I didn't realize the larger units had the fan in the back...nice! That would definitely make a difference on loading...can just keep pushing stuff in towards that back. The uglies aren't that bad, I do still like cleaning em up cuz they do burn and they do produce heat...lol 👍🍻
Thanks Dan, I think the fan is on the back in this one because it used to be a pellet burner and was converted. I was getting ready to go out and shoot this video when your video popped up about the boiler wood chunks so I had to mention it lol. I will say though, it is much nicer to fill the stove using nice sized splits vs the uglies.
Hey Heath. I have a Wood Master 434. I like burning nasty chunks too! When I bought it the guy told me to burn the junk on the weekends when I'm home and use better wood during the week. He called the junk wood weekend wood. Glad to see your outdoor wood burner!
I would be a little nervous about burning unseasoned wood in that stove because of having the tubes that are in it. Wet wood is going to plug them them up really fast. I would have never considered a stove like that unless you got it for just about nothing. I can burn just about any kind of wood with any moisture content in my Hardy outside stove. Also you never have to worry about acid buildup in the water because it is 100 percent stainless steel. Hopefully your stove works out for you without too much maintenance. My Hardy has been almost maintenance free over the years. All I have done to it in the last 23 years has been 1 pump, 1 injection fan and 1 set of grates. I'm hopping to get another 20 year out of it. Take care my friend. Logger Al
Heath. At about seven minutes into your video you are working on cleaning the firebox. You refer to the " turbulators" as cleaners, which they are not. Their function is to make flue gases swirl in order to get an even heat distribution along the firetubes. To clean the firetubes, you must remove the turbulators and brush the firetube internals with the appropriate size tube cleaner ( a metal brush). This will greatly improve the heat transfer from the flue gases to the metal and finally onto the waterside of the firetube, thus saving you firewood and also dropping your chimney temperature.
Heath. The guy that installed your unit should be made aware that he isn't giving his customers proper cleaning istructions. Either he forgot to relay " best practice" on fire tube cleaning or he just didn't know. I have been a Power Engineer for three decades and have dealt with small residential boiler unit to some of the biggest multi fuel fired units made . I would not lead you astray. Invest in a brush and rod, notice the difference in heat recovery per cord of wood and pass on you new found wisdom.Cheers Heath.@@hardworkingmanoutdoors
hi there looking good . at this point i have read all the comments . most were good , on the wood you put in the fire box , the nicer ,cleaner ,dryer etc , makes everything down the line better ,, crap in crap out , and i do burn a lot of crap but everything goes better when i dont , less ashes, more heat, less fly ash in the tubes less creasoad , crap wood makes more smoke , wet or green makes more steam , but it all makes heat , best to all john , see you at Dans
The central boiler we have is fussy it only wants supper dry wood but that’s probably because it’s a gasifier . Knowing what I know now I’d rather have one like yours that burns anything green dry big or small but on a positive note I only have to fill ours about every day an a half . We might try running it this summer to heat the water . Thinking a hot tub riged up would be our next thing to try with it .
If it weren’t for “boilers” I’d be screwed. I don’t have a place for my “scrap” wood so luckily I got “boiler” wood peeps. I repurpose my scrap wood and turn it into $$$. Also, when I come across a little too punky tree I’ll cut it up and sell it for “boiler” wood… Next, you need to put up a PV system to run the electric on your “boiler”!!!
Heath I have a 2003 at 1 house and a 2006 at another they both central boiler with no fans no tubes 1 door in n out both original everything n yes I disagree with what Dan does n I've told him but he going keep wasting good wood I sell the good n boiler the crap punky, pallets, 4 ft limb wood, trusses just no trash past cardboard.
You don't have to have 2 thermostats you could just put in a Aquastat that way when your home calls for heat it just turns the blower on but if it reads your line isn't hot enough it will kick the furnace on
I burn whatever is combustible. If I have it and it is not rainsoaked at the time, it goes in the boiler. I have been using some fairly punky maple from gigantic rounds sitting around for a couple of years. I went ahead and split them and use them for daytime fires since I'm always around to refill if necessary. Green wood gets mixed in with well seasoned wood and turns into ashes along with the dry wood. Of course, I don't fill the fire box with all green wood. Uglies go in during the daytime too. Can't stack them efficiently but don't need to for daytime fires. Though I cut my own firewood, I don't consider it free. It has a lot of work invested in it. So, it all gets burned, pretty or ugly, seasoned or green. However, I do give all wood a chance to dry before burning, but the uglies some times go in before being fully dried.
If done right, green wood will will burn as well seasoned wood. When I burned volunteer box elder trees, I could go a whole week on 1 lighting even when it rained at night. I just piled on the brush each morning and away it burned
Hey Heath. Glad to see you got the boiler going. Let’s discuss a few observations… 1) get some insulation on those water lines at the boiler even if it’s temporary and close in the back opening. I know you’re excited and have the “new girlfriend experience” going on now but it’ll get old real fast feeding that boiler more than normal. Especially when our weather turns into winter…sometime. 2) pull spiral turbulators and make yourself a flue brush. Take a piece of 3/8-1/2” rod and weld a drill wire brush on one end. Use drill or by hand to push back and forth thru exchanger tubes. 3) plate heaters can be installed in parallel with water heaters. I like doing this so I can shut off water heater power to eliminate stand by cycling. I have 2 water heaters installed like this. Add mixing valve to advert scalding water. 4) I like to install 3way zone valve and aquastat on the air exchanger in the furnace. Reason being with a HX installed horizontal natural convection will occur causing uncontrollable heating of space especially noticeable during shoulder seasons. 3 way valve is controlled by thermostat and fan is control by aquastat. No heat is wasted due to convection. Also if boiler is cold and cannot satisfy heat call, with this setup boiler water is not circulating thru HX “stealing” heat from propane heated air as it passes thru hx. 4) wood type. On conventional boilers wood quality is not much of a concern. However if this was a gasser, smaller drier wood is a must. 5) Keep in mind a backup power supply and spare circulator. You need to keep water circulating regardless if it’s heated.
In my mind its all about pounds of fuel per day. How you get X amount of pounds of fuel in there doesnt really matter. I make some small stuff and I make some big stuff. I will add that when I use 15-25lb chunks the stove recovers much quicker and i smash far fewer fingernails. I burn all my yard waste as well as chunks and hunks. I think ideally youd mix in some ball busters with the smaller peices. It works good for me. Thanks for the content, enjoy your time.
Heath, I burn all chunky wood or ugly wood in my central boiler. it doesn't matter what it looks like it burns and heats even green wood and pine just cut. anything from3 to 4 inches on up. I bought a woodchipper for all the limbs to get rid of. enjoy your woodstove.
Heath, this is a link to the company I use for most of my supplies. There is a good video on how to replace the door seal. I did mine the same way last fall and it works good. After wire wheel cleaning put the new rope in then use the heat caulking on top of it and tool in smooth. It takes a large tube of fire caulk to do it properly. I burn my garbage wood including my sawmill scrap in fall and spring and good wood in the winter. I also burn most limb wood during the winter. I process mainly ash trees which is pretty dry so in the winter the limbs are ready to burn right away. This allows me to sell more body wood. By the looks of your fan you could slow it down quite abit and reduce your wood consumption. I bet that is also causing a lot of your smoke loss around your door. Smoke takes the path of less resistance so if your tubes are clogged the fan will blow the air out the door gasket. Good way to test that is when the fan is not going and fire is smoldering check to see how much smoke is leaking out then turn the fan on and check again. I'll bet it pours out. I cover half of my fan hole to allow for longer "slower" burns. greenvalleyheating.ca/videos/
Hmm I thought that seal you put on looked pretty good, surprised it still leaked ! Pretty cool how you’re getting all these free resources from scrapwood we’re supposed to build a house this year if I’m not completely broke by the end, I plan on doing an outdoor wood burner we are doing all in floor heat , primary source of heat will be a gas boiler, but I will probably put the heat exchanger in line for an outdoor wood burner👍
You’re doing exactly what I do and your setup is almost identical. The one thing that I do that saves me a ton of wood is I kill the power to it in the summer until we need to use hot water. So without circulating the boiler water it doesn’t really lose any heat and I roughly burn 1/6th of a cord a month, l also turn the temperature down since there is not much load on it mine tends to overheat if I don’t. Something you could try if you want. I also use the same method in the spring and fall,we will just turn it on a couple times a day to heat the house up then turn it back off. Take care
Love the Video! I burn Green, nasty in mine, Hardy Outdoor heater going on 27 years now. One thing I had done on the installation back then was to bypass the hot water heater all together. Our hot water comes straight off the boiler. Good and bad. Good is we have supper hot water. Bad is, we have to keep a fire in Summertime so we can have hot water. When it was installed, they would only install this way to homes without kids- as water is to hot for little ones, dont wanna burn them- we have no kids, so no issue. The thing that we had to get used to back 27 years ago was- when showering, turn cold water full blast, and barley open hot water, totally reverse from how our old hot water heater worked, when we had one. Aint had one for 27 years now:) . .....now waiting on my VS17-C I ordered this week :). LOVE your vids, very informative, thanks!
When I lived in NY, before moving to Michigan. I used pine, larch and what ever else was available. Green or dry Got a little more creosote, but just cleaned it up more frequently. Had great heat and hot water
I try and burn it all. If got spend a hour loading it hour taking it to the dump. I just as soon spend the 2 hours so I can burn it in my wood stove. I got 4 or 5 blocks outside that won’t get split. 2 them are on my tractor box blade for lbs. nice setup. Keep up the good work.
We've been using an outdoor water stove for over 20 years.We burn a lot of seasoned hard wood but, any wood that will fit through the door will make some heat. Green slabs from the sawmill burn fast but, make heat, it just takes more to keep the water temperature up.
Haha it's a boiler, it boils water haha. Those plate exchange are amazing what they supply for how small they are..and yes, Winston burns wood with mushrooms on it and it all burns. Kenny
Hey guys I received the tabletop wood burner, looks sweet can't wait to try it. I also got my Axis last night and will be bustin up some wood shortly! Thanks again for the gift
Eventually you will get all the kinks worked out and getting it working efficiently. It will definitely be nice when you get some more rock/concrete down to reduce the mud situation.
Hey, thank you for not whining!!. The knotted and crotch wood has a home. You have FREE heat and heated water. You have an INFINITE amount of wood nearby. You couldn't keep up with Ma Nature IF you tried. Burn, Baby, BURN!
I'll burn anything and everything in mine. From boards for Kindling to blocks wood for heat. My boiler is 22 years old. It's the size bigger than what you've got and I heat my shop. Which is 210 x 40. 90% of the wood that I burn is popple and I get it per basically free. Have to go and collect it and then. But I'm not paying usually for the wood. And I split it just down to a size. That because split wood does burn better than a full round. A full round will burn longer, but. Split into 4 pieces. Say like a 12 inch stick and I cut my wood 24 to 28 inches long
Fall and spring, burn soft wood. Colder bastard days burn hardwood. Chooching wood at lower temps creosote forms. Boilers are great for cookies and any other ugly wood.
You know I couldn't kind of wood in that boiler. I like big pieces, little pieces. How much it Burns who cares? I have what they call a stove loader that I built. I can put a log 2 foot across and 3 foot long so it'll simmer out. Or I can put whatever chunks splits. Whatever I'm not, what is not pretty. As long as it comes, gives heat and the less. You have to make it look pretty. My boiler told me he don't care if it's pretty wood to let him eat. Ha ha What would? How'd bug in North Carolina in the mountains?
And I also struck the face of my furnace through the wall of my wood kid. Which would you talk to the back of my building? And that way, I don't have to shovel snow to get to my firmness all the time
good video i burn my best wood at night and every thing else when i am around house i burn most of the slab wood from sawmill. my wood master is much older than yours .i reworked door in 2023 cut all the burn up metal out and un warped it welded in new metal. in summer and warmm days they will over heat if door gaskets leak. i keep the draft fans and pumps on hand they give out on the coldest day alternative heating &supply sells the parts to fix them and the doors but the doors when i priced them were$900 plus shipping.i don't think wood master is in bussiness any more. both of you take care, be safe and well.
That's what we like to do too, burn the best stuff for the long night. Thank you for watching! Our new door is ready to be picked up so I'll have to show the install next.
I see nothing wrong with burning up the old nasty wood, that’s called common sense and using up wood that otherwise would rot. That’s called being conservative. Thanks for the video, be safe.
I don’t have a wood boiler, but for the wood heater I try not to waste any. Splits and chunks get burned, small pieces for kindling, and everything else for the mulch pile. Waste not want not! 👍 How many of those old Honda 300s do y’all have? Toughest four wheelers on the planet!
Hey HWM... I to burn the nasties, odd ball crotchy stuff plus bigger splits. Most of mine has 1yr of season... hardly any green stuff. I have a Nature' Comfort NCB-275G Coal (out of business now) Was in Northern Indiana. Yes... could burn coal if I wanted to but never have in the 7yrs I've owned it. Mine was designed with the blower in the rear of stove. Also has shaker grates with ash pan under it. So cleaning ashes is simple. I love it, love the "free" heat and hot water! No doubt you will love that thing.
I run my stove year round trash wood in the summer and good wood in the winter I do not burn green or pine. House whole products like paper cardboard no plastic. I have a Central Boiler. 20 + years
I also would say that they had the length of the stainless steel flu on there to make a the natural draft system. My phone has no blowers on it. But it requires at least 6 feet of pipe. But I run 9 to naturally draft. I just have a solenoid that opens a flap raiding my door. And then it draftss like that.
That is a great thing to do. Burn the nasties. Why let it rot. Boiler wood name is what every body is use too. Why change it. I don’t have an outdoor boiler. But quite a few around here do. And they buy 8’ logs by the cord, the same as my son and I do, but, they only cut the log once. And they put the 4’ long pieces in the boiler. Should you have a cap on the flue ? Have a great weekend. 👍🏻👍🏻🪵🔥
Thanks for sharing that Heath. It's really interesting.. 'an education so to speak.'. How do you keep the water from being hot as a pistol into your water heater? Looks like a bit of work keeping it clean. LIke how it's on stilts. The best thing I admire is if anything goes "Tits up" AS THE ENGLISH SAY! HAHA, the chimney is separate from your house, and the fire it's self. Pretty sweet, thanks again.
