Archive for countrytalkandtips.myfreeforum.org ........................ smallholding, crafts and country life ................................................... IN IRELAND .......................................................
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blowin
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cracked / broken turfYou see a fair bit of this left out on the bog . Often it has been neatly footed or even stacked before the frost got into it and made it go crumbly . Not ideal to handle but it could still be collected quite easily --- so why doesn't anyone bother to do so ?
FWIW I did collect some to try . Even when it was thoroughly dry it burned with a lot of horribly acrid smoke so I didn't use much of it in the end . Is that the reason it is left there , or just coincidence that I got a bad batch ?
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quarryman
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If there is a lot of clay in it that will happen. We keep all our milk cartons and fill them with the little bits and dust. They burn beautifully.
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blowin
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| quarryman wrote: | | .... little bits and dust. They burn beautifully. |
Explode and nearly lift the lid off the range tho' if you don't let enough air thru to create flame rather than an accumulation of smokey gas . Quite scarey when you open the door of the range -- first smoke comes out then it ignites into a fireball ! I have had those flare out nearly 3 ft . Could be very bad for the ego if you value your beard or hair .
Coal dust is the worst . That goes off with a real thump !
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quarryman
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Do you think your range might have a slight ventilation problem...?
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blowin
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The ventilation system works ok . The exploding dust/gas is not an uncommon problem in these older style ranges . Perhaps it has been designed out of the newer or more up-market ones .
But back to the Q about the cracked turf . Does it really not burn as well but creates more smoke than exactly the same stuff which hasn't been left out in the frost ? I think the answer is yes , it is inferior to the extent of being almost unusable as a main fuel . Can anyone confirm or contradict that observation ? Or to put it another way there is a load of it just up the road . Does anyone want it ?
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