burning manure for fuel

[CrabGrassAcres]

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/hooker87.html

 

I won't copy/paste as this is copyrighted.

 

He is basically saying that he takes fresh manure (horse, cow, poultry) and forms it into bricks with a mold he made. Dries the bricks and uses them for fire wood. He says a brick will burn twice as long as the same size chunk of seasoned oak.

 

He saves all the ash in drums and spreads it on the garden which also receives things like dried grass, dry leaves, all the other stuff you would compost. He said he did test plots and the first yr the plot with the ashes did the same as the plot with manure as fertilizer and the plot with conventional fertilizer, however, starting the second yr the plot with ashes began to outperform the other two plots, increasing in production each yr.

[dogmom4]

Interesting.

[Catwrangla]

Back in the 1970s, my dad was in the Air Force. The United States sold some C-130s to Saudi Arabia, and my dad was among those who had to go over there for a year to teach the Saudis how to fly and maintain the planes. Story goes that his crew was ferrying some Saudis in one of the planes when they started smelling this horrible smell. Turns out it was tea time, and the Saudis were in the cargo area (where they were seated for the flight) with a dried camel manure fire built in the middle of the floor, boiling water for their tea. Apparently they carried the dung in pouches with them so they had a ready fuel regardless of where they might be at tea time.

 

Dad said the crew had to wear their oxygen masks for the remainder of the flight.

[sassenach]

most grazing animals manure does not smell lol, and really, the pioneers used buffalo dung along the trail to California and Oregon. I read actual journals of some of these pioneers years ago. there was never a complaint about a smell. I think when you have to use something, to get by on, almost anything becomes useful.

but I can just imagine the aircrew.........lol. Gee I miss my naval aviation days! hehehehe

[CrabGrassAcres]

They built a fire in the AIRPLANE???? OH MY!!

[sassenach]

True camel jockeys.........hahahahaha

[kappydell]

I have heard of 'buffalo chips' being used for fires, especially in places where wood was more precious for other uses.

[sassenach]

yep, buffalo chips are buffalo manure piles. flat like cow patties. Those would burn the same. I don't know about horse dung fires but if nothing else and its dry enough, it would work.

[sassenach]

The kids and women , walking along the Trails would collect them in their frocks and aprons and dump them in the wagon or a burlap bag for the nooning and evening fires.

[Mt_Rider]

Picking up 'nanny berries' might be labor intensive tho.....

 

MtRider

[dogmom4]

All I have are chicken poopies...lot of work for those....

Edited October 5, 2013 by dogmom4

[Annarchy]

 

Ferret land mines, not big enough for a fire. Just big enough to squish between your toes.

[sassenach]

Me thinks ferrets probably taste like squirrel.... ( I know they are cute...... but they move too quickly for me).

[Annarchy]

Me thinks ferrets probably taste like squirrel....

... probably...