Machine to press sawdust into pucks

[treecyclers]

Gang,
A few weeks ago, I recall seeing a post that mentioned a machine that compresses sawdust and grindings into pucks or bricks that can be used for fuel in woodstoves and the like.
Does anyone have that link or can someone point me in the right direction?
Superdave

[mike_van]

One is here - https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=22324.msg316884;topicseen#msg316884   There's another too, try the search tab, it should come up.

[Cedarman]

We had one on a trial one a couple years ago.  The moisture content was always too high and our pucks did not hold together.  Northtech in Louisville has some machines that they try different sawdust in.  My dry sawdust made pucks so hard you could play hockey with them.  Cost of machine is way to pricy for  making pucks just so they can go into a furnace.  I am going to wait on WM sawdust burning outdoor woodstove that will burn green sawdust with out smoke.

[treecyclers]

I emailed Tom Engel regarding his operation, and recieved an email back this morning.
Very interesting!
The top notch machine costs about $110K, and the additional infrastructure runs another $50-75K depending on location.
So, for the modest price of a HOME, one can create their own bricks to sell on the open market just like Biobrock!
Hmmm.....food for thought.....
Dave

[TexasTimbers]

Unless you do research and a proper business plan you could be living in that machine like a home too! Don't jump off into that without finding out if the technology has already been eclipsed by something else.  :P

[Fla._Deadheader]

I just read somewhere that 8% Moisture is what is required. Must take a LOT of uumph to squeeze that into solid bricks ???

[Cedarman]

I think the intense squeezing creates a lot of heat. Friction between particles is my guess.  This heat causes a chemical reaction with some of the wood components making them stick together as if glued. 

Now I'm ready to here the real goings on in these machines.

The smaller models making a 2" puck cost about 20 to 30 grand.

[SPIKER]

building  a machine to do this on a slow speed process wouldn't be really that hard, but it more than likely wouldn't be worth wile, cost to produce a few small pucks would cost ya more in energy to make the pucks...   defiantly not worth it for burning in a fireplace...

Getting a sawdust burner would be much cheaper and easier I would think...   the sawdust could be injected into a outdoor burner pretty easy...  (many different ways to do this I'm sure)   

anyhow what would one of these sawdust pucks be used for???

mark M

[treecyclers]

The most popular machine for making woodstove fuel briquettes is the square brick style.
It makes a brick 2.5x3x6 that are easily stacked in a stove or firepit, and depending on the materials used to make the bricks, the burn SUPER clean.
I'm talking about possibly being able to burn them on the no burn days in Phoenix because they burn that clean!
And mfr's state they burn about 30-40% more efficiently, which in my own case, means that instead of a 6-7 hour burn on a load of wood, I would get 10-12hrs per load. That's pretty good in my book.
Also, one pallet, about 500 bricks, is the fuel equivalent to a cord of wood according to one manufacturer.
Hmmm....let me see.
No bark mess
No slivers in the carpet
Easy to use
highly efficient
no more back breaking wood splitting work.
I'm sold!
Dave

[stonebroke]

For that money why not get a pellet  machine. In the Northeast anyway pellets are selling like hotcakes.

[Cedarman]

I am going to hold off until Woodmizer gets their sawdust burning outfit perfected. I like the idea of loading a bin with dry or green sawdust once  week. Totally clean burning with very little ash.  Watched 2 of them, a big one and a little one.  Simple and efficient.