Organizing material for burning biochar

I have a mature food forest, but it is in a suburban yard, so it's not that big.  I am really focused when I am setting up the biochar for the day, so I don't want to get messed up on my sequence. I try to have everything ready so I can get it done on time and it burns efficiently, so I get lots of good char and create very little smoke.   I regularly have to prune my trees, so I have to put the wood somewhere. In 6 months, it will be great to burn for biochar. Until then, it will be green, juicy and produce a lot of smoke when I burn it.  I recently developed a practice of developing piles of wood, based on the time of when I cut the wood.  I look for gaps in the forest, where I can make a pile.  Once I complete the pile, I stop and I don't put anything more on it.  I go and make a new one. That way, after 6 months, it will be ready in order when I am ready to burn it.  I have a covered area, which is really useful to keep it dry just before I burn it.  I usually keep two loads of wood drying out after the 6 month seasoning so that when the time comes up and I get a dry day to burn, it's all ready for me.  That way, I get it all done and I don't waste my time.

I would love to hear about anyone else's procedures for making it happen efficiently.

John S
PDX OR

For making biochar  i like to use the cone method.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9J7J4fQHpo

Dig a hole then make tons of char.


You can then take the coals from the char pit then put in a metal 55 gal barrel put the lid on and walk away.  ( provided it is air tight ).


Then if you want high quality char you put this into a retort, only it is already mostly burnt down so you can get far more in, and then process in less time if that is your goal.


I also have started piling up branches.     I have stacked up Bolivian sunflower stems about 10 feet high.     I have discovered they burn much like cardboard fast and hot in my rocket oven takes about 20   15 foot poles to get my oven up to 350 deg.

I used to cut them down with a machete,   but now I have found that  it is faster to dig out the roots a bit,  then pull them out of the ground with the leverage a 15 foot pole gives,  then I toss the whole thing on the pile.    

I am just getting started down this path, but I am currently in the process of collecting and drying wood. I know roughly which wood was cut first, so that I can process it in order. I also have a wood moisture meter so that should help me decide. Right now I am piling lumber under a carport and inside a carport tent. I know the tent is not ideal for airflow, but I am just using what I have and making do. When I run out of space in the tent I will probably pile the wood outside with a piece of metal or tarp over the top. I have lined up to borrow a wood splitter at some point when I get time to bust the pieces into smaller more char-friendly sizes. I am very open to suggestions to improve my process.

I have delayed implementing improvements to my retort kiln to prioritize getting the wood cut and dried first. Also my retort should be more efficient in warmer than 30 degree weather, so I will let the wood try at least until spring-ish and then start doing batches. I am hopeful that once I get going I can do a batch a day with minimal intervention.

Yes, like the other John, here in the PNWet, burning works much better in the drier, hotter months.  The whole process feels like a rounded cycle, as you referred to. Cutting, waiting, drying, burning, crushing, nutrifying, implanting.   I never thought of buying a wood moisture meter, partly because I didn't know they existed.  Good for others who might need one. My sequential piles pretty much do that for me.  

Like Mart, I also use a 55 gallon drum, but I drilled holes in it, and built a chimney. It's pretty much the whole device.  TLUD.  I crush it in between panels of plywood in the driveway, when I drive over it.  

John S
PDX OR

I end up using a lot of construction waste material for my charcoal.  The great thing about it is that it's already kiln dried, so even if it has been rained on, it isn't wet on the inside like green wood.  Dimensional wood also stacks very easily, so you can just make a layer of boards with a small space between each, build the next layer perpendicular to the first, and go as high as you can reach.  You can store a lot of wood that way in very little room, and any surface moisture disappears quickly.  Any extra airflow hastens the process.

Construction waste is much more easily found than a person might think.  You can go to any construction site, any where a house is being built, or torn down, anywhere like that and the dumpsters will have lots of wood scraps.  I've asked people building a house if I could have the scraps and they set them aside for me in a pile.  Dumpster companies generally charge by the weight of the dumpster when they pick it up, so if you take the scrap, it saves the construction crew money.  I would recommend that you pick the scraps up very promptly when you say you will.  The guys working may well need to work in the area where the wood is shortly, and they won't appreciate moving it twice.  Not getting it promptly may very well ruin the good relationship you have with them.  On the other hand, if you are prompt, courteous, and friendly, most people are very willing to help you out.

Also, few cold beers discreetly passed along at the end of the day greases the "cooperation machinery" quite nicely.