Pit-method of producing charcoal, anyone?

[NickB79]

Hello all, first time poster here. I'm interested in producing a decent quantity of charcoal to incorporate into several large gardens I take care of for my dad at the family farm. I've seen numerous designs, pictures, and video of retorts produced from 55-gal drums and cinder blocks, but they seem a bit daunting to construct. My dad's farm is located 2 hours drive from where I currently live, so I'd like to find a method that requires a bit less construction time.

 

What I've thought of so far is to use a pit to produce charcoal. I thought I could dig a large pit on one end of each garden, fill it with a base of easily lit materials like dried straw, cornstalks and small branches, and then built upon this with larger pieces of wood. I would then place scrap sheet metal over the pile, seal it up on the edges with dirt, light the tinder at either end, and once it gets burning well, cover the ends with more sheet metal and dirt. Add a few air holes to the metal to let in just enough air to promote smoldering, and once the charcoal is done the sheet metal could be pulled back and the charcoal broken up and mixed directly into the garden and compost piles.

 

I have access to all the old hay, straw, and cornstalks I want from, and there is a windbreak filled with dry poplar and maple branches (up to wrist-thick in diameter) only 50 yards from the largest garden. There is also plenty of old sheet metal my dad has left over from barn repairs, so all the materials are close by.

 

Can a few of you critique my plan and tell me if it will work as planned, and what tweaks I might have to make to it? I'm unsure how much airflow will be required to get smoldering but not flame, so that might be trial and error. Also, would this require constant attention, or basically run itself if I get the aeration down correctly? I usually only go out to the farm one day a week for about 8 hours at a time.

 

Thanks a lot for the assistance!

[freeztar]

It sounds like it would work to me. :hihi:

The only issue I see is the time constraint. A large scale char such as this may take several hours. You will need to try, to find out for sure.

 

And remember, the holes are for outgassing, not necessarily to let air in.

 

Oh yes, you should line the pit with a thick layer of straw to insulate the wood from the soil.

[mavrickjohn]

See if this might work for you a simple but easy method.

 

MAGH BIOCHAR RETORT