Tucker Brooks

This is an old post, but I'm hoping to revive it with some new information. This is a video by Paul Stamets that he made in 2021. Apparently, patents have expired, and there's a possibility that someone could be producing it commercially, but he briefly touches on how to do it yourself.

https://youtu.be/MG4eMElSIFY?si=-VRrrnsGhiOiiPZt

I have ZERO education in fungi, but I'm curious if anyone here has more information? I'm getting desperate for some kind of nontoxic help in dealing with fire ants. I had a wood chip pile that these little beasts had colonized, and I didn't know it, so when I took a bucketload with my tractor and dumped it in our garden for mulch, I unwittingly dumped a massive colony along with it and now I can't even walk in that area of our garden without being attacked by the little buggers.

"The holes in the bottom are so the air flows past the wood, as Mike was saying, and burns the gases off of the wood as it is heated.  When the gases are burned off in the TLUD, it's time to quench the fire, which blows up the char more and activates it."

Ok, is it necessary to quench the barrel, or can I just let it start until the bonfire burns out?

John Suavecito wrote:To clarify, or for those too lazy to go back in the thread and see my link,
I make a TLUD, with a chimney, so the air flows through the barrel and up through the chimney.  It's a very different method than burning in a trench or on the ground.
John S
PDX OR

Too lazy to drill holes, but I did watch the video. 😁

I'm interested in learning about the science behind it, such as why the holes are drilled where they are and if it's even really necessary. I'm the crazy guy that generally likes to tinker with designs because I'm a fan of learning what happens. I'll try just using the closed barrel and see what happens.

One other question though, would wood chips be too densely packed for this to work well? I have literal TONS of wood chips.

Hi all, I want to give this a try but I know very little about it. I have a large burn pile to do in the near future, and a 55g drum with locking lid. Can I just fill it up with sticks and toss it on the pile, or do I need to make holes in the barrel? Also, what would be a good source of information on how the science of this works?