they are awesome.
Hello. Thanks for a wonderful video. Loved it. Did this kiln work better than a kontiki kiln or even a regular cone pit system for you? Is the quality better or the speed higher? I’d love to get more feedback on why you think this Biochar (and/or the process of making it) has turned out better than your previous experiences.
Warmly,
Taimur
Much more complex answer to give the full picture, BUT... This time of year the ground is super saturated and ice cold.. Digging a cone pit in the earth would result in horrible results. Some areas the ground is too frozen to dig anyway. This mimics the dimensions of the cone pit in a decent way and makes for very good charcoal at a very decent speed. Being mobile, able to operate at this time of winter and still be clean and fast makes it quite exciting an option. I haven't used a kontiki so I can't say, but I'm pleased with this basic design for sure...
From what I've seen online of the kontiki kiln, it is much the same thing but a lot bigger. I think Sean's one looks a lot more realistic for most people than the kontiki
Neat design seen a similar one but was flanged and could be bolted together think it was called the Pennsylvania pit still haven't videoed grinding up char with my outdoor garburator yet lol...
Denis
We saw that design, I like the idea and wonder about that scaled up to maybe 2' x 4' or something :)
I don't know how thick the steel is, but it looks like it's thin enough to go through heat warping. I can just imagine it warping during a burn and catapulting some of its contents. Some thing to keep in mind.
Considering it’s from a guy who builds fire pits I’d hope he’d be aware of that... lol
@@puffcrusader696 So did my friends father with one he bought one from the store. It suddenly bowed in and threw smoldering charcoal out of it. Luckily it was set up on pavement away from any structures.
All I'm saying is to give it a better safety distance from combustibles.
Reasonable note here for sure. There was a bit of warping with this at certain super hot points, but nothing crazy... Good to be careful!
With that flat top have you tried just laying a piece of steel on top, smothering the fire?
I bet that would work nicely. Maybe some water to start quenching but mostly excluding air...
Just have in mind that 1 kg of wood has thermal energy (burned efficiently) equivalent to 5KWh or 3.6 MJ. So in a case where the wood is being burned, without heat capturing, that energy is being directly pushed to the air. With the heat, the wood you burn (let say100 pounds) produces, you can heat 266 gallons of water to 144 F ( or 62 C). That is theoretical maximum, in reality, as you are not oxidizing most the carbon itself the energy captured will be likely 3x smaller. But even that, almost 90 gallons of water at 144 F is something to be considered when people think about natural resource preservation.
I am quite interested in integrating a copper coil on the outside of a kiln like this with insulation that can grab a lot of the side heat from this and put it in a large container.. I need to research more!
What made you choose open pit burning over using a more efficient charcoal kiln or retort?
One advantage is not having to cut the wood to size
If what I had was perfectly uniform small chunks of dry wood, I could use the TLUD or other method commonly promoted.. BUT, if I had that material I'd rather save it to make charcoal in the small stainless steel retorts we have for our wood stove! This approach lets me take prunings pretty much just as they are and convert them pretty darn effectively into charcoal! No wood chipper, no chop chop chopping everything down and packing a retort... It feels super effective.
How long does this take to burn a full batch? Are you adding sticks fairly continuously?
Depends, but roughly 2-3 hours and yes, continual adding of sticks.
It’s a great method, versus burying a barrel. Only trouble is that I can’t find anything with keyword ‘biochar’ on Craigslist within 250 miles. Wish I knew how to weld.
You may want to watch videos on 'cone pit method' and 'trench pit method' for biochar... REALLY nice low tech approaches.
A side door to allow for dumping it out would be handy.
I hear ya but tipping it over isn't a big deal and so less movnig parts!
Off topic but what do you think about biodynamic farming Rudolph Steiner
I like biointensive, I do know it was a combination of biodynamic and the french intensive method
Sasha (my wife) is starting to read a little about it and finds it interesting. We'll have to see if we end up incorporating it into our systems.
Another option which might take less water (not an issue for your site but maybe another) that can use the standard 55 gallon barrel TLUD design: ua-cam.com/video/RTQfNsfcXUA/v-deo.html which is used for making water filter charcoal in their case but would work for biochar of course: www.aqsolutions.org/charcoal-biochar-water-treatment/ In this case, they use a gallon or two of water to make a small mud pit, and after all the wood inside is burning, the barrel is placed in the mud to block the bottom air intake, a lid is placed on top, and some of the mud is used to make an airtight seal around the top too. This prevents any more combustion without pouring water on the biochar, you just wait a couple hours for it to cool off instead. So you trade water use for time needed.
That is appropriate for a contained TLUD style, or a definitive and isolated retort section of the kiln, but this is maybe a ltitle funky/complex to do that way. One route could be to have a sheet of steel cut to lay on the top exactly, and quench the char a bit with water, lay a fully saturated burlap sheet over the charcoal and then put the metal on top with weight... But this only takes 15-20 gallons of water to fully put out so I'm OK with that volume.
WOULD A COVER TO PUT IT OUT SAVE SOME WATER?
That could be one way to approach it, although this kiln which renders 40-50 gallons of charcoal only takes about 20 gallons of water to fully quench (probably less). So it isn't that big a deal...
Cool!
anyone know a ballpark price to have andy make one this exact size abd design? im thinking around $400-500
Looks like an Agnihotra burner. Indian / Hindu spiritual ritual. The resulting ash is said to have healing properties including for the land an agriculture.
Interesting that there is the overlap there!
You should run these videos as how to make charcoal and throw the biochar stuff in as well, but you may garner more views with how to make charcoal. You aren't actually making the biochar in the kiln remember, it isn't biochar until, well you know... push the how to make charcoal and you'll probably get a ton of views, thanks as usual!
Good point. THis is just charcoal anyway, although folks who want charcoal for forges or grills would be sad to see me crush this up and then pour water on it!
I got the Solo Stove small fire pit, “Ranger” model - it’s a cylindrical stainless steel fancy high tech secondary burn system that looks like it’s modeled on a rocket stove. www.solostove.com/solo-stove-ranger/ I haven’t fired it up yet but I did get it to burn all the little wood and sit on top of my plastic deck, near structures and not cause fire. I’ve been thinking of using it to make biochar. I don’t know if it can take quenching, don’t see why not. I’ve also thought of getting same shape but smaller stainless steel lidded hotel pans and making the char in a similar way you do inside your home wood stove. What do you think?
I'd be careful with quenching that stove, it may be a bit fragile with extreme temp changes? One idea woudl be to use a watering can and quench only in the center so you don't shock the metal as much, and then gently stir to distribute the water, and then maybe take a few super saturated burlap sacks or the like and cover everything thoroughly... Just a thought.
You shouldn't use white captions on a white background like snow. I could not read half of it. The demonstration was otherwise excellent.
Ha, good point!
cool!
⭐️🎆💥🎇🕉💕🥰
It's to bad you don't have a lot of chickens or rabbits. You could be selling smoked chicken. And making biochar
Sorry, but this is not biochar and that is not a boichar kiln, its not even realy a kiln. Its an open fire, biochar is made in the absence of oxygen, its completely different.
The absence of oxygen comes from the many layers of wood that suffocates the wood beneath. If this is not bio char then what properties does this burnt wood not have that correct bio char in your opinion does have?
Jesse, it would be good for you to research more ways that folks make charcoal. This style of open pit approach works incredibly well to convert nearly all material to charcoal because the flame front, where Oxygen is introduced, keeps climbing up and up, leaving an O2 free zone directly below it. Properly fed and managed you get massive yields of super high quality charcoal from this approach.
@@edibleacres Yes thats my point, you get high yields of charcoal, not so much biochar. Whatever works for you, I have made biochar and experimented with collecting the gas and will soon be doing batch production for the garden and I will try to store the wood gas for later use.
@@SB-mo7tq So you get a mix of charcoal and biochar.
perfect is the enemy of good . dont listen to this guy he's prob too scared to compost his food scraps because they were not grown organic. some people dont have thousands of dollars to spend on a gasification system this is taking a very simple way and maybe not getting 100% biochar but dont let perfect be the enemy of good
Does it require dry wood or can green wood be used? Seems hot enough once it gets going. I have tons of brush and limbs to burn. Some small logs too.
I like to have some nice dry wood to get it going and to help out if it gets smoky/punky but overall it just rips through any feedstock we offer it, green seems fine so long as the branches aren't more than 2" in diameter.