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Reboiler question

Started Nov 28

Dealing with the Fire Marshall
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Started this discussion. Last reply by Erik Weaver Nov 20.

mother earth 3" still

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What do you have to say about Dave's book "Alcohol Can Be A Gas"?

Great resource, tons of info, big dreams.

About Me:

Is there such a thing as an anti-establishment conservative?
That would be me.

I am located in:

Stanwood, WA

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At 2:19am on March 22, 2009, Ron Fisher said…: I have heard of it however can not get any tax preparer to figure it out...I am hoping to get time to do it myself however I am pretty sure you have to have your permit and be sett up for them to go for it...I may be wrong...

At 1:53am on March 22, 2009, Ron Fisher said…: Hi Wild Man

You asked a lot in your cattail comment on my page....I will just start with a couple issues...

Cattails will grow anywhere they get a little water or a lot...they do not need to be replanted because you will never get all the rhizomes dug up and they will just grow back into areas you harvest from the plants you did not harvest...i.e. harvest in strips no more than 4 or 5 feet wide and leave plants on both sides and they will grow back in...next year harvest the old ones you left last year...
this is just my advise there is no end to ways to do it and like I said you will have a hard time cleaning them out anyhow even if you harvest them all they will come back if you have not poisoned the ground...I have grown them in a bucket of water with no dirt at all just stagnant water sitting in a bucket, they did fine and filled in the bucket till it was packed full...when some would die the others would grow on them...you just have a hard time killing them they are evil...

I have not processed them for fuel yet...I am planning on trying later this fall as I do not have my permit yet...they make you finish your still and boiler before they will process your paperwork now...Peggy Korth has said any potato method will work fine with them...my small scale test have shown you have to find a way to process them clean no dirt...no rotten plant matter...and they have to be shredded down to pulp...I will share anything I lean as I move forward later this fall as for now I am in dark like most others...

The issue from my prospective with processing them is the cost of setting up for harvesting and processing...they are not easy to process like corn and there is no equipment or methods perfected that I can find...however they will put out much more than you think according to Dave Blume...Peggy Korth and Dave both say over 7500 gallons an acre...but like I said its not easy working with them...I have found no one doing it on any scale to consult so am just moving ahead with what I have and will share anything I learn as I go...I am trying to get a look at a machine a raspberry plant stock grower uses to harvest his vines in my area as I feel from what I have heard it may work for growing cattails with irrigation like potatoes...I will post anything I learn later...

At 8:50pm on February 16, 2009, Gerald Watts said…: Hey John:
Thank you for stopping to visit this evening you seem to have a lot of energy for this pursuit. I enjoyed our dialog very much. Sorry I could not let you in past the front entry, my wife is pretty insistent that the house be clean for visitors and I didn't tell her you would be coming today.
Found this page on Washington State incentives and it looks like most are good till 2015-16, "http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/progs/view_all.php/WA/0". I thought the bit on Alternative Fuel Loans and Grants was pretty cool, think I will have to call Mr.Moulton.
In Alcohol Can Be a Gas, page 143, it says, Corn is average at yield per acre but at the top for yield per ton if ya want to handle the least material. I think that's why I had wanted to use corn at least initially.
Would love to have you stop by again pretty much anytime. I will make a few calls and see about the price of corn, availability of waste sugar and find out some particulars about a grant or loan.
I looked at "http://e85machines.com/e85.htm"; cost is $1500. Is this the machine you were referring to for $1000 you thought? even at 1500 it might be better than me trying to find time to make one from scratch. I say do that for the next one maybe especially if I can get a grant or some such. There's a lot to be said for just getting started. Sometimes it's worth an investment to overcome the initial inertia!
Jerry Watts

At 11:53am on February 13, 2009, Erik Weaver said…: I've not done anything with cattails. Sorry, but I can' t offer any insights there. For me, I expect I'll try to find some cattlemen to deal with, and other farmers in the area. I live on a 2-acre plot just outside the city limits.

But by finding some ranchers and farmers I expect to become a go-between, taking grain from one, distilling it and improving it to dried distillers grain (DDR) and taking it to the other.

That is what I see as most likely, given my circumstance. This may change of course. I view all this as dynamic.

At 6:55pm on February 6, 2009, neuman said…: For sure. I'll get back to ya!

At 9:05pm on February 5, 2009, Gerald Watts said…: your in Stanwood yet work in Bellingham? You need your own gas pump! I would say stop by my farm any evening rather than mid-day cause I'm at work 7:30-3:30, 5 days a week... call me after 4 at 360-398-2198 and be prepared to explain just who the hey ya are cause I probably won't remember. As far as notes go... what notes? I have room to grow stuff and the ability to throw together some equipment but little money to work with.