Home-Built Chimney Sweep

Home-Built Chimney Sweep BUILDINGS Miscellaneous 31-4-36 Philip G. Lumley, Wilkesport, Ontario: "My Deere 1963 1010 30 hp tractor sat in the mud for so long that the wheels and tires were no longer any good. As a temporary solution I replaced them with the steel wheels off an old International Harvester H tractor. Fortunately, the wheels fit right onto the axle. I use the tractor to haul firewood out of the woods. The new wheels are bigger which somewhat reduces the tractor's power, but they also increase its speed. "I didn't want to risk climbing a ladder to clean the 30-ft. high chimney on our house so I built a chimney sweep that lets me clean the chimney by simply turning a crank at ground level. I installed a square metal frame over the top of the chimney with a small pulley fastened to it. A stainless steel cable runs from a spool attached to the crank and is attached to a 10-in. wide brush that has a 15-lb. weight attached to it. The crank extends through a small hole that I cut into the bottom of the chimney. When I turn the crank one way it winds the brush all the way to the top. Then I turn the crank the other way to let the brush back down. It takes 16 turns of the crank to completely clean out the chimney. "Whenever I'm not using the brush it stays at the bottom of the chimney below the inlet where my stove pipe goes into the cleanout area. "I used 2-in. angle iron to make the frame and set it right on top of the brick chimney. I use a pair of threaded rods, one on each side, to hold the frame tight to the brick. "Now it's an easy job to clean the chimney whenever I want. It takes only 5 or 10 minutes to clean it out."

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