Manure brickettes/poo bricks - Photo story!

Minimilton, I like your idea about lining the brick press. When I did my loaf tin experiment I used cling film and then peeled it off and reused it after I'd moved the bricks to their drying place.

I'm also considering a press for my birthday next month. So funny...most people want much more mundane things than a brick press to make poo bricks :D:D:D I'd much rather be in this gang!
 
I love Minimilton's idea of newspaper-wrapped bricks - so tidy! Like presents! We await photographs . . .

I have phoned Mum and Dad this morning (it's Mum's birthday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM!) and pointed them in the direction of this thread and Dad is even more tickled by the thought of becoming an internet sensation (although, bless him, he doesn't know the difference between Facebook and HHO - my sister has signed them up for Facebook so they can see family photos and he thought this was it!!)

Mum wishes you all to know that the car has to be turfed out of the garage when poo brick manufacture is in progress because the lever for the brick press is now so long it hits the car!
 
How long does it need to dry? Does that depend on weather?
Am thinking I could try to dry out my mom's horses manure this summer, they live out and make perfect little balls that already look like charcoal, so would possibly just have to dry them up on shelves in a single layer.
 
If only my dad had a garage he'd love this. I might consider buying him one for his birthday once he's a bit more mobile again, should keep him out of trouble and with 5 horses we have plenty of supplies! :D
 
Fantastic, excellent updtae - I was thinking about this over the Easter weekend as my woodpile is getting smaller and my muck heap increasingly bigger.

OP I too have a very useful father in his seventies who has made me so many useful tools, arena edge scraper, hay soaker and winch,when he is not hedge laying or harrowing the fields. I am going to see if he can make me a brickette squisher.

I wonder if fresh poo (we collect daily) from the field would need water to make it stick? I think if your dad can get them dry in the winter it should be a doddle to get a stock dry in the summer.
 
Palindrome said:
How long does it need to dry? Does that depend on weather?
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Dad made his first batch between Christmas and New Year - he was keen! He has made batches whenever the fancy takes him ever since. He must have a cunning labelling system, so he knows which are the oldest bricks to burn first.

My parents live in East Anglia, so one of the drier parts of the country, but even in the winter we have just had, the bricks have been dry enough to burn in 8-10 weeks. It should be much quicker in summer (hopefully!). Perversely of course, this bitterly cold East wind that seems to have been blowing for ever, is actually a drying wind, and the low humidity conditions that we are experiencing at the moment (especially on the Eastern side of the country) are very good for poo brick drying!
 
Another QUESTION please fellow brick makers?

How long does one of these last on a woodburner? Do they go up fast?
 
Fantastic!

Your dad is a dude.

Bet your mum loves the fact he's got a hobby away from the house too ;)
 
Brilliant! I remember a few years ago when some horsey types experimentedywith poo brick making. This seems much more refined and inspiring!
 
Really interesting thread. I have a wood burner and 2 horses so will show this thread to my husband. He's been growing willow for our burner for the past 3 years so if we have another alternative fual that would be great. Out of interest do the bricks burn to ash? Do they smoke when burning and any idea if they do any harm to your chimney (just thinking how sap from unseasoned logs can cause chimney fires etc.
 
indie999 said:
Another QUESTION please fellow brick makers?

How long does one of these last on a woodburner? Do they go up fast?
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About the same as an equal sized piece of soft wood IME. I'm not sure about burning them on their own - I have access to plenty of sawn up pallets so burn them together. I have just had to come into the kitchen because I put 2 on my Little Wenlock (only up to 5kw) stove with a piece of soft wood and it's, er, a bit warm in the sitting room :D
Well worth doing - for a small stove like mine my little blocks are okay (about the size of a slightly squashed house brick) the bigger blocks would be a bit of a tight fit with other wood.
 
hairycob said:
I'd love to try this but my chimney sweep OH is a bit eugh about it!
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Tell him he can come and sweep my chimney and see whether he still thinks it is eugh. :D It absolutely does not smell when it is dry so can't see why the chimney should, it's really only cellulose after all
 
Awww this thread is ace! I am now wishing my Papa Bear (slightly older than yours OP) had a wood burner because this is the sort of thing he would LOVE to do! Free 'central heating' and a shed project rolled into one! :D
 
I totally love your dad! And I love how seriously he takes it! I bought one of the mini paper briquette makers and attempted it, got over excited, made loads then realised I had no where to store them so shoved them all in a basket. A month on they still haven't dried out and I can't be bothered doing it again haha :D
 
Great thread! OP, your dad's project reminds me of Tom in The Good Life - in the nicest possible way! :)

I second the poster who asked for videos - your dad will go viral, I'm sure! :D
 
I am not going to let my 85 year old Dad see this thread :D He already has a lathe and a milling machine in his garage, so would want to do this at our place! Engineering dads are absolutely the best, mine has mended our internal stable wall this week and is maing a frame for the bucket for our tractor, they just never stop :)
 
Ah... I LOVE your Dad..:D Pure genius..and I hope he does go viral..if he did with videos..he could make a mint!:D

My late Dad was equally as ingenius & would have LOVED this..actually, I believe he may well have a brick maker in his still untouched potting & woodwork shed...4 horses.....ever increasing bills...

Please can you ask your Dad if a well rotted muck heap would be ok to use? varying from 1,2 & 3 year rotted with a nice dried layer on top that looks vry shavingsy..thank you:-)
 
freckles22uk said:
Sooo..... did anyone make any this summer and how did it go, have to confess I still haven't but I do intend on doing some next year..
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Yes, I did - got a garden shed with a stack in, and some still drying in one of the barns at the yard. I need a bigger briquette maker though - I did all of those with one of the little portable types, and it hasn't done my back a lot of good. I have a boiler room which is ideal for ensuring they are totally dry, which is a big help, once they are dry they burn as well as any softwood. Just pondering which wall to attach the industrial size one too :)
Can't see any reason why they can't go on an open fire - they don't smell or spit.
 
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