Burning wood chips

fifthofwhisky

After some landscaping work I have rather a lot of wood chips from pruned trees. I plan to use some for ground cover. Is there any possibility to burn the rest in a woodburner stove? I was wondering if I could make briquettes possibly combining used paper, cardboard, etc., which might burn better than loose woodchips. 

pramsay13

Are they actually chipped or just small pieces?
If they are just cut they will need to be dried out for a while otherwise they won't burn very well.

Mutton_Geoff

Be careful if it's from conifers. Green wood has lots of resin that can clog the flue.

fifthofwhisky

pramsay13 said:

Are they actually chipped or just small pieces?
If they are just cut they will need to be dried out for a while otherwise they won't burn very well.

They are chipped. How can I best use them - briquettes?

fifthofwhisky

Mutton_Geoff said:

Be careful if it's from conifers. Green wood has lots of resin that can clog the flue.

Thanks. Deciduous trees.

FreeBear

You can get machines that will compress the chips and turn them in to briquettes, but.... The machines are expensive and often require a three phase supply.

If you have somewhere to spread the chips out where they can dry, I'd go for that. Ideally, they would want to be spread out in thin layers on mesh trays/shelves. Once the moisture content is down to around 20%, you can burn them in your stove a shovel full at a time - I've burnt a mix of wood chips, sawdust, and pellets in the past. As long as it is dry, no problems.

fifthofwhisky

FreeBear said:

You can get machines that will compress the chips and turn them in to briquettes, but.... The machines are expensive and often require a three phase supply.

If you have somewhere to spread the chips out where they can dry, I'd go for that. Ideally, they would want to be spread out in thin layers on mesh trays/shelves. Once the moisture content is down to around 20%, you can burn them in your stove a shovel full at a time - I've burnt a mix of wood chips, sawdust, and pellets in the past. As long as it is dry, no problems.

Thanks. Yes, those machines are expensive. I was thinking more along the lines of a manual press (under £100). Maybe I'll buy one of the cheap (paper briquette) type presses and just try it out to figure if it's worth the higher investment. The moisture content is already down near that figure. I was just thinking that handling briquettes is easier than shovelling chips. 

FreeBear

fifthofwhisky said:  I was thinking more along the lines of a manual press (under £100). Maybe I'll buy one of the cheap (paper briquette) type presses and just try it out to figure if it's worth the higher investment.

The briquette machines extrude the chips under extreme pressure - It is the lignin in the wood chips & sawdust that acts as a binder to hold everything together. The pressure used is what causes the lignin to stick.

You just won't get the pressure required from a manual press to get the lignin to stick, so you'll need to add a binder. Either PVA or cement plus a bit of sawdust to fill the gaps. Only a small amount of binder+liquid is needed. The hand operated paper briquette presses are not really worth the time or money - Way to flimsy, and you just can't get a high enough pressure to get anything to stick reliably.... Yes, I have tried.

If I have another go at making briquettes, I might try a hydraulic press - Perhaps make something that can be fitted to the log splitter.

Ectophile

I would be inclined to dry them out thoroughly, then use them as kindling.

MrsStepford

Are the trips treated ? If so, there could be a toxic chemical provlem in a logburner. 

Mutton_Geoff

MrsStepford said:

Are the trips treated ? If so, there could be a toxic chemical provlem in a logburner. 

The OP says they are from pruned trees.