Milling Larch for Garden Retaining Wall

My brother, Jim, wanted to replace a collapsed retaining wall along one of his garden flower beds.  It needs to be 32' long and about 1' high (that 10 metres x 25cm for modern people!).  He thought of buying old railway sleepers, but @ around £20 plus delivery each that was going to cost almost £200.

So, I offered to make some up from larch, cheaper and more attractive.

Wood Gasification

This has to be the way to go!

Charcoal Update

Just a note to say that the last time I did a burn, the results were:

 100% charcoal, 

0% unburnt wood!

It takes around 3 hours in the drum and 2 1/2 hours in the retort.

The Charcoal Retort

Here's the story of how I made this charcoal retort and the results.

Logging Arch

James and I made a Logging Arch for getting larger tree trunks out of the woods to where they can be milled.  The trunk is secured to the chain, then as you drive off the chain is pulled up the diagonal pipe to lift the trunk clear of the ground; then it moves off, only dragging on the end.

Oil Drum Charcoal Burner - Part 2

Much better result this time, still a few "browns" but not nearly as many as the first time.

Oil Drum Charcoal Burner - Part 1

I got an old oil drum from the local garage to try my hand at charcoal making.