My first post!...this site looks great its time for me to go with a wood supplement system. I have ten acres of mostly red oak and lp now costs too much. A few questions, is there a affordable system that i could put in my barn that is about 100 feet from the house that would be less than an outdoor model?...i looked at the seton for 7k and wondered why as the outdoor ones seem to go for around 5k. Second question, i have been looking around the web for this with no luck....I was to talking to a coworker about my need and he mentioned that his neighbors where making a furnace by digging a hole in the ground, putting a 500 gal lp tank full of water in it, putting minimal structural elements around it, adding chimney and fill chute and then creating mound over the top of it. I asked him how they would clean out the ash and he didn't know. Does anyone have knowledge about creating this poor mans wood boiler type of system?
newbie - Simple Underground wood burning system - low cost barn boiler
- Thread starter redoakfarm
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I'm missing something here! And since 70+ people have seen this and not replied, I assume it's not just me? 
That would be a poor mans system for sure, can you build something yourself sure but can you do it and make it safe and will it cost a ton in fixing all the problems. Might be better to just buy a system that works. Big factor is how much are you willing to spend on this?? Price will guide the answers you receive.
WOW LED from China who would have thought?????
WOW LED from China who would have thought?????
Eric Johnson
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I deleted the Chinese LED guy. Talk about OT spam!
The boiler in a hole concept sounds pretty sketchy to me. I'm a pretty cheap guy, but that takes the cake.
You could buy a used OWB if you want to keep costs to a minimum. Of course, there's no guarantees with used boilers, but there may be some good used ones available from people who have either upgraded to a gasifier or been forced by the neighbors or local regulations to get rid their smoke dragon.
My general rule is that if price is your prime consideration and you have unlimited firewood, no concerns about smoke and don't mind cutting and burning a lot of wood every year, then an OWB might be just the ticket.
The boiler in a hole concept sounds pretty sketchy to me. I'm a pretty cheap guy, but that takes the cake.
You could buy a used OWB if you want to keep costs to a minimum. Of course, there's no guarantees with used boilers, but there may be some good used ones available from people who have either upgraded to a gasifier or been forced by the neighbors or local regulations to get rid their smoke dragon.
My general rule is that if price is your prime consideration and you have unlimited firewood, no concerns about smoke and don't mind cutting and burning a lot of wood every year, then an OWB might be just the ticket.
Thanks Eric, i will surely weigh all the options and costs... I too am a professed cheapskate. I did talk more with my coworker today and he told me they had poured a slab, put beams down and then sat the water tank on top of it he invited me out to take a peek and i think i might take the camera out and snap a few shots. He seemed to think that it was a kind of legendary farmers practical solution like you might find in a farm magazine. Of course they have extensive equipment needed to undertake such a project and i don't. If i do look at it i will try to post some pics here.
I do have a large currently unheated barn and was looking for a boiler only type thing that could be put in there without any fire hazard concerns. This site is so extensive, i started looking at the gasify systems but ended up in thread where the user was not happy with the output, i think it was a econo burn and he seemed to be keying in on the fact that without large storage capacity the system may not give the greatest results.
I also have an old Kalamazoo stove co. brand wood burning add on system that has not been used in years and seems to trip the breaker when i try to fire it up. i need to look at it more as well. it has a humidifier attachment on it like you find on a normal furnace, but i don't think it uses a boiler. it is designed to supplement an existing forced air system. The model is 1902-8 it was mfd in 1980. it looks a lot like this one here....http://jxn.craigslist.org/for/725580905.html I wonder if it could be retrofitted to be a boiler system?
I do have a large currently unheated barn and was looking for a boiler only type thing that could be put in there without any fire hazard concerns. This site is so extensive, i started looking at the gasify systems but ended up in thread where the user was not happy with the output, i think it was a econo burn and he seemed to be keying in on the fact that without large storage capacity the system may not give the greatest results.
I also have an old Kalamazoo stove co. brand wood burning add on system that has not been used in years and seems to trip the breaker when i try to fire it up. i need to look at it more as well. it has a humidifier attachment on it like you find on a normal furnace, but i don't think it uses a boiler. it is designed to supplement an existing forced air system. The model is 1902-8 it was mfd in 1980. it looks a lot like this one here....http://jxn.craigslist.org/for/725580905.html I wonder if it could be retrofitted to be a boiler system?
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