thinking of making a wood stove out of a 275 gal oil tank
- Thread starter happycamper
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We clean them well before cutting. We cut our first one with circular saw and abrasive blade. After that, we've cut the rest with a plasma cutter.
BlueRidgeMark
Addicted to ArboristSite
sawkiller
ArboristSite Operative
My grandpa has one in his garage and it has been there as long as i can remember. Used every winter for at least 20 years and no problems. In the last 10 or so years it only gets used when someone is using his garage as his health doesn't allow him to tinker much anymore. I don't think it ever had to be fully fired but it was used to heat a 30x60 uninsulated garage and it would run you out if you overloaded it. It was amazing how much wrapping paper you could stuff in it at christmas time and it would barely warm the steel when lit.
Jredsjeep
ArboristSite Operative
i know not all tanks are created equal as far as thickness and quality but i just want to do a couple of fires a year not heat a building. it is good to know it can hold up to that though.
i can battle through the tank with a sawzall but i much prefer to cut with my angle grinder and a cut off wheel. i just don't want to nominate myself as a Darwin award winner.
i can battle through the tank with a sawzall but i much prefer to cut with my angle grinder and a cut off wheel. i just don't want to nominate myself as a Darwin award winner.
Rookie1
Addicted to ArboristSite
Id like to make one too but mine is full of heatoil. Every winter I burn too much wood and the furnace doesnt run enough to use it up. Catch 22 I guess,plus that darn heatoil delivery guy keeps topping it off when Im not looking.
Maybe I will divert my resources to converting my lawnmower into a washing machine.
Maybe I will divert my resources to converting my lawnmower into a washing machine.Bet that was noisy!
What do you clean them with?
Ya think???? It was even noisier than the grinder and cutoof wheel. The problem with either of those methods was that when cutting thin metal, it shears off little pieces of the abrasive wheel / blade and eats them quickly.
We only take tanks that have been fully drained. We open all of the drain / fill plugs and then let them really drain for a few days over a plastic tub. Then we replace all but one plug and put about 10 gallons of water and 1/4 bottle of Dawn in the tank. We slosh that around the whole tank, then dump into the plastic tub. All of what is caught in the tub is taken to an oil disposal location (our tank supplier is heating oil company). This doesn't leave them spotless, but they are clean enough to cut with a torch or plasma.
AIM
Addicted to ArboristSite
Those things are in about half the farm buildings in my area. They work great.
I'm not sure, but at one time I think Northern tool sold a kit just for building these.
Door and frame, chimney stub, etc.
I'm not sure, but at one time I think Northern tool sold a kit just for building these.
Door and frame, chimney stub, etc.
sunfish
Fish Head
A guy I work with made a boiler out of an old propane tank. He's built several and if I could install one at my house I would help him make me one. The tanks can be found from different sources that have never had propane in them for around $200.
TheLazyBFarm
ArboristSite Operative
sunfish
Fish Head
That's for a 55 or 30 gallon drum kit. I have never seen one for a 275 gal tank?
What are the dimensions of a 275 gal oil tank? I still can't see making a wood stove that large?
ChoppyChoppy
Tree Freak
My Dad built a wood furnace using a 275 gal tank for the firebox around 1983. It lasted until about 30 years heating a 3 bed house, so around 100 cords of wood through it. They pulled it out to put in a coal stoker (works like a pellet stove, but with little pieces of coal).
Was removed partly because wood was becoming difficult since us kids left, the stove was worn out (firebox had worn through), and insurance was a nightmare. Hard enough with a manufactured stove, but a homebuilt one, good luck.
You need to find an older tank to use, they are around 10 gauge, vs the newer ones are thinner (maybe 14 gauge? 16?). My folks got a new tank to replace their old one (nothing wrong with it, but some .gov grant through the oil company put the fear in everyone about tanks needs to be replaced every 10 years or they will come apart and dump all the oil (in the basement). The new one, I have no idea how it can even support itself, you can push in on the sides like it's a beer can thin!
Was removed partly because wood was becoming difficult since us kids left, the stove was worn out (firebox had worn through), and insurance was a nightmare. Hard enough with a manufactured stove, but a homebuilt one, good luck.
You need to find an older tank to use, they are around 10 gauge, vs the newer ones are thinner (maybe 14 gauge? 16?). My folks got a new tank to replace their old one (nothing wrong with it, but some .gov grant through the oil company put the fear in everyone about tanks needs to be replaced every 10 years or they will come apart and dump all the oil (in the basement). The new one, I have no idea how it can even support itself, you can push in on the sides like it's a beer can thin!
ChoppyChoppy
Tree Freak
ChoppyChoppy
Tree Freak
alleyyooper
Addicted to ArboristSite
I have a friend in Maine who heats his home with a double 55 gallon barrel stove, has used it almost 10 years now. Secert is to layer the bottom with sand, remove the sand in the spring so it doesn't draw moisture in the summer And not burn cherry red fires in it.
Another friend has a fuel oil wood used motor oil heater in his shop. He ran pipes thru it filled a couple car raditors with water also has a steel plate in it. Builds a wood fire and gets the plate of steel hot turns on the drip system for thre used motor oil and lets it drip on the hot plate and light and burns. Heats the water in the pipes from the raditors which circulates back to the raditors then a heat switch turns on the fans to move the air thru and distrubate the heat thru out his shop.
He also does not buy electric to run his shop or home. Started many years ago with a old Jacabs wind generator, rewound it for more voltage. Has a room with a recycled fork lift batterys to store the power. Goes to a converter he built to convert it to 220 AC power.
Want a well drilled in your basement with a 8 foot ceiling? he can do it for you.
I my self had a double barrel kit and heater for my work shop and garage for about 5 years. It was replaced by some one I allowed to use the shop while I was out of town with a fancy wood stove some one had decided was to much work to supply wood and keep the stove full.
doesn't take a rocket engineer to figure out YOU CAN USE A 55 GALLON BARREL KIT TO BUILD A WOOD BURNER out of a 275 gallon tank. No special door or chimeny stub needed.
Al
Another friend has a fuel oil wood used motor oil heater in his shop. He ran pipes thru it filled a couple car raditors with water also has a steel plate in it. Builds a wood fire and gets the plate of steel hot turns on the drip system for thre used motor oil and lets it drip on the hot plate and light and burns. Heats the water in the pipes from the raditors which circulates back to the raditors then a heat switch turns on the fans to move the air thru and distrubate the heat thru out his shop.
He also does not buy electric to run his shop or home. Started many years ago with a old Jacabs wind generator, rewound it for more voltage. Has a room with a recycled fork lift batterys to store the power. Goes to a converter he built to convert it to 220 AC power.
Want a well drilled in your basement with a 8 foot ceiling? he can do it for you.
I my self had a double barrel kit and heater for my work shop and garage for about 5 years. It was replaced by some one I allowed to use the shop while I was out of town with a fancy wood stove some one had decided was to much work to supply wood and keep the stove full.
doesn't take a rocket engineer to figure out YOU CAN USE A 55 GALLON BARREL KIT TO BUILD A WOOD BURNER out of a 275 gallon tank. No special door or chimeny stub needed.
Al
building a wood stove is not a problem whatever style, the insurance company and likely local inspectors are the hurdles to overcome.
Looking at these stove it is obvious little if any attention is being paid to combustion efficiency.
It is a shame, too, because with large stoves come large wood usage and even small improvements in efficiency can mean large savings in wood acquiring labor.
A good wood stove or furnace is more than just a well welded box.
It is a shame, too, because with large stoves come large wood usage and even small improvements in efficiency can mean large savings in wood acquiring labor.
A good wood stove or furnace is more than just a well welded box.
Yep, 2 boxes one inside the other.
