[Terrapreta] farm/compost site

[Dick Gallien]

I'd appreciate your suggestion. I've had a community service farm compost
site, open every day, from dawn until dark, for 16 years, operating on an
honor system. Three times I've hired a 650 hp tub grinder, the last time was
7 years ago, costing over $10,000 and there is no market for the grindings.
Over 90% of tree waste in Mn. is torched and I joke that torching is against
my religion. I'm looking for the simplest way to char large quantities of
brush and larger wood, to use on this farm, as a demonstration, to keep from
being buried in it and because I have a hangup on rich, living soil.

Just started looking at Adam retort, but I have the equipment to do
something similar on a much larger scale.  My Trojan loader bucket is 8'
wide, so it should be 10' wide or more, for loading and unloading into the
425 bu. spreader.  I can get 2X2X6', tongue and groove concrete bunker
blocks delivered for $35 at .  Don't know how they would hold up to the
heat--same question for precast concrete, self supporting bunker silo walls.
I can put either one into a bank, 8 or 10' high, with dirt flush to the top,
so the sides would be airtight, but how to cover it, the retort, some crude,
top loading, movable wood burner as an end wall???

A few days ago I dozed old brush against a 15' high bank of wet, packed
compostable materials. When it was blazing I dozed (Kamotso, with 11'
blade--little bigger than a D-6) the pile from above, completely burying it,
except for a few wisps of  smoke still coming, 3 days later.

Thanks for listening,  Dick

-- 
Dick Gallien
22501 East Burns Valley Road
Winona MN 55987
dickgallien at gmail.com [507]454-3126
www.thewinonafarm.com
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