Log hollowing drill

The Problem

Habitat loss is one of the key problems endangering rare species. Humans regularly clear trees near infrastructure such as utilities, streets and homes, particularly in cities. Often, because of the proximity to infrastructure, these trees are cut into pieces that are too small to turn into building materials. Instead the wood is shredded and downcycled into wood chips for playground and mulch. This is occurring because unused wood can become fuel for fires, is viewed as unsightly by most humans, and no one has yet created a strategy to deal with this useful material. Because of these human activities, there is an extreme shortage of habitat that is usually made out of hollow logs. Instead of shredding the short logs cut down by utility and municipal workers and downcycling them into wood chips, I propose developing an auger drill capable of hollowing them out. Using this new technology, workers or volunteers working at these reduction plants will be able to mass produce hollow logs from scrap wood. These newly hollowed logs can then be distributed into nearby greenspaces, private lands and public lands, creating habitat for rare and endangered species. Each log becomes a pocket universe with it's own ecosystem. As the wood decays it attracts fungi and insects. These creatures support birds, reptiles and small rodents that eat them. In turn, these animals are eaten by larger birds, snakes, foxes and other predators. Additionally, the log itself becomes a home for life.

Our Proposal

I propose that humans develop a strategy for mass producing hollow logs from waste wood. I propose that the hollow logs mass produced in reduction plants be installed in nearby places in order to create habitats for birds, snakes, raccoons, foxes, squirrels, lizards, insects (bees!) and other creatures (particularly cavity nesting animals). If I win this competition, I intend to use the prototype money to purchase off the shelf drills and drill bits to discover if it is possible to mass produce hollow logs. I intend to tinker with hollowing strategies that will allow mass production of hollow logs from waste woods. I intend to deploy these logs in nature to see if life takes hold. Unlike artificial habitats (like fake logs made from PVC), the decay of the log itself drives is both the basis for the food chain and a habitable space. Also, they don't have negative externalities like PVC does. Hollow logs could be deployed in grasslands, forests, savannas, swamps and many other ecosystems to support a large variety of food webs and habitat needs. Hollow logs could be deployed in urban, suburban and rural areas. Hollow logs could be deployed in large tracts of public lands such as parks, natural areas or greenspaces, or deployed on small tracts of land such as traffic circles, backyards or ponds because they are a versatile solution that spans many ecosystems and bioregions. Hollow logs can be made out of virtually any wood feedstock anywhere trees are plentiful.

We Assume that...

1 logs can be hollowed out at reduced cost compared with prior art 2 logs can be made cheaply enough that they can be deployed on a massive scale 3 spaces without hollow logs exist, ready to be filled

Constraints to Overcome

Creating hollow logs with existing technology such as framing chisels and burning is time consuming and labor intensive. This means that each hollow log is prohibitively expensive. I aim to develop a log boring drill strategy that is capable of mass producing hollow logs from waste logs at an extremely reduced cost. By reducing the cost of each hollow it becomes economically viable to deploy them en mass in nature.

Current Work

I recently purchased an 18 inch ship auger drill bit. I intend to begin drilling small test logs when it arrives (using a power drill that I already own). In addition to helping me begin validation of hollowing techniques and concepts, I will be able to deploy these small hollowed out logs to see what wildlife begins to utilize them as habitat and try to begin assembling videos and still pictures to help explain what I am doing and why I am doing it.

Current Needs

If I had access to a funding source (such as conservation x prize prototyping fund) I could purchase much larger auger bits, more powerful drills, specialized jawhorses and further validate and test my log hollowing strategy using off the shelf equipment that is already in mass production and available to reduction plants.