Wood-Fired Tank Heater Saves Farmer Money
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Sam Pajari farms and raises livestock in far northern Minnesota, where winters can be cold and long. Keeping water from freezing in outside stock tanks is always an issue, and Pajari says a few years ago he “just plain got tired” of paying big electric bills for tank heaters.
“We’ve got plenty of wood up here, so I came up with the idea to make a wood-fired heater that wouldn’t use any electricity.” Pajari first thought about building a square metal tank for the burn chamber, then realized that a de-comissioned 100-gal. propane tank would probably do the trick. He was able to pick up a tank for free because it had a dent and wasn’t usable for LP anymore.
“I started by filling the tank with water, then draining it to make sure all the propane was out of it,” says Pajari. “Then I used my torch to cut the valve and some of the chamber off the top, so about 3/4 of the tank remained.”
Pajari then placed a 4-in. metal pipe inside the tank, extending to the top, to provide draft for the burning wood. He made a flat metal round cover for the wood box and installed an elbow and 4-in. metal chimney near the top of the tank. “The heater is about 3 ft. tall and 18 in. in dia., so it sticks out the top of my 200-gal. galvanized water tank just fine,” says Pajari. Metal brackets on 2 sides of the heater slip over the side of the water tank so it’s held in place and can’t float up.
Pajari gave his first heater to neighbor Don Bonnette, then built another one for himself. Bonnette says “it works like a charm. I can keep a small fire going in it and my stock tank never freezes.”
Pajari says if the stock tank water does freeze hard a small fire in his heater will thaw the ice in about an hour. He places a small amount of tinder in the bottom, then puts 4 to 5 small pieces of wood about 14 in. long and 2 in. in diameter on top. “When the fire is burning, I can regulate it by closing or opening the cover. Normally with the cover closed the fire will burn 12 hrs. and keep the water nice and warm.”
Pajari says another key for success with his wood heater is using the right kind of wood. “Soft wood like pine or birch burns too fast. I use black ash and that burns nice and slow.”
Pajari says his beef cattle enjoy the warmer water in the cold winter months and tend to drink more. The tank is situated in the cattle yard so the end with the heater is outside the fence so cattle can’t nose the heater to one side or another.
“Building the heater probably took me 3 to 4 hrs. and it sure has saved me a lot of money in electricity charges,” says Pajari.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Sam Pajari, 10698 Goodell Road, Angora, Minn. 55703 (ph 218 254-2924).
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Wood-Fired Tank Heater Saves Farmer Money LIVESTOCK Beef Sam Pajari farms and raises livestock in far northern Minnesota where winters can be cold and long Keeping water from freezing in outside stock tanks is always an issue and Pajari says a few years ago he “just plain got tired” of paying big electric bills for tank heaters “We’ve got plenty of wood up here so I came up with the idea to make a wood-fired heater that wouldn’t use any electricity ” Pajari first thought about building a square metal tank for the burn chamber then realized that a de-comissioned 100-gal propane tank would probably do the trick He was able to pick up a tank for free because it had a dent and wasn’t usable for LP anymore “I started by filling the tank with water then draining it to make sure all the propane was out of it ” says Pajari “Then I used my torch to cut the valve and some of the chamber off the top so about 3/4 of the tank remained ” Pajari then placed a 4-in metal pipe inside the tank extending to the top to provide draft for the burning wood He made a flat metal round cover for the wood box and installed an elbow and 4-in metal chimney near the top of the tank “The heater is about 3 ft tall and 18 in in dia so it sticks out the top of my 200-gal galvanized water tank just fine ” says Pajari Metal brackets on 2 sides of the heater slip over the side of the water tank so it’s held in place and can’t float up Pajari gave his first heater to neighbor Don Bonnette then built another one for himself Bonnette says “it works like a charm I can keep a small fire going in it and my stock tank never freezes ” Pajari says if the stock tank water does freeze hard a small fire in his heater will thaw the ice in about an hour He places a small amount of tinder in the bottom then puts 4 to 5 small pieces of wood about 14 in long and 2 in in diameter on top “When the fire is burning I can regulate it by closing or opening the cover Normally with the cover closed the fire will burn 12 hrs and keep the water nice and warm ” Pajari says another key for success with his wood heater is using the right kind of wood “Soft wood like pine or birch burns too fast I use black ash and that burns nice and slow ” Pajari says his beef cattle enjoy the warmer water in the cold winter months and tend to drink more The tank is situated in the cattle yard so the end with the heater is outside the fence so cattle can’t nose the heater to one side or another “Building the heater probably took me 3 to 4 hrs and it sure has saved me a lot of money in electricity charges ” says Pajari Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Sam Pajari 10698 Goodell Road Angora Minn 55703 ph 218 254-2924
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