Bulk Tank Boiler Looks Like Train Engine

Bulk Tank Boiler Looks Like Train Engine FARM HOME Novelty Items 29-6-34 Bill Fish's bulk tank hot water system provides all the heat he needs in winter. Designed to look like a train engine, the 600-gal. insulated bulk tank heats his 2,400-sq. ft. house and 1,200-sq. ft. shop. The only problem is that it's so efficient he only needs LP for the kitchen stove and clothes dryer. "I only used 250 gallons in two years, and the utility said they were going to charge me $100 per year for the tank," says Fish, who bought an old tank for $100 instead of paying rent. After looking at commercial wood-fired boilers that cost as much as $8,000, he decided to build his own. A bulk milk tank seemed ideal for the water jacket. Fish's son Bill Jr. is a professional welder and built the 36-in. high by 28-in. wide by 48-in. long firebox. He used scrap stainless steel and more than 20 lbs. of stainless steel wire. Fish cut a hole in the end of the bulk tank and slid the firebox in. Water pipes enter and exit through holes drilled in the end of the tank, opposite the firebox. The firebox door is double walled 3/8-in. stainless steel with a 4-in. collar. Flexible radiator hose at its top and bottom connect it to the tank so water circulates through it. "Without the water jacket, the door would warp from the heat," explains Fish. The water jacket also captures any heat that might have escaped to the open air. The chimney also runs through water before exiting through one of the original access holes on top of the tank. A draft installed between the door and the ash pan is powered by a squirrel cage fan. When the fan kicks in, the air lifts a flap on the draft, and the fire blazes up like a forge, says Fish. When it shuts off, the flap drops back into place, and the fire shuts down. "An upper limit switch controls the fan so when hot water is needed, it kicks in," says Fish. "A low limit switch shuts it off when the water gets down to 140 degrees so coals will remain for the next firing." Fish fires his furnace twice a day. A circulating pump in the basement draws water through a heat exchanger in his hot air furnace and through the water heater before cycling back to the boiler. A second pump draws hot water to his shop. Here it passes through a radiator Fish salvaged from a walk-in cooler. Thermostats control both pumps. Using pumps meant that Fish didn't have to pressurize the system. "If the wood-fired boiler ever fails, I can always switch back to LP," notes Fish. Once the hot water system was operating smoothly, Fish decided to dress it up. Using 10-gauge sheet metal, he built a 6 by 10-ft. cab on the firebox end to give it a locomotive look. The cab also serves to house controls and provides a sheltered spot to feed the fire. Windows out of an old truck let in light. To finish the look, Fish cut wheels out of steel with a plasma cutter and built a cowcatcher to fit over the front end. When smoke filled the cab as wood was being fed in, Fish put ductwork around the door with a squirrel cage fan on it to pull the smoke up and out the top of the cab. Accessing wood is easy, too. Fish built a wood shed that he can fill at a woodpile and then pick up with a rear-mounted forklift on his tractor and move back to the furnace. "I don't have to handle wood so much," says Fish. "And when I need to feed the fire, I can do it in my church clothes." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, William F. Fish, 16651 State Hwy 60, Blue River, Wis. 53518 (ph 608 537-2770).

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