[loosey]

Any experieinces that you may be able to share?

I've been looking online about using horse manure in our multi fuel burner. It seem's it's possible if not a bit of work but seeing as we have limitless supplies, I'm willing to give it a go!

[Hopewell]

When I went to the north of India where it is cold and mountains and few trees, the people heated their houses by burning cow dung. As far as I could tell it was well dried and stacked for a year or so. It certainly burnt well and gave good heat. A cow pat is obviously a better shape for drying out than horse manure. The ash was then mixed with composted human manure and spread on the fields.

[Fleecewife]

Interesting, as I was going to say for me the nutrient value (as manure  ) would be more important, but clearly you can have your cake and eat it  .  Maybe you have solved the problem of what to do with human waste loosey - burn it.  I know we collect gas from it, but the dry matter in little briquettes would be very cute.  Would you be drying the muck heap, which would contain shavings or straw, or would this be picked-up droppings?

[loosey]

I have the option of either ... my horses are bedded on shavings so I have my huge muck heap but I also have the dropping from the summer fields which have been rotting for a year now. I'm trying to work out if it's necessary to press it or if I can just dry it and use in as it is ... kind of looks like coal anyway! If it will work I will be very very happy!!

[Fleecewife]

You could try the droppings both ways - roundy and flat and see which works best, for drying, storing and using.  Keep us all informed - I think you have a great idea 

[robert waddell]

very interesting topic and a controversial one in some aspects             dung is just digested vegetation if dried it should be equivalent to peat
having moved several horse dung middens it definitely would need dried
fleecewife on the humane sewage point it used to be dried and pelleted and was supplied to power stations for fuel and supplied to compost firms for in corpoation into yes compost   there was so much of it  it had to go to land fill and they had to pay for it                       it is now spread on fields undried and incorporated into the soil(there is one company that does this not far from us) year on year    and it does stink  

[Fleecewife]

Hi Robert    Yes they do the sewage injection thing round here too and it always oozes back up to the surface - when you see stock grazing next to it you have to wonder about disease and parasite spread, and I certainly wouldn't want to be living right next door to it ........  That's why I thought the dried stuff would be a better option, suitably sterilised first presumably. 
So they had a good system for drying and burning human manure in power stations, but they overproduced so now they are using trees and willow biomass and turning them into sawdust to fuel the power stations....meanwhile there is still the problem of where to dispose of all that stinky human product.  How mad is that?

[robert waddell]

no fleecewife that is not how they do it with this disposal company          it comes in tipper lorries (from seafield Edinburgh) couped in a hole in the ground    loaded into dump trucks      carted over to the point of disposal        and tipped in trenches    dig a track fill with dung dig another one along side the first the soil from the second covers the first
in the old days  Glasgow dung was spread on the fields  that is why there is bits of pottery and glass strewn about  they also stockpiled it  and have reused them for compost and a source of gold and pottery
there have been all manor of ideas of waste disposal the big thing is the cost and pollution
once the people have done there ablution's to there mind that is the end of it

[loosey]

Okay, well I have some collapsable plastic crates so I'm going to use them with concrete blocks on top to make sure I get as much moisture out as poss and then try drying it in my hay barn initially (lots of through draught but nice and dry) Will move to wood store once we've cut this year and let you know how it all goes! The things I've found online are fairly encouraging and as I have 3 wheelbarrows a day it could be a cheap winter next year if it works! I also have some huge piles around the edges of my fields from last year which are well compacted so will go at the with ahand saw and see what I can do!

[ellisr]

I just wonder if it would work in the same machine as my paper logs.

[loosey]

ellisr - is it wet paper you put in these machines? Just googles them and you can get them pretty cheap so may invest and give it a go! Can't see any reason why it wouldn't work

[ellisr]

yeah I get shredded paper from work soak it in a bucket over night like paper mache and then stuff the mould full and squeeze the excess out and put on a wire rack that is raised on bricks in a dry airy place. Once they are dry I stack them on slatted shelves in the tack room

[princesspiggy]

its a great idea, let us kno if it works! does it smell when burnt do u think?

[Juno]

loosey, it does burn and it doesn't smell (no more than peat anyway)
the most difficult thing though is drying it out, i used the ready made 'coal' dried out over the summer, shelved with plenty of space between each 'nuggut' on a metal shelved cage, take care to move it in out of the rain though.
the paper log makers, in my opinion are difficult to use especially if you have straw bedding.

i've already started stacking 'coals' for next winter only using the 'coals' though as the wet bedding takes too long to dry and makes for better compost !

[ellisr]

Oh well I will have to collect the coal shaped one fron the field and dry I am willing to give it a go as fuel is getting very expensive now.