I was surpriced myself. I guess it´s the same reason firewood dries better stacked than random. 90% of the moisture escapes from the ends. Also my fuel is a bit smaller than most 12" gasifier guys. American chunks may dry better 
3 Likes
For small scale Potatoes storage just put then in a canvas bag to a mesh bag for a little air flow then put down a pallet or cardboard in the basement and put the bag on it. With the potatoe cellar we have here my grandfather always said you just need to keep the potatoes off the cement because the comment will get moisture on the potatoes and rot them. But since he stopped farming potatoes in 52 that was long before my time. So I never saw the barn full of potatoes.
2 Likes
Hi Dan, leaving the dirt on the potatoes in the bag helps them from rotting, once you wash them they will spoil sooner.
Bob
2 Likes
Good point Bob. I never think about that always just picked the potatoes directly into a grain bag and lugged then down cellar. My grandfather got out of potatoes in 52 because they told him he had to wash them before taking them to market. He said washing potatoes was too much work. I think most of the time he baked them he felt the same way I remember him saying you have to eat a peck of dirt before you die. Some night I wondered if he thought I was going to die before morning looking at my plate when he tossed the potatoe on it for dinner.
4 Likes
Yes now that you mention it, the potato cellars I was in had dirt floors so they could put the potatoes straight into the cellar without any preparation other than the triangle crates we put on the ground in the middle of the bin. What I was trying to say is; we put those triangle grates in the bin so that they could circulate are through the pile to keep them from rotting. I thought maybe Jan-Ola could do that to his chunked wood so that he didn’t get the punky wood in the center of his corn crib. TomC
4 Likes
Potatoes in bulk storage need ventilation tunnels to allow the potatoes to breathe. (Big potato storage sheds). In a root cellar in the cold earth they tend to keep quite well, but room should always be left around the sacks for air movement, and to keep temperatures above freezing by heat escaping from the earth.
For the cribs for wood drying, I would suggest either making them rectangular to reduce the stagnant center, or build in a central ventilation tube of the same cribbing material to increase air flow.
1 Like
WHen I get back into wood gassing, this is the style I want to build. It is what my Grandpa had on his farm and could drive his tractor in to keep out of the elements.
This is on the very big size of what I want to do but give one a good idea.
11 Likes
Wery nice! Thanks for the idea, l need roof for my Mercedes, this is just right!
On potatoes, its important never to store near apples! They emit a chemical that ripens most other fruits, like kiwi ok kaki, and makes potatoes sprout!
7 Likes
DEpending on total volume, run a pipe through the center of the chunk pile body (or more than one), full of holes to allow some air to the center of the pile. horizontal works if you have lots of breeze. diagonally upwards works good as hot air rises it will usually carry water vapor out with it, and keeps the pipe in the pile longer. (don’t let the rain in). Also, better than a pipe is a “homemade” pipe out of hardware cloth, chicken wire, or similar. You have to add a lot of wooden “rings” and then strips long ways for structural support. Allows a lot more air than pipe. But drilling lots of big holes in 4" pvc works too. I guess you could always just get inside the crib and build a wooden tunnel of sorts with big cracks between the boards…same concept as folks use on compost piles
4 Likes
That was pretty good money then. I remember hand loading a lot of hard short-wood in the early/mid nineties for $13.00 a cord. But we weren’t selling directly to the paper mill. I wish now that we hadn’t done that. My lower back and shoulders still feel it. More every year. Much better to put it in the truck…
Fact is, pulp is not bringing a whole lot more now. I looked up stumpage prices here in AL and mixed hardwood timber is only bringing less than $10.00/cord. I remember paying $3.00 to land owners. Looking back it seems like a dumb business to get into.
3 Likes
Good morning Billy.
As a kid and young man I have had my share of the short wood ( pulp wood ) also.
I have made the statement that if anyone complains about picking cotton means they have never loaded pulp wood ( back breaking )
5 Likes
Amen to that. I still have a bad disk from it. Ruptured about 10 years ago now. Still have to watch it…
Good news, at least for consumers, the price of eggs and milk is down even more. Bought milk for $.98 a gallon and a dozen eggs for $.37 the other day. Not sure how they are getting the cows and chickens to work so cheap…
2 Likes
Man I can’t believe how cheap it is down there. I just bought eggs here at 1.39 a dozen and milk is still about 2.40 a gallon. Hard to believe we are in the same country both on the east coast. I guess as you move north the prices go north too.
2 Likes
Here in the dairy state milk goes for from $3.29 - 4.98. eggs from $.99- 1.89. the eggs I find out back. The milk and icecream that are making me so far are at a premium. Still dreaming of raising my own.
3 Likes
4 litres of milk here is 4.50 - 5.00 CAD, so about 3.50 USD per US Gallon.
I can’t believe a gallon of milk for a buck!!
1 Like
Curious, what is the minimum wage in Alabama?
1 Like
Forget about raising your own milk cows. They have to be milked EVERY morning and night-- not just when you want a glass of milk or a scoop of ice cream. Right now they are pumping manure out of the pit and hauling it to the fields in tanker trucks. With this hot muggy day, the smell outside is worse then a hot day on a pig farm. So just go to your cool refrigerator and grab you an ice cream bar and go back to dreaming about “wood gas”. TomC
8 Likes
Tom, I don’t think milk is even good for you. I like a nice pure class of water.
hot Hot HOT H O T ! ! ! !
EVERY DAY IS SO !?&$% HOT. It should be getting cooler !
On another note I found a shredder/chipper for my spudded bark. Seems well made and designed. Hardly used.
Dang, photos are on my cell phone not this tablet. Oh well. It is a pto 3pt hitch design. Now I want a charcoal tractor. Can not convert the 300U because Dad self adopted it.
Hi Tom, we had two milk cows… yeah morning and night, it’s a lot of work, and you are “tied down”. Many ways to handle manure, the slurry pit is one of the worst. Our barn smelled like sawdust and fresh hay. As for the milk… there’s no comparison.
Respectfully and wholeheartedly disagree. Milk is one of the best foods you can get. Especially fresh unpasteurized. Now, some folks are lactose intolerant, and my heart goes out to them. They are missing out…
4 Likes
Just joined a farm association to buy organic grass fed cow’s milk, beef,and pork. We raised our own for years, and missed it, so now we get it with out all the work.
3 Likes