Getting set for the Winter...

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Originally Posted by spudfan

Years ago it was cut by hand with a long spade type instrument called a "slane". It was like a long narrow spade. This had a piece on top for your foot to dig it in to the ground. The turf was the lifted out either on the slane or by some one working in tandem with the man cutting turf. I used to do this with my father in law, now deceased.
Technology took over. The peat is now dug out of the ground with an tracked excavator type machine, placed in a hopper type trailer pulled by a tractor and spread out of tubes on to flat ground. It is left to dry for a while then they all have to be stood up in little groups to dry. You then put the little groups into slightly bigger groups until they dry. It does take a lot of work.
If you look behind the red Land Rover behind it you will see the bog from where the turf was taken by hopper and then spread in the field.
In days gone by most people had their own section of bog to cut from. Later on some people with a lot of bog cut and spread the turf by hopper and then sold it. You bought so many "rows" or lengths of turf. It was up to you to work them i.e. get them dried and then transported home.
It is compressed vegetable material. Once removed it is not replaced.
Peat cutting and Turf cutting in Ireland - YouTube
Over-Exploitation of Peatlands for Peat - Irish Peatland Conservation CouncilIrish Peatland Conservation Council

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Is this from where we get the term "bog trotter"?

Mr Wiki says
Bog-trotter - Wikipedia

hi spud
Whats it like as a heat source, does it burn to coal like timber or do you end up with a pile of dirt
cheers
blaze

I never knew it as a derogatory term. My dear departed Father in Law sometimes referred to himself as a bog trotter and he wasn't the type to put himself down.

During last season's bushfires there was a peat fire about 15km from here that took weeks to extinguish.
Or I think took that long to burn itself out.
Ordinarily it wouldn't happen but drought plus fire.

Is it better than wood for burning? Just wondering why it is used? Not enough trees in Ireland? Here in NZ we plant trees for firewood, trees like gums, which are fast growing here, are great. I have hundreds of pines(radiata) trees on my place which I am burning my way through slowly.

It burns to ash, there is no residue left. As a heat source it will not be as long lasting as coal. The deeper the turf the darker it is which gives more heat. When cut by hand you would generally go three down and the bottom turf would generally be darker. Some places though shallow have dark or black turf which gives more heat. Turf cut with a machine gets the layers mixed up through it. It is clean to store and use. It does not spark.
It would be like wood in the sense that some wood would give a better heat than others' i.e. it's calorific content is higher. Not as commonly used now as in years gone buy. I used to cut it, work it and bring it home. Now I just buy it by the tractor load.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by spudfan

It burns to ash, there is no residue left. As a heat source it will not be as long lasting as coal. The deeper the turf the darker it is which gives more heat. When cut by hand you would generally go three down and the bottom turf would generally be darker. Some places though shallow have dark or black turf which gives more heat. Turf cut with a machine gets the layers mixed up through it. It is clean to store and use. It does not spark.
It would be like wood in the sense that some wood would give a better heat than others' i.e. it's calorific content is higher. Not as commonly used now as in years gone buy. I used to cut it, work it and bring it home. Now I just buy it by the tractor load.

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We do get hill fires over here and they are hard to put out. Here is an unusual situation. There is an WW2 aircraft crash site up in the hills by the coast. The ground and vegetation burned everywhere except in the vicinity of the crash site. There is a simple cross and placque there as a memorial. The ground around the site is no different to the ground around it but it did not burn.

Here it is in action..Most agreeable after the other one.[smilebigeye]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by spudfan

We do get hill fires over here and they are hard to put out. Here is an unusual situation. There is an WW2 aircraft crash site up in the hills by the coast. The ground and vegetation burned everywhere except in the vicinity of the crash site. There is a simple cross and placque there as a memorial. The ground around the site is no different to the ground around it but it did not burn.

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could this be because the ground around the plane was already burned when it crashed ?