Thinking of having a crack at making charcoal.

[Woodworks]

I would have thought that another strut or two horizontally between the barrels and another leg or four should do it for the frame,but then be careful that the barrels don't deform with the heat and the weight of the char wood!

 

I will probably try that and see how it works.

[hedgesparrow]

Selway E-commerce website

 

+1 very good firm to deal with lucky i am not to far to travel to get them as delivery if £15.

you could try your local coppice group hampshire buy them in bulk and sell on at discounted prices to members,

but as for lightness as other post its good charcoal. i only started this year. and already have 4 happy trade customers coming back for more. now need a bigger retort. looking at yours woodworks looks very good if ok can i copy your idear

as to buy a ring or a ready made one is over a thousand need to make a lot of charcoal

[Woodworks]

looking at yours woodworks looks very good if ok can i copy your idear

as to buy a ring or a ready made one is over a thousand need to make a lot of charcoal

 

Ha ha

 

Yes help yourself.

 

Not really my idea pretty much copied this one Biochar at the Centre for Alternative Technology: business opportunity for small woodland owners or climate change solution | Woodlands.co.uk. Only difference is the holes in the barrel instead of the complicated pipes out the back and underneath to burn the gas. Absolutely zero ash in the barrel at the end of the burn.

Any tips for outlets and pricing?

[Woodworks]

Well I replaced the front and rear supports with some massive angle but it's bent again (was pretty cool watching this lump of steel glowing orange mid burn) I am going to put some extra uprights in as suggested but this is clearly going to be an ongoing issue.

 

Anyway yesterday made 4 barrels worth but when sieved and bagged has only made 25 bags worth. Don't think I going to make my fortune making charcoal so I going to call it my hobby that earns a few quid

 

Going to try and sell some at a local market and see how it goes. Does £4.50 for the smaller Sellway bags sound fair?

[Ty Unnos]

£4.50 sound fine if selling direct. We sell the small Sellway bags as a 2.5kg bag at £4.00.

 

You can try and get 3kg in the small bag but with some batches of charcoal it can be tricky to get 3kg to fit in the bag. We also like to overfill to avoid underweight bags so our 2.5kg is actual 2.7-2.9kg.

 

If selling to a shop they will want it cheaper so they can make their margin.

[smiles]

I sell my small selway bags for £5.00 direct and for £4.50 to a couple of retail outlets - who then sell on for around the £6.00 mark - so reckon your about right.

Struggle to get anymore than 2kg into these bags though,so sell for £2.00 a kilo in feed bags to local fetes etc.

[Woodworks]

Thanks chaps.

 

Looks like price is a about right. I may try £5 per bag as the local shops are now asking £5 for the 3kg imported stuff.

 

Must admit I can only get 2kg in the bags.

[Woodworks]

Well the market was a complete waste of time with not a single bag sold. All the other stall holders thought it was a good idea and were surprised I sold none. With car still loaded we dropped into a couple of campsite shops who both took 5 bags at £3 a bag. Not to bothered as I only did this for fun but still a bit disappointed.

 

I took a short video mid burn as for me this is the best bit of the whole process. This is the gasses coming out of holes in the barrel and combusting with no extra fuel being added.

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZq4dYzlEko]Making charcoal - YouTube[/ame]

[Ian Leach]

The customers just need educating that home made charcoal is far superior than the imported crap you get from b&q. I've got a series of pictures of the process which gets them interested, my bags are sold for £7.50 each.

 

What size bags do u use ? Pics

 

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

[Woodworks]

Here you go Ian.

 

It would be nice to sell 100 bags even if cheap. This would recoup the cost of the bags, stapler and barrels.

Edited July 23, 2013 by Woodworks