Woodburner fuel out of garden waste, twigs etc

unlucky67

I've recently had a log burner fitted (in a house I haven't moved into yet)- I have a stock pile of reasonable sized logs etc all getting seasoned from cutting down trees in that garden and in my current house. As well as lots of other wood off cuts etc
I have crates of kindling (eg twigs from a restoration on an apple tree ) ...
The garden is 30m by 5m - landscaped and very very over grown. I have been trying to cut it back for winter - it is creating so much waste I am thinking of getting a skip! ...or buying a garden shredder to compact it to more manageable levels ...
Which made me wonder if there is an easy way of using the shredded (woody) material and making my own 'briquettes' ...
I will also have lots of fallen leaves, have a paper shredder and generate (and have) lots of waste office paper, and sawdust from chopping logs - wondering if one of those paper log maker things would work for a mix???
(looked at a dry tube log maker - but in the video he didn't use the twigs...thinking would be nightmare to fit them into a small tube in pieces!)
One thing particularly is a fence covered in honeysuckle and another climber - there is a panel fence supporting it but the weight is bringing it down - I am going to have cut it back severely - it is about 2 m by 2m high wide and under the new grow is a mess of old dead thin twigs - thinking it is waste to take it off to the skip - but as it is would burn in seconds...

Any advice?

Greenfires

Honestly? I wouldn't bother.

For a start you'll need something to glue them together - commercial briquetters work at pressures around 80 tonnes per square inch - you're not going to get within a country mile of that. Secondly, leaves twigs and paper will completely fill your stove with ash in no time. Personally I'd be tempted to burn it in the garden and dig the ash back in somewhere.

Thinking on though - you might want to have a look at making some traditional faggots for lighting the stove?

Funky_Bold_Ribena

In our community garden, we use everything for burning, as we have an earth oven [built by me, the OH and my business partner ] and soon will have a mass rocket stove. So we chop everything up into 6-8 inch lengths and season them. And I mean everything. Anything that is small enough to be chopped with secateurs gets composted and the rest is stashed for burning. The trick is to keep it all straight and the same lengths, so that it can be piled simply to season.

Greenfires

Rocket mass heaters are a bit of a different animal - and are usually designed to run on the sticks and twigs that aren't ideal for a "normal" stove. That having been said, a RMH weighing perhaps five tonnes or more isn't what everyone would want in their living room!! Would be good to see some pics on here when you get it built though!

unlucky67

So are those paper log maker things not worth bothering with either?
I have several boxes of the old accounts (more than 6 yrs old) from my OH (sold) business that need to be got rid of ...lots will need shredding/burning - thought that would be a good use of them (I believe shredded paper isn't good for recycling as the fibres are too short)
And some folders full of paper from my current employer will be scanned and originals dumped...
Think I was thinking I could something like a 50:50 mix of wood bits and paper - the paper would stick it together - and the whole thing would be slower burning than just paper ....
Like I said have lots of logs (at the moment) ...so thinking maybe a paper log every day ...
A faggot is just a bundle of twigs?? -tied with string??? - to act as true kindling or to get it to the stage where it is hot enough to get bigger logs going?
My main motivation is just to get rid of the stuff easily ...I'm not a fan of garden bonfires ...I have a current neighbour who has a couple a year - he can't see my garden from his but I can guarantee I will have some washing out and the smoke will blow in our direction :mad: - don't want to complain because he is nice and he obviously enjoys it ...(apparently always lights it too close to his shed and then spends the whole time damping the shed down with his garden hose!!:rotfl:)
And it seems like a waste...do plan to use greener stuff for ground mulch and compost - just will always have a heck of lot of small branches ...too much for kindling...

suki1964

We made the paper logs a couple of years back, and we are still burning them

Actually hubby is more likely to use them to jack the car up then we are likely to burn them

They take months of drying, then when burning they fill the ash pan

We do use them in the coldest of weather to get a bit longer heat from the stove, but to be honest they really aren't worth the trouble , mess and space

Greenfires

Haha - I reckon half the people here will have made paper logs "once", or "a while ago". Nobody ever seems to make them again once they've tried!

In short, they're messy and time consuming to make. They take months to dry out, and then do little more than smoulder in the stove, while filling it with ash as Suki said. Complete waste of time IMHO.

unlucky67

Gutted ...never mind -
Thinking not a good idea just to burn large amounts of paper on stove? (so wouldn't have to shred it....)
Or I might try and see if I get one of those log makers second hand anyway - if I can pick one up for £5 or so - just while I get rid of my paper mountain...(thought maybe a nice job for the children????) - might pay them 50p per 100 logs....;)

Greenfires

You can have mine for that!

suki1964

unlucky67 wrote: »

Gutted ...never mind -
Thinking not a good idea just to burn large amounts of paper on stove? (so wouldn't have to shred it....)
Or I might try and see if I get one of those log makers second hand anyway - if I can pick one up for £5 or so - just while I get rid of my paper mountain...(thought maybe a nice job for the children????) - might pay them 50p per 100 logs....;)

You need a big bucket or dustbin. Loads of water. Shred the paper and leave to soak over night at least. Keep stirring. Needs to be a thick gloop. Then press the logs. Then carefully move them to where there are to be dried. In about 3 months they will be dry

Think you need to rethink the 50p per hundred rate lol

Gloomendoom

Paper manufacturers add 10-20% chalk based filler to the wood pulp mix to make the paper smooth. That's what creates all the ash.