Machine Makes Logs Out Of Peat Sod

Machine Makes Logs Out Of Peat Sod ENERGY Alternative Fuels 4-6-9 A tractor-mounted machine manufactured in Finland can extrude enough peat sod logs in one day, directly from the bog, to heat the average home for a winter and a half. FARM SHOW learned that one of the machines is in use in Canada and tracked down Richard Thomas, of Kearney, Ont. Thomas has been making peat sod logs with one of the Finnish-made machines for about a year. "The machine, which mounts on the 3-pt. hitch of a tractor at least 72 hp. in size, will process 12 to 15 cubic meters of peat an hour," Thomas told FARM SHOW. "The sod logs are extruded-there is a disk which throws the peat into a cylinder where an auger extrudes it. "What comes out are logs about 3 in. in diameter. They break off of their own weight to lengths of 6 to 10 in. They then have to lay on the ground for about 2 weeks to dry, depending on the weather, and then can be picked up and burned. Also, they have industrial use in the manufacturing of coke. "In only one day, you can process enough fuel for a home to last for a winter and a half," says Thomas. "I heated my home all last winter with peat logs." He went to Finland to see the machine, then imported one at a cost of about $6,000. He is not selling them himself, nor does he know of anyone in Canada or the U.S. who is. He purchased his from the Reni Company, of Kajaani, Finland. The machine won't work with raw, wet peat, according to Thomas. "You have to ditch the bog and leave it to drain for a year cif so. Then you have a lot of fuel," he says. Peat has its own binder and sticks together on its own when it has some moisture in it, explains Thomas. He is draining his first bog now, but has used the machine very successfully on peat dug out of a bog with a drag line or back hoe, then spread on a field to drain. He then drives over the peat with the tractor and makes the extruded sod logs. According to Dr. Bill Radforth, a specialist in the study and use of peat at the University of Brunswick at Ferderikton, N.B., the material has less density than wood. "It can provide a greater number of btu's per unit of weight, and is easier to use," he says. Thomas told FARM SHOW that peat in a bog first needs to be tested for ash content before converting it to sod to burn. "Try to get peat that has no more than 4 or 5% ash. It provides a fuel that will give better heat value per pound than maple wood," he points out. He adds that peat sod can rate 9,000 btu's per lb., "a little better than most wood, and it ranges as high as 12,000 btu's per lb. Every log is different." The small logs he makes are light and bulky. "A 100-1b. feed sack full will weigh 20 to 25 lbs. ," he says. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Richard Thomas, Box 58, Kearney, Ontario, Can. POA IMO (ph 705 636-7842).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.