Dutch Machine Turns Manure Into Fuel, Feed

Dutch Machine Turns Manure into Fuel, Feed MANURE HANDLING Equipment 9-3-33 Dutch farmers have found a new use for the manure in their barns and feedlots. With the help of a new machine, they turn it into briquettes that burn like firewood or they mix it with straw and feed it right back to livestock. Walt Wermerskirchen, Park Rapids, Minn., has begun marketing the innovative new machine in the U.S. and Canada. "You can also use it to compress straw, hay, paper, peat, compost and just about any other combustible material. If the material is too dry, the machine is designed to add water to bring it up to the optimum moisture content of about 30%." The machine is manufactured by Kusters Venlo Mfg. in Holland, a company that also makes manure burners specifically designed to burn compressed manure. One large poultry farm in Holland is almost totally energy independent thanks to manure burners that heat its broiler houses. Because manure that's got 50% or less moisture makes the best briquettes, poultry litter is ideal for compressing. Manure over 50% moisture can also be compressed if mixed first with straw, cornstalks, or other crop residue. Wermerskirchen says manure iseasy to use and burns hot. The only drawback to it is that it's got a high ash content of 17 to 19% so it requires an effective cleanout system. The briquetting machine uses a screw-type extractor to compress the manure under tremendous pressure. The round briquettes are extruded through metal dies which are available in sizes ranging from 1 to 2¢ in. in dia. Depending on the moisture content of the manure being compressed, it'll make more than 4 ton of briquettes per hour. Manure is simply dropped in the hopper at rear and the extruder screw takes it out automatically. Because of its simplicity, Wermerskirchen says the machine is easy to service. Power is provided by either a 3-hp. 3-phase electric motor or a 70 to 75 hp. tractor pto. Wermerskirchen says some farmers are interested in pelleting manure and bagging it up for sale in stores, the same way farmers and others on peat land now bag peat up for sale to people with wood stoves or burners. In the few months he's had the machine in the U.S., Wermerskirchen says many poultry growers and cattle feeders have expressed interest in compressed manure combined with grain or forage for use as feed. Many cattle feeders already feed manure and they feel that in briquette form it could become a more easily commercialized feed. The briquetting machine sells for $39,600. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Walter Wermerskirchen, Company, Niawa Star Route, Park Rapids, Minn. 56470 (ph 218 732-4180).

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