Randy Butler

Please forgive the ignorance - what do I do with biochar?

And can you steer me to any links on best techniques?

Unfortunately, the quality of what is there is not good enough that anyone would invest enough to come and get it.

I'd really like to shred the whole shebang and have wood chips for years. But that seems like that's a real waste of petrol.

Thomas - I'm curious, do you think I need to insulate that culvert riser?

I'm in an odd situation - too much wood.

Let me explain. Over the past couple decades, we've lost a lot of trees to storms.
There are a couple very large piles of branches, perhaps 8-10 feet high and 80 feet end to end.
The tree trunks were turned into lumber and most of the flitches (unusable slabs off the outside) are tossed in a couple pretty large stacks as well.
I've been cutting and burning what I can and even had a big winter bonfire a couple years ago. But the piles haven't diminished much.
No one else here wants to burn spruce, much less 2" branches that have been sitting for years.

Hugels are the obvious answer, but I don't have any space with sunshine.
And since the forest is so thick and the soil so thin, taking down a few trees to make that space would domino a ton of other trees without much wind.

So I think I need to build, at least temporarily, a large RMH outside.
I wonder if a "shorty" would work - but my hope is to burn off as much of this junk wood as I can, without adding a ton of crap to the atmosphere.
I know this is contrary to the goals of RMH, but what is the "hungriest" low emissions wood burner?
And do any work well without a door?

Thanks

Here in Maine duff is commonly used as a term for the soft layer of nearly black decomposing evergreen needles.
It's underneath the sticks and cones that rake up easily, and above the layer where gravel starts.
Occasionally, between the duff and the gravel, there is what most folks would consider dirt - something in which you can plant stuff.
Most of my spot is missing the dirt - unless I truck it in, or mix my compost with the gravel.
Of course a good deal of my patch goes from tree debris to duff to granite ledge.  I reserve those areas for growing rocks.

We've tried several varieties of apples for our sauce - I guess Mom spoiled me. Macs all the way!
I do cut them, but my first cut is horizontal and I try to pop all the seeds out with subsequent slices.
Big pot, a cup or two of water to get things started and apples piled nearly to the top is all we bother with.
Stir down occasionally to get the peelings softened and (mostly) mashed with long handled wooden spoon.
Once everything is soft and boiled, we transfer to a "Foley Food Mill" - a hand crank sieve that extracts all but the last of the gnarly bits.
Out of a ten pound bag of fruit, I'm guessing we see a half cup or less of waste (compost).
I usually prefer to boil the sauce down a bit drier and add a teaspoon of so of cinnamon.
Haven't added sugar in years since we keep all the skins in.
Hot water canning bath puts plenty on the shelves - until the kids hear about it!

Gentlemen -

The reason for my plan - I have some 400 K26 IFBs.
It seemed (to me) that using those, along with a lining of split FB for abrasion resistance, would provide a solid, long-lasting core.
I would, of course, maintain the internal dimensions of the firebox, port and riser.
Being able to easily replace a piece of the lining seemed logical. Perhaps not?
I do plan to cast both the firebox roof and that for the riser with refractory.
Guess I'll add lintel to that list as well.

Thanks!

Gentlemen - thanks for the quick response.

It will take me a while to find it, but I'm sure I saw a note from PvdB that the double rams horns will develop easier if the riser is slightly rectangular instead of square.
Lord, I do miss my mind, wherever I left it!
As to the size reason - turn out that the FB dimensions and port are very close to full brick dimensions when adding a FB Split liner.
With the chimney being 8", I don't want to crowd my limits, and since the place has cathedral ceilings and almost no insulation, it seemed logical to go as big as possible.

The divided exhaust port means I can have a center (IFB) "post" to support the middle ends of the two IFBs above and no lintel.
Castable refractory isn't cheap here, and I have more than enough K26 IFBs.

Good Afternoon Thomas.

As you are one of the more experienced Dragon Breathing Builders, I thought I'd run a question by you.

My conversations with Peter vdB have yielded wonderful results, and of course generated a few questions.

But I know he is swamped and you have built a bunch of heaters so - some questions for the experts:

     7 1/2" system: Base  = 5.43  (Chimney is 8" square clay flue tile lined)
  The Riser Exhaust - if I can maintain the height and total width per specs, can I divide the exhaust in 2?
  Lower Riser Bay - Width and Depth both system size (so 7 1/2")
  Upper Riser Bay - Width and Depth both 2*Base (2 * 5.43 = 10.86, pretty close to 10 7/8")

  BUT in one of Peters notes, he says the riser depth should be less than riser width to establish a good "double ram's horn."
  I did not find any specifics on just what the difference should be.

He also expressed concerns about minimizing the number of brick cuts required for any layout.
Other than ease of assembly, do you find that to be any issue? Mine will be done on a chop saw with abrasive blade.

Based on the numbers I have, plus PvdBs input, I made a stab at a 7.5" core in SketchUp.
Suggestions on how to post the skp file?
I'd love any feedback if you have a chance.

Thanks!

Thank you, Sir!!

Lots of grey weather this week, so I'll have some time to putter on it.

Much appreciated, Peter.  

I'm still in deep freeze/thaw/mud season here and don't expect to even access the site for a month, much less start a build!

The 7" would be great - IF you get a chance.

I'm certainly not too concerned about plugging away at the design myself - as long as I have a clear understanding of the numbers.

Any chance you have a link to the spreadsheet (or even a jpg version) so I can confirm what I have found so far?

Thanks again,
Randy