New Charcoal Making Business

[Beardie]

There are people making charcoal on a bigger scale using expensive retort kilns and mechanised bagging plant but you'll need to be selling a lot of charcoal to justify the cost.

 

It ain't necessarily so... the Centre for Alternative Technology does a one-day course using retorts made from welded-together oil drums resting on flat-bottomed rail in an old diesel tank. It would work out far cheaper than ring kilns, as oil drums and diesel tanks can be bought at scrapyards. The next course is in August.

www2.cat.org.uk/shortcourses/ then click on Woodlan Crafts tab.

Edited June 9, 2011 by Beardie
Re-doing URL.

[Chris Sheppard]

It ain't necessarily so... the Centre for Alternative Technology does a one-day course using retorts made from welded-together oil drums resting on flat-bottomed rail in an old diesel tank. It would work out far cheaper than ring kilns, as oil drums and diesel tanks can be bought at scrapyards. The next course is in August.

www2.cat.org.uk/shortcourses/ then click on Woodlan Crafts tab.

 

That course sounds quite interesting. Been looking at putting a bigger retort together for a while. Got a tiny one made from an old gas bottle nad an oil drum - works great in the garden but deosn't make a lot each time. Like the idea that you're never actually burning the produce and it doesn't need a lot of fuel once the gas gets going.