Strongly thinking about buying a Wood Gun

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.
avc8130 said:
Scott,

The price of the WG is high. However, all of the components are of high quality. Honeywell, Dayton, Riello, etc. The commercial components chosen are all industry standard for their high quality. The boiler is SS, so that inherently costs more. They went SS because the boiler condenses in the wood chamber during periods of inactivity. No way around that. US labor in PA certainly doesn't help their cost either. Just from a weight perspective, the WG weighs in at 1000+ lbs for the smallest models. Most other manufacturer's boilers weigh 400-600. More weight=more cost. I'm not saying it's better, just more expensive for reasons.

With that, when I priced my WG I could have had an E100 in SS for ~$7k. Most of the other boilers I priced of similar size weren't 50% cheaper, 10-15% was more like it.

ac
Click to expand...
I was paying $4 gal for oil @ 1200 gals last year and my house was cold. I bought the E140 with auto oil for just over $11K. Less than 3 year pay back and I expect to get 20 years out of it. Easy math for me on ROI
 
Fred61-

My flue is 6" and about 20' tall as well, but (after looking at the EKO data) I think I would need an EKO 40 to cover my BTU needs. You are running an EKO 25, according to your signature. Thank you for the offer of a picture, but I think I would need to hear from an EKO 40 user who has necked the flue down to 6 inches.

Thanks,
Scott
 
avc8130 said:
Scott,

The price of the WG is high. However, all of the components are of high quality. Honeywell, Dayton, Riello, etc. The commercial components chosen are all industry standard for their high quality. The boiler is SS, so that inherently costs more. They went SS because the boiler condenses in the wood chamber during periods of inactivity. No way around that. US labor in PA certainly doesn't help their cost either. Just from a weight perspective, the WG weighs in at 1000+ lbs for the smallest models. Most other manufacturer's boilers weigh 400-600. More weight=more cost. I'm not saying it's better, just more expensive for reasons.

With that, when I priced my WG I could have had an E100 in SS for ~$7k. Most of the other boilers I priced of similar size weren't 50% cheaper, 10-15% was more like it.

ac
Click to expand...
Never thought about buying boilers by the pound. I know my EKO weighed too doggone much but if you look ad it on a per pound basis, I got a good deal. I think Mark said it weighed somewhere between 1200 and1500 pounds.
I would have bought the Biomass if they had offered a smaller unit. I, however, cannot complain about the EKO. 5 years and no problems.
 
Fred61 said:
Never thought about buying boilers by the pound. I know my EKO weighed too doggone much but if you look ad it on a per pound basis, I got a good deal. I think Mark said it weighed somewhere between 1200 and1500 pounds.
I would have bought the Biomass if they had offered a smaller unit. I, however, cannot complain about the EKO. 5 years and no problems.
Click to expand...

Like I said, I wasn't saying heavier was better...
 
Scotts Bum Wine said:
Fred61-

My flue is 6" and about 20' tall as well, but (after looking at the EKO data) I think I would need an EKO 40 to cover my BTU needs. You are running an EKO 25, according to your signature. Thank you for the offer of a picture, but I think I would need to hear from an EKO 40 user who has necked the flue down to 6 inches.

Thanks,
Scott
Click to expand...
The nozzles are all the same size on the EKOs. The 25 and the 40 each have a single nozzle so exhaust should be about the same, The difference is the wood capacity and the area of the heat exchanger tubes. I'm no expert but based on the way my stack draws I'm pretty confident that it could handle the 40.
 
ac-

Yes, I did notice the weight differential between a Wood Gun and some of the other brands. Believe me when I tell you that I am well aware of the cost of steel and labor in the US. I have been building movable bridges in NY State for 30 years. Often times solid construction equates to longevity --- not always, but it can be a good indicator. Industry standard controls, too, are a good gauge of how long a machine will last and it's serviceability down the road.
Also, I am not afraid to spend the long-buck on an item that promises to give me many years of use. I have done so with cars, trucks, lawnmowers, and even chainsaws. My wife says I have expensive tastes in machines, but I research and find out what lasts. So far the Wood Gun folks seem to be boasting of the longest lasting wood gasification boilers.
If I were to buy a boiler that leaks some smoke --- for me --- that is no big issue. The boiler will be going in my barn, where I do a lot of welding and have a large exhaust fan.

Scott
 
Scotts Bum Wine said:
ac-

Yes, I did notice the weight differential between a Wood Gun and some of the other brands. Believe me when I tell you that I am well aware of the cost of steel and labor in the US. I have been building movable bridges in NY State for 30 years. Often times solid construction equates to longevity --- not always, but it can be a good indicator. Industry standard controls, too, are a good gauge of how long a machine will last and it's serviceability down the road.
Also, I am not afraid to spend the long-buck on an item that promises to give me many years of use. I have done so with cars, trucks, lawnmowers, and even chainsaws. My wife says I have expensive tastes in machines, but I research and find out what lasts. So far the Wood Gun folks seem to be boasting of the longest lasting wood gasification boilers.
If I were to buy a boiler that leaks some smoke --- for me --- that is no big issue. The boiler will be going in my barn, where I do a lot of welding and have a large exhaust fan.

Scott
Click to expand...
FYI: I sent my Wood Gun to the junkyard after 8.5 years.

Anyhow L:eek::eek:k!!! Burning like hell----------No smoke!

EKO firebox 002 (760 x 507) resized.jpg
 
A couple more pics

EKO firebox 003 (760 x 507) resized.jpgEKO firebox 004 (760 x 507)resized.jpg
 
The WG has a large refractory that contributes to its weight.
 
Fred61-

That does look nice and smoke free. Do you find that your EKO is fussy about wood size and shape?
 
Based on those pics from Fred I'd say I split my wood to the same size. About what an average woodstove would take. As long as the wood is dry you can go a little bigger or smaller. Not too picky. I just load the smallest splits first and the bigger ones on top
 
Fred,

That EKO have a bypass? That is one improvement the WG could certainly benefit from, but I don't know how they could do it with the current swirl chamber + cyclone design. With the smoke hood the smoke is sent outside, but it requires separate ducting and certainly isn't as convenient to install as a boiler with the bypass.

ac
 
avc8130 said:
Exactly, and it was worth more in scrap than a lighter weight boiler would have been ;lol
Click to expand...
I should get a price on scrap refractory cement. I just gave it to the scrap guy. He came and picked it up with one of those slide back auto flatbeds and winched it on.
I do regret one thing. In my celebration to be free of that weight I neglected to salvage the motors, controls and domestic coil.
 
avc8130 said:
Fred,

That EKO have a bypass? That is one improvement the WG could certainly benefit from, but I don't know how they could do it with the current swirl chamber + cyclone design. With the smoke hood the smoke is sent outside, but it requires separate ducting and certainly isn't as convenient to install as a boiler with the bypass.

ac
Click to expand...
Being forced draft, it is necessary to have a bypass. With the air velocity in the Wood Gun, can you imagine it without a cyclone. You wouldn't have any ashes to dump.
I don't shut off my draft fan when I open the Eko.
 
Scotts Bum Wine said:
Fred61-

That does look nice and smoke free. Do you find that your EKO is fussy about wood size and shape?
Click to expand...
I would say that most if not all gassers are happier with smaller splits. That load you saw in the photos would have been the smallest splits on the wood cart since It was the first few pieces I load when starting a new fire. The next three or four splits I added were larger.
Any gasser needs alot of surface in order to maintain a good coal bed so it will continue to gas. If the wood is too large or too wet your coal bed will burn away before the wood load produces more to replace it. Thats when you get bridging
 
Fred-
You and Mike both talked about loading your boilers with splits. Does the wood have to be split, or can similar diameter limb wood be used?
 
Scotts Bum Wine said:
Fred-
You and Mike both talked about loading your boilers with splits. Does the wood have to be split, or can similar diameter limb wood be used?
Click to expand...
You can use "rounds" but you'll soon learn that wood that is not split can take three years to bring the moisture to the correct level for a gasser. When I am stacking rounds, I run the tip of the chain saw down the length of the piece making a cut the depth of the bark. this makes a huge difference in drying time. Some wood with more waterproof bark such as birch or cherry can even rot inside of it's own bark before it dries if it doesn't get good air flow.
 
[quote="Fred61, post: 1401040, member: 8462"In my celebration to be free of that weight I neglected to salvage the motors, controls and domestic coil.[/quote]

Yup, that was dumb. You could use them when your controller overheats and fails.

Are you missing a cover over the fan?
 
Fred61 said:
Being forced draft, it is necessary to have a bypass. With the air velocity in the Wood Gun, can you imagine it without a cyclone. You wouldn't have any ashes to dump.
I don't shut off my draft fan when I open the Eko.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that is consistent with the Vedo 37 I checked out under operation. Nice design that looks very similar in function to the EKO, but MUCH easier to clean.

ac
 
Fred-

Good tip about slitting the bark on limb wood. I have had a lot of cherry rot inside it's bark, as I am in orchard country here. Most of the time I don't even bother with it, other than for smoking meat.
 
avc8130 said:
[quote="Fred61, post: 1401040, member: 8462"In my celebration to be free of that weight I neglected to salvage the motors, controls and domestic coil.
Click to expand...

Yup, that was dumb. You could use them when your controller overheats and fails.

Are you missing a cover over the fan?[/quote]
I can run my boiler without the controller since I use a solar controller which gave me more control like differential temp between boiler and storage and better temperature spread. My controller is basically an off--on switch.
I just removed the cover a couple weeks ago because I'm into some 4 year old wood which measures about 9 to10 percent moisture. When the fire gets real hot it burns so fast that I was getting a Wooosh every 10 seconds or so. I'm starting the fire and when it gets going real well I've been closing the air way down to slow down the burn.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

A
Help! If you know anything about Heatsource Wood Boiler
Replies
0
Views
149
The Boiler Room - Wood Boilers and Furnaces
AcrossTheHoller
A
S
For Sale WOOD GUN E100 Stainless Steel Boiler FOR SALE
Replies
0
Views
162
Classifieds for Sale/ Wanted, etc.
Scott7
S
2
Please help identify old wood furnace
Replies
11
Views
920
The Boiler Room - Wood Boilers and Furnaces
Wood1Dennis
Wood1Dennis
T
Thinking about upgrading... Current equivalent of a Resolute Acclaim?
Replies
10
Views
424
Vermont Castings
Toolslinger
T
T
Wood/Electric Furnace
Replies
1
Views
594
The Boiler Room - Wood Boilers and Furnaces
Wood1Dennis
Wood1Dennis
Top Bottom
Back