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Wreckerman's Wood Fired Waste Oil Heater and Possum Parcher

wreckerman893

Possum Connoisseur
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Location
Akenback acres near Gadsden, AL
Like most you you I am sick of high fuel prices so I have decided to purify the 250 gallons of WMO that I have out back in a tote. I'l cut the clean stuff with gasoline and run it in the deuces....maybe with some WVO thrown in.

To this end I have built a wood fired heater to get the oil warm before I send it through the filters. Warm oil flows better and will speed up the process.

So far I have about 60 bucks in this unit not counting my labor. I bought the 1/8 steel plate at the scrap yard and the gas water heater at a yard sale.....I had to buy a box of 6011 welding rods to put it all together with.

I got the idea from a old article in Mother Earth News that showed how to make a wood fired water heater from a gas one. Since the gas water heaters have a vent through the center of the tank the heat gets to the liquid fast.

I built a fire in it yesterday after I got the door fitted and a latch fabricated. It draws good and the tank was hot just from the small fire i built with some newspaper and small branches of dead wood.

My method of operation will be to fill the tank with oil and heat it 40 gallons at a time. I will then pump the warm oil through the filters with my 12 volt transfer pump. There will be no pressure on the tank while the oil is being heated and I will put the emergency "pop off" valve back on the tank when I do all the plumbing.

This will prevent pressure from building up in the tank since I view burning motor oil with the same respect I have for Napalm and don't want to end up as a "crispy critter".

I still have to get the filters configured and plumbed. As soon as I do I'll post pics of the whole setup and of a batch cooking off.

Elmo thinks it is great.......I may have forgotten to mention the possum parching aspect of the design to him.
 

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glcaines

Well-known member
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Hiawassee, Georgia
That possum does not look happy! Looks like a very good setup to me. My only suggestion would be to plumb the discharge side of the popoff valve a good way away from the firebox. You probably already did so.
 

m16ty

Moderator
Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
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Dickson,TN
Hmmm. Looks like a moonshine still to me.

When you say "WMO" are you talking about Wreckerman's malt olixer?
 
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Wildchild467

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
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Milford / Michigan
well gee, let me know the next time you fire that thing up and ill bring down some steaks and a couple cold brews! Throw the steaks on top of the tank on a metal grate and cook them up..... if your system is tight, we shouldnt detect any hint of 10W30 in our steaks! hahaha!:grin:
 

goldneagle

Well-known member
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Location
Slidell, LA
BTW Richard you do know that the Possum is not real! I hope we don't have to fit you in one of those white long sleeve jackets. They don't come in OD or Camo.
 

USAFSS-ColdWarrior

Chaplain
Super Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
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Location
San Angelo, Tom Green County, Texas USA
The simplicity of that design is encouraging. Do you have a link or scan of the Mother Earth Article describing the How-To?

Looks like Elmo is volunteering for the "Fireman" job - like on a Steam Locomotive.

Bet that WMO Heater looks pretty cool with smoke billowing from the "stack".

Here in West Texas, we frequently have BURN BANS and they allow ONLY Propane Outdoor Cooking - Wonder what the Fire Marshall would say about a rig like that.... It's NOT cooking!

I'm sure that a spark arresting screen and ember-catcher wouldn't be too difficult to fab.
 
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