Harmon SF 260 or Attack FD 42

[dperg]

I have been researching wood/coal boilers and have looked @ the Harmon SF 260 ad the Attack FD 42. Has anyone had experiance with either.
I would be using both fuels depending on availibility. Any comments would be helpfull

 

[ssupercoolss]

harman stands for order and wait. and wait, and wait. i had one on order for months, and they kept pushing my date back. can you tell i dont like harman any more? i guess in the end it depends on when you would like to have this item in your house. i went with a newyorker boiler instead. basic wood burning boiler, from a company that makes both oil and wood boilers.

 

[dperg]

Supposedly a local retailer will have one next week.

 

[ssupercoolss]

wow. i'm impressed. its probably most likely due to the fact there were so many people jumping ship that some have become available. i ordered mine in june, and the last date they gave me was Dec 30.

 

[coalkirk]

With unprecented demand, Harman was caught flat footed like most alternative boiler manufacturers. They are worth waiting for however. I've been using a Harman VF3000 coal boiler for 5 years. Love it. It won't burn wood though.

 

[Hydronics]

As much as we need to support American products, I would advise getting one of the cast iron European boilers -Attack, Buderus, Dakon. Cast iron is superior to carbon plate steel with respect to durability. You can also burn wood in them.

 

[elmer]

I have an FD 42. Set your alarm at night if you want to be warm in the morning very short burn time with wood. Coal last longer but doesn't seem to put out the btu's so thats really only good when its warmer out. This boiler replaced a Royall (Deepwood) which was just worn out.The heat exchanger on the FD hangs down pretty low in the fire box hindering loading of wood so you need to split your wood all sizes to plug it full. I'm not saying it's a bad boiler it's just not the right fit for me. I won't have mine much longer.

 

[dperg]

Did you get the shaker grates for coal? How many sq ft are you heating? I can't tell from the pictures on line but can you load wood from the middle access were an burner would go?

 

[elmer]

Yes I have shaker grates. 3000 sq.ft. No I don't load it from there. It would mean you would have to pry the wood up into the fire box.

 

[dperg]

I have about the same SQ FT. I really appreciate the feedback might have saves me from a bad experiance. Have you started looking into a replacement? I'm supposed to check out the Harmon sf230 this week.
I was considering gasification but my wood supply is not guaranteed.

 

[elmer]

SF boilers look good to me. I'm going AHS. My last plate boiler was made in the 70's I replaced it 3 years ago. Whats the price on FD 42 vs Harmon ?

 

[dperg]

About the same price

 

[Hydronics]

Elmerd,
You've decided on an AHS Woodgun?

 

[sat1963]

We have a Harmon SF 360 for 3 years and it has worked out well. I burn coal during January and February due to the longer burn times. We burn hard and soft wood cut from our property during the other months. I am interested if anyone has found what the ideal anthracite coal size is for the Harman. We are burning stove coal this year, last year was nut. I have burned some pea coal as of late but seems a bit small for the grates. Any comments? Thanks