Tree Bogs

[Andy M]

Keeping the urine separate is the most important thing.
e.g. http://www.freerangedesigns.co.uk/index ... oilet.html

[oldclaypaws]

What a cultured discussion. £39 for a device to separate liquid human waste- surely a proven case of 'taking the p*ss' ??

I've a more simple solution; unzip fly and chose your tree. (Not so easy for the ladies though). The scent of human wee helps keep deer off your coppice shoots, so I have been known in the appropriate season to 'protect' my coppice shoots with a liberal spraying of home made deer repellent, usually Cabernet-Sauvignon scented. I have however declined Mrs Paws rather keen request to 'save' my repellant when dispensed in the homestead in a receptacle, then apply it to the boundaries of the property to discourage Mr Fox from trying to eat 'the girls', aka our ducks and chickens.

Animals have a far better sense of smell than us, and sure the scent of (mainly) two large hunting dogs and myself from daily visits are the reason we don't seem to have a deer issue, despite the surrounding woods being full of them. It doesnt seem to deter rabbits, someone has been nibbling my wood sedge, but isnt tall enough to go for my new cherry sapling.

Human wee was a valuable resource in the past, and collected in towns daily. It was used mainly as a source of potassium nitrate or 'saltpetre' for making gunpowder, and as a 'mordant' to fix dyes when colouring cloth. I believe tweed is still coloured using this method, and a wet tweed jacket can give off a rather musty fragrance. Didn't seem to put off Mrs Paws though, I got married wearing one, although it was a fine dry day.
The surname 'Walker' comes from the profession of walking up and down in tweed dying vats, trampling on the cloth (honest!), so if your name is Walker you might have found trouble getting an appointment with a chiropodist.

Urine is also good for breaking down vegetation, urea is the main accelerant in 'garden compost accelerants', so a 'sprinkle' on brash heaps might help them to break down. (Remember to use a ladder if its a dead hedge)

Urea is also a common ingredient in tree stump removers, so perhaps a personal regular application might help erode one? Be interested to hear if anyone has success with this method, although I quite like to keep mine for sitting on.

[Wendelspanswick]

Hi,
We built a tree bog a few years ago and it's been fab.
There's a picture of it on page 7 in the July 2013 newsletter, on this site.
No smells or flies.
We wanted 'light & airy'.
The top part has hessian walls with some split wood cladding - to stop you falling out.
The bottom compartment needs chicken wire to exclude larger animals and needs to allow aerobic decomposition.
It started as 6 straw bales arranged to allow any deposits to hit the ground in centre. The straw just acts as a curtain, so you can't see anything. A feral cow and calf spent 6 months destroying it - to try to eat straw. I have now clad the bottom with wood - to stop you seeing anything and keeps large (400kg) animals out. Any deposits now hit the residual straw - moved by cows and get sprinkled with sawdust. Absolutely no smell. The main thing is to try to minimise amount of urine, keep it dry.
It doesn't need the straw, but I'm happy to leave it rather than try to get it out.
I was discussing it with a man at the 'Centre for alternative technology' who feels it is way too over engineered for essentially 1 family and friends. He felt it would be fine for a permanent campsite, in daily use.
The kids frequently play in it, as a den.
Cheers.

Does your Treebog have a method of urine seperation Dave?
To be honest I wasn't going to bother with "taking the p1ss" elsewhere as I can pee against a tree, the Treebog will only be used infrequently, mainly for the comfort of female visitors to the woods.
We are planning to have a May Day celebration though, with about 40 guests max with some wild camping overnight. I might rig up a length of gutter from the front of the Treebog seat (as apparently males and females pee forward) and pipe it to a straw bale dug into the ground a few meters away just for the party.

[Dexter's Shed]

god, it's a mine of information here
£39 for that, is taking the pee, a plastic 6 pint milk bottle turned upside down with the bottom cut off, would give you the same device
an alternative for the ladies, more so if you spend lots of time at the woods, is this handy device, being a "biker" family, it's no fun for the ladies wriggling out of a one set leathers when the call of nature arises, thus

http://youtu.be/poZ0ecYx3Ns

with this, the ladies can enjoy drawing in the snow like us guys do

[Andy M]

Yes, it is expensive! BUT if you know anything about the anatomy and physiology of the human pelvis and perineal muscles, then you will realise that when squatting, it is easy for P & S to get mixed up!

[Wendelspanswick]

I snuck off to the woods this afternoon and more progress was made on the Treebog.



Another 2 lengths of 3 1/2 by 1 1/2 softwood was used bringing the total up to 6 lengths.

[davetb]

Does your Treebog have a method of urine seperation Dave?
To be honest I wasn't going to bother with "taking the p1ss" elsewhere as I can pee against a tree, the Treebog will only be used infrequently, mainly for the comfort of female visitors to the woods.
We are planning to have a May Day celebration though, with about 40 guests max with some wild camping overnight. I might rig up a length of gutter from the front of the Treebog seat (as apparently males and females pee forward) and pipe it to a straw bale dug into the ground a few meters away just for the party.

Hi, sorry I missed the question.
There is no urine separation.
In practice, males and some females wee in a bush and some females use the loo.
So far it has been fine.
It only has a handful of people use it a few times a month.
I do have a loo seat with a urine separator in a storage trailer in the woods but decided not to use it - there appeared to be no need. It's plastic and not as comfortable as the wooden seat from B & Q.
Dave

[davetb]

Here's a photo of the loo, with the door open. The yellow plastic bin contains sawdust to put in loo, to make it look more aesthetic. There is a large 'squirrel buster' bird feeder hanging up. It has been fantastic, it lasts about 10 days and you can watch the birds, while using the loo.

[Woodsmith]

Nice job davetb particularly like the use of a tree as support

[davetb]

Thank you.
It's actually 4 trees as support.
Three are ash, and have been pollarded at roof height.
The fourth is silver birch and I don't think they pollard well. I left it at full height.
There are 4 old 8 foot fence posts attached to the trees to form the base of the floor.
It is roughly square.
I hate trying to bang in fence posts.
It has been up a few years and is doing well.