Cut peat by stripping 10-20 cm of living turf and setting it aside, opening a vertical bank 60-100 cm high, cutting blocks of about 30 x 10 x 10 cm layer by layer, throwing each to dry, and stopping 10-20 cm above the mineral base. A block of that size is 3 litres, so 5,000-8,000 blocks means cutting 15-24 m³ of bog.
Part of Peat Harvesting
The sequence for hand-cutting peat blocks and why consistent size matters.
Uniform Blocks Dry Evenly
The parent article says consistency matters more than exact dimensions. A thick block stays wet in the middle after the outside has crusted, and a thin one dries fast. If sizes are mixed, the drying stage has to be managed block by block.
Method
Step 1: Strip the turf. Remove the top 10-20 cm of living vegetation and set it aside, to be replaced after harvesting so the surface can regrow (parent).
Step 2: Open a bank. Cut a vertical face to work from, 60-100 cm high. Never undercut it.
Step 3: Cut blocks. About 30 x 10 x 10 cm (length × width × depth). Cut one layer along the bank face, then step down to the next.
Step 4: Toss to dry. Throw each block onto the adjacent ground, which starts the drying (Drying & Curing).
Step 5: Work systematically. One direction, one layer, no isolated pillars.
Step 6: Stop above the mineral base. Leave 10-20 cm of peat over the clay or gravel, which allows regeneration (parent).
Worked Example: Block Volume And A Household’s Cut
Inputs: block 30 × 10 × 10 cm; household need 5,000-8,000 blocks (parent).
- Block volume = 30 × 10 × 10 = 3,000 cm³ = 3 litres.
- Volume cut = 5,000 × 3 L = 15,000 L = 15 m³, to 8,000 × 3 L = 24,000 L = 24 m³.
- Blocks from a bank slice: a bank 1 m high and 1 m long cut 0.3 m deep is 0.3 m³ = 300 L, which is 100 blocks.
Blocks shrink as they dry, so what you carry home is a fraction of what you cut. The shrinkage is not given by the parent article, so weigh and measure a sample from your own bog.
Common Mistakes
- Cutting blocks of different thicknesses. They will not dry together.
- Throwing blocks into a pool. Toss them where water drains away.
- Cutting down to the clay. The base is left to allow regeneration.
Safety
The bank face and the cut bottom
Keep the face to the 60-100 cm of the working height, below the 1.2 m threshold at which excavation needs support (Excavation), and never cut an overhang or stand below an unsupported lip. Water pools at the bottom of the cut; do not work in a flooded cut.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Bank Management — planning the cuts across years
- Combine with: Footing & Stacking Stages — what happens to the blocks