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Trash Man Incinerator
Garbage burners can be things of beauty, says David Peters, Morden, Manitoba, who made a "trash man" out of an old 90-gal. hot water tank to burn his trash. The top half of the tank is the firebox and the bottom half is the ash collector.
"It's really safe to use. I can burn garbage even on windy days without worrying about sparks flying around my yard," says Peters.
The 5-ft. high, 2-ft. dia. tank had some holes in it and was no longer useable. He cut a hinged door in the top half and welded four bolts inside the tank just be-low the door to support a home-built grate. Two 3-in. long, 3/8-in. high draft holes are located just below the grate, one on each side of the tank. Sheet metal "pockets" welded over the holes keep out rain and snow. Ashes are dumped out a door at the bottom of the tank. Peters cut all the way around the tank about 2 in. from the bottom and welded a 1 1/2-in. high, 3/4-in. thick steel band onto the bottom part to form the door. He welded steel tabs onto the tank and door and drilled matching holes in them so that the door could be pinned shut. He made the three legs by welding sections of 3/16-in. thick steel plate onto the bottom of the tank, welding 1 1/4-in. wide flat iron on top of the legs for reinforcement. Square steel plates welded onto the bottoms of the legs keep them from sinking into the ground.
The shoulders were made by removing a plug from each side of the tank and welding in lengths of 3-in. dia. steel pipe. Lengths of downspout were welded onto the shoulders to form the arms. The arms are flattened on each end: so that steel rod "mittens" could be riveted on.
He cut a hole in the top of the tank and welded in a 6-in. dia. pipe to make the head. The eyes and ears are made from washers, the nose from angle iron, and the mouth from steel rod. A steel hood (the top of a smaller tank) is welded on just above the top of the pipe with room for air to escape.
"The draft holes are small so the garbage bums slowly. The shields over the draft holes keep the ash dry which makes it easier to remove. I remove ash just once a year. I use a front-end loader to move the tank. A hinged steel rod loop on top of the tank can be chained to the bucket."
Contact: FARM, SHOW Followup, David Peters, Rt. 2, Box 230, Morden, Manitoba, Canada R0G 1J0 (ph 204 822-3305).


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1995 - Volume #19, Issue #2