Looking for Advice on Used (older) Indoor Wood Boilers

[DSSA]

I've been in the market for some time for a used wood boiler (basically, for the last 10 years since we moved to this property in early 2016).

Property is 10 acres, heavily wooded. at one point we gave away or mass-burned about 200 cords of wood when some old growth was sold off and the loggers left everything a mess. Even so, plenty of deadfall around, and should I ever run out, neighbors have plenty they'd be happy to get rid of if I cut/remove. House is a crappy-built (2x4 construction) 3600 sq/ft. (living space level) California Ranch style home with full basement. 30x60 RV Garage is located roughly 50 feet away (closest point-to-point distance) from the house. Two additional sheds on property (roughly single-car garage sized), and then another garage (roughly 40x80) about 175 yards from house. Work equipment consists of a Ram 3500 diesel (hauling) '74 Case 580C, and Kubota L2050DT w/ frontloader.

Me: Feeling older, paying for past transgressions (physically) in life, but still able-bodied and enjoy the work..decently versed in welding (TIG/MIG/Stick). Love learning new things. Self-taught mechanic that has worked on car in the performance realm since the late 90's. Have rewired most of the property, and ran new plumbing throughout the house (1 full bath, Kitchen, 1 3/4 bath, two 1/2 baths, laundry room).

With my limited knowledge in this realm, I've somewhat been drawn to Tarm units, as their longevity seems to be in high reputation. I've contacted a few sellers over the years, but have been jerked around by most (despite offering what they're asking, making myself available at their convenience, etc.--(I've learned to despise Marketplace and Craigslist). I'm currently speaking to a guy who has a 502 Tarm (Dual Fuel) circa 1981 according to the testing plate on it. He's stated that he's retired it from his 40x30 pole barn for a more efficient boiler, and is asking $900. He's located about 2 hours away, and has no means of loading it, so I'll be using my trailer winch/loading gates and some thick-wall piping to do my best to "act like an Egyptian". I like the idea of buying something cheaper, sticking it in the RV garage (avoiding homeowner's insurance issues with the house), and hope that it works well enough to not require MAJOR repairs, so that I can put it in service this winter in the RV garage, then trench (SUPER rocky property (boulders)) to the house next spring/summer once I confirm it works well, and get some more knowledge in boilers. I like that in the long-run, should we want to leave, we can have the oil boiler take over to keep everything going until we return and prevent freezing. The RV garage system can then be used a "heat dump" for the boiler down the road as well. I do plan to expand into stored heat once everything is working so that I can batch-burn, but "baby-steps".

My main questions: (As I'd like to start CHEAP on the initial investment to "dip my toes in the water".

---Anything specific I should look at on this boiler (known isssues)?

---What other brands, aside of Tarm typically have a long lifespan of the main components?

Any insight offered up to this newbie is highly appreciated!

Thank you.

 

[salecker]

Add storage to your list of things to do
Make sure you buy or build good underground lines

 

[DSSA]

Add storage to your list of things to do
Make sure you buy or build good underground lines

I mentioned storage in the above post.

Yep, I've read horror stories on people running "bargain" lines.

More interested in what to look for in used, older boilers right now. Without that, the rest is moot.

 

[salecker]

Missed the storage part when i saw heat dump. If you have storage you don't need the heat dump.
Sounds like you are knowledgeable to see any potential issues of the used unit.

 

[xshmoox]

I’m assuming you’re looking at that one in Medford actually looks In decent shape for its age. My buddy has one up passed pennsburg he decommissioned for an outdoor boiler he was getting small leaks inside the firebox so that’s the main thing to check is the condition of the metal in there. I mean if it were me I’d take advantage of the tax credit while it’s still there and order a polar gasser unit. Plus a lot of times I know places offer some 0% financing. Something to think about. I grew up in sellersville., down in Churchville now. Where about are you?

 

[DSSA]

I’m assuming you’re looking at that one in Medford actually looks In decent shape for its age. My buddy has one up passed pennsburg he decommissioned for an outdoor boiler he was getting small leaks inside the firebox so that’s the main thing to check is the condition of the metal in there. I mean if it were me I’d take advantage of the tax credit while it’s still there and order a polar gasser unit. Plus a lot of times I know places offer some 0% financing. Something to think about. I grew up in sellersville., down in Churchville now. Where about are you?

Yessir. That's the one. I was supposed to go look at it last weekend, but the guy has no means of loading it, and I wasn't about to try to inspect it and load it with pipes/plywood/winch in the rain. He's a little slow on the communication end, but I'm waiting for him to respond if he's available this weekend. Unfortunately, I have no real way of pressurizing it with water beforehand, so I'll just have to visually inspect it and take his word for it that it didn't have issues when he decommissioned it.

I'd love to look at new units, but this property already has me "house poor" at the moment, and it would be a hard-sell to the wife. I'm hoping to find an older one for the moment, get it up and running, then if it fails down the line, it would be an easier thing to get her on board with. The only thing I don't like about the gasser units is how picky they are with moisture content. We've got a lot of red oak up here that are seemingly sponges. We also have a ton of poplar, which is great when I want to kick off some coals in the crappy, small wood stove in the house, but not much else, and *some* beech, which so far has been my favorite. The ash trees are mostly gone or rotted now that they're basically killed off (which I'm sure you're well-versed in being in the area).

You'll probably know right where I am being from the area--we're right up past the peak on Tower Road.

 

[xshmoox]

You'll probably know right where I am being from the area--we're right up past the peak on Tower Road.

Yessir I grew up on Washington ave. But spent a lot of time up on schukraft at friends houses.

I also saw a Orlan gasser unit for sale on fb up in pennsburg it does not have much info but that could be a possibility as well.

 

[PassionForFire&Water]

I just started reading this post and kept reading.

Here are some basic questions:
What is the square footage you want to heat with this Tarm wood boiler?
How did you heat your property since 2016, when you bought it? oil? propane? wood stove?
How much oil or propane or wood did you use on average each winter

By the way, this Tarm is 2025-1981= around 44 years old .......

For what concerns your wife:
- she wants you out of the house as much as possible OR
- She wants you to spend more time with her
I can't gage which one it is right now ..... .

 

[DSSA]

Yessir I grew up on Washington ave. But spent a lot of time up on schukraft at friends houses.

I also saw a Orlan gasser unit for sale on fb up in pennsburg it does not have much info but that could be a possibility as well.

You are the best! I looked up that Orlan and was wondering why it never showed in any of my searches.

The guy with the Tarm once again "has plans", so I'm tiring of his lack of willingness to actually BE home long enough for me to drive two hours down there. I chased a guy in CT last year with similar results...not doing it again.

I'm heading over to look at that Orlan in about 20 minutes. Thanks again!

 

[DSSA]

I just started reading this post and kept reading.

Here are some basic questions:
What is the square footage you want to heat with this Tarm wood boiler?
How did you heat your property since 2016, when you bought it? oil? propane? wood stove?
How much oil or propane or wood did you use on average each winter

By the way, this Tarm is 2025-1981= around 44 years old .......

For what concerns your wife:
- she wants you out of the house as much as possible OR
- She wants you to spend more time with her
I can't gage which one it is right now ..... .

Would be heating the house (3600 sq/ft living space, with full basement), and the RV garage near the house (where the boiler will live), which is insulated and roughly 40x30.

Only concerns wife has is spending more money right now, with having a lot of other projects going on around here. I don't "idle" well, and at any time have about 10 different, large projects going on at all times, with a long list of backups should I ever find myself in need.

Right now, the house has a Trane heat pump that I've repaired/recharged a couple of times now (VERY slow leak somewhere), and oil boiler which also heats the DHW. Last year, I think we used about $3K in oil, and our electric bills are always in the $500 range.

We have a very small wood stove at one end of the house, and a fireplace (worthless) more towards the middle.

Both garages on the property are also currently heated by oil furnaces, which I don't use much.

 

[xshmoox]

You are the best! I looked up that Orlan and was wondering why it never showed in any of my searches.

The guy with the Tarm once again "has plans", so I'm tiring of his lack of willingness to actually BE home long enough for me to drive two hours down there. I chased a guy in CT last year with similar results...not doing it again.

I'm heading over to look at that Orlan in about 20 minutes. Thanks again!

Lol no problem. Only thing I’m not 100 percent sure of is parts availability for the Orlans, but I’m sure someone could chime in on that

 

[DSSA]

Lol no problem. Only thing I’m not 100 percent sure of is parts availability for the Orlans, but I’m sure someone could chime in on that

I'm somewhat seeing that.

I went over to look at it, and it's stuffed in a barn filled with equipment. They seem to think they got it in 2008 through 2010, and it's been sitting for the last 10 years or so, out in the barn. The door seals are looking pretty haggard, and they never cleaned it out after last use, so it's been sitting there with ash and creosote through it. I was trying to get a grasp on replacement parts that may be needed, but the only place that seems to have any listings for them is New Horizon Corp, and their website is down. I told the guy I would let him know one way or the other tomorrow, so I'm trying to do a fast deep-dive into these units.

Thanks again!

 

[xshmoox]

Hey was just browsing facebook found this wood gun boiler for sale. Needs a few main items but could be a solid issue for you. It’s in port royal pa and they are made in pa so it’s probably a solid option.

 

[xshmoox]

This also popped up as soon as I closed the other one. I know it’s a bit more but if you could get him down a bit on price that’s the outdoor gasser to have from what I’ve read.

 

[salecker]

I have an outdoor unit i installed in my boiler building, it's what was available and i wasn't 100% sure i would get the building finished before using the boiler.

 

[DSSA]

I ended up picking up the Eko 40 today. Nice people. They loaded it (lots of "effery", but we got it done, had I known they didn't have forks for their tractors, I would have taken a set), and I got it home.

I cleaned the burn box (upper and lower), and scraped the creosote off, *hopefully* enough to gauge condition of the interior walls and the nozzle. Ended up being 4-5 5-gallon buckets I pulled out, not counting everything I sucked out with one of my shop-vacs and blew out with leaf blowers. I look like a chimney sweep after a hard day.

I'm still figuring out the basics with this unit (the documentation for this unit isn't exactly a 'tutorial'..), but am hoping that it's decent enough as a starting point. Next steps are to get supplied to pressurize the water jacket from a hose to check for leaks, and then figure out how to get the back panel off and access/clean the turbulators--then on to install, which will be a long road.

That noted, I tried to clean it out well enough (and gently enough) to get some pictures and ask for those with much more knowledge than me to let me know if I bought a paperweight, have a long road of restoration ahead of me, or lucked out and made a halfway decent decision buying this.

I removed the refractory aspects from the lower chamber to take clean it and these pictures.

 

[DSSA]

Hey was just browsing facebook found this wood gun boiler for sale. Needs a few main items but could be a solid issue for you. It’s in port royal pa and they are made in pa so it’s probably a solid option.
View attachment 341086

I'm going to take a week or so to concentrate on the current boiler acquisition, but I still need an additional unit to heat the upper garage and shed (roughly 4000 sq/ft on the garage and 800-1000 shed). I was more looking for a wood *furnace* for these, but I appreciate the info and may change to another boiler (or even a stove), whichever presents itself an will work.

Much appreciated!

 

[DSSA]

So I'm poking around more on this this evening, and it seems that the RK2001U controller on this unit is beat. I was almost expecting it, and will take it off/apart and see if I can fix whatever is ailing it, but at this point, it won't even power up. It's a basic controller, with few functions from what I'm reading, and it seems like someone with more brains than I possess could program a cheap Raspberrry Pi with a couple of relays to do more than it actually does. That said, I'm not sure that these older units are worthy of someone's time to do such, and I'm happy to "K.I.S.S." it.


What is the controller-Du-jour for these units at this point?