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Outdoor Wood Burner

baggin_bucks

Active Member
Anyone have one of these? wood boiler

I've been looking at these over the last couple of months. I have it narrowed down to the Woodmaster brand, just wondering if any of you have first hand experience with them. I have talked to a couple of guys with them and they love them. I have access to plenty of timber so getting wood isn't a problem. I will be heating my house currently and once I get the shop done it will be heated by the wood burner as well.
 
I don't have one but would like to soon. My one neihbor has a similar one. Installed it three years ago and he said he wished he would have done it 20 yrs ago. He was only having to stoke it up 2 times a day and their house is always very warm. When they first got it he was overloading it and they had to open windows to get some of the heat out of the house.
 
I heated with an outdoor "Hardy" stove for 15 years.

While I liked it, it really liked the wood.

It was kind of a pain to have someone fill it when I went out of town.

I still burn wood on a daily basis but have a Geothermal Water Furnace with a loop in the bottom of my pond for backup.

Much less of a hassle and less wood useage.

I'm not familar with the one you posted.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Ghost</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

While I liked it, it really liked the wood.



</div></div>

I knew someone like that once /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
 
Actually I've after much looking and research I settled on either a Woodmaster or Central Boiler. Between these 2 I decided the Woodmaster wins. Mine will be delivered March 15th. Price wise it was cheaper (approx. $1k)and less service issues. Also 40% (something like that) less welds over the central boiler. Also they have a power draft, which central boiler no longer has and hold less water than central boiler. (193 gal. vs 350) My cousin went with Woodmaster and has had his just over a year now and loves it. If he can lift it he can burn it, less splitting with the larger loading door also is a plus. I'm going with the 5500 as I will have in floor heat in my garage, with a coil in my furnace and I will eventually run a stub to my barn. Good luck.

Tim
 
Thanks for the responses guys. 8point I know a guy with a Woodmaster that is why I looked in to them. I was looking at Central Boilers but decided on the Woodmaster because the dealer is only 15 miles away and of the reasons you stated. It's a big investment at first but when I don't send a check to the gas company next winter it will be worth it. I was looking at the 5500 but my dealer told me I should get the 4400. My house is 4000 sq ft with the basement and I'll be heating a 500 sq ft. shop, pretty close to the max on the 4400. I was told they are more efficient if you keep them burning instead of smoldering? We'll find out.
 
I use a outdoor wood furnace as the primary heat source for my farmhouse. It's an older kit style furnace with a 55gal steel drum inside, that provides only convectional forced air heat instead of water. It puts out enough heat for the main level, but wouldn't be enough for the whole house. But we're not currently using the 4 bedrooms upstairs anyways. I bought it for $50 off a guy who was tired to burning wood. We've saved a lot of money, as we haven't turned our central gas furnace on yet.

Eventually, I would like to upgrade to a bigger & newer one to be able to heat both levels in the house, and retire this one to heat the barn.

Good info. Your giving me some good ideas for next winter /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
 
My brother lives in Michigan & he built 8 of the standard outdoor wood burners (like the Woodmaster) & now he's a dealer for a few different ones. he's installed 2 of them out here (in Iowa) & they really work well. The ones he sells now are gasification ones (they burn about 1/2 the amount of wood & smoke a lot less). Either way if you have access to wood, it's the way to go. He keeps his house at 72 degrees & has endless hot water & hasn't used LP since 2005! If you want to check out his website it's http://www.rusticresource.com or you could e-mail him at rusticresource@att.net. He's mentioned starting a dealership in southern iowa... so check it out.
 
I thought I'd bump this up. I've been doing a lot more research lately, and am leaning toward the Woodmaster 4400 for a house/garage combo.

baggin_bucks or 8point... if you've received them, what's your feedback on the stoves?
 
Joey,

I have the stove bought just haven't had it installed yet. I've been waiting for the weather to straighten out so I can pour a concrete pad for it to sit on. Been busy cutting wood, I'm trying to get two seasons worth cut so next years will be good and dry as well. Good luck!
 
I just actually settled on one to be installed this spring. I can't believe I didn't do it 5 years and 10000 dollars ago heating wise. I've been giving away alot of cut wood the past few years, time to hoard it for myself. I just need another 10 cords or so and I'm good to go for next winter. I'm sure you guys have to burn alot less wood, as you guys have harder woods to choose from and winter isn't generally as long.
 
I've actually paid for mine but have not seen it as of yet. My cousin has one tho and from what I've seen and feedback from him there are no issues. I am not installing anything till September as I didn't want the yard all tore up over the summer. I know I just got a $300 dollar rebate, I also know they are looking at raising their prices with the price of steel being up. If you're serious I'd be looking and pricing now if possible. Good luck

Later
 
Thanks guys.

About the only concern I had with the Woodmaster is the clean-out of the ashes. They make a $400 auger attachment which i've read lots of poor feedback about.

A lot of the other Outdoor Wood Stoves have some type of a grate and ash tray for easier clean-out. I figured I could always weld & add a grate to help seperate the wood from the ashes for easier removal and also help inject air under the fire.

With old stove I have now, it's setup very similar in this aspect. I don't have a grate and every time I want to remove the ashes I have to let the fire burn out... then seperate the fine ash from the coals and scoop it out. It's not a ton of work, but just looking for ways to make it more maintenence free.
 
This was my concern also when I was looking and looked at the auger system. My cousin who is on his second year with his (5500) basically lets it burn down (not out, he only loads twice a day. He'll push all the coals to the back and then take out a few shovels full. He leaves a good cushion of ashes in the bottom so as not to burn out the bottom of the stove. Remember with the woodmaster they have a forced draft fan so you really don't need that air flow from underneath. It's also why I went with the woodmaster, the forced draft gets a more efficient burn (burns up all the wood). He (cousin) says thats why he really only has to empty the ashes once a week or so. There isn't much left. I spoke with my stove supplier about this and she agreed, really not worth the cost.

Later
 
Everyone that I talked with said that the ash removal without the auger is no biggie so I didn't spend the extra money. Adding the auger gets you the grate underneath which probably gives you a little more burn but, with the front mounted fan I'm not to concerned about getting air from underneath also. I have heard that metal prices and demand are causing these things to go up in price as well. Probably more of the demand than anything though. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/shocked.gif
 
QUESTION:
ROUGHLY, how much would I need to spend for a 1500 square foot cabin?
I am building one on my land (not sure the exact size) and I am just wondering a rough GUESS at what I should estimate on spending?!?!?!
*Sure glad I didn't build this 5 years ago and went with a corn furnace!!!!
 
With 1500 sq ft. I'm not sure, you may be able to get by with the smaller 3300 model, not sure what they run. Guestimate $4000
 
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