Wood-Burner Keeps Trough Ice-Free

Wood-Burner Keeps Trough Ice-Free ENERGY Wood Gas Hauling water to the cow herd in winter is standard practice for Tony Smude To keep it from freezing in minus 20-degree weather he developed his own unique device based on a South Dakota farmer’s idea Smude’s trough was originally a heavy-duty steel boiler he bought from the mines and cut in half To keep the water from freezing without a traditional source of energy he designed a metal wood-burning stove to place inside his trough “I started with a 4 by 8-ft sheet of 1/4-in steel sheared it down to 4 by 7 and then cut that piece in half ” says Smude “I bent the two 2 by 7-ft pieces lengthwise into a 90-degree angle and welded them together to make a 12-in square hollow tube ” At the tube’s 4-ft mark he cut it at 22 1/2 degrees turned the pieces 180 degrees and welded everything together He used a 5-in 11-gauge pipe for the chimney From the leftover 1 by 4-ft metal he cut 12 in for the wood access door 12 in for the end and bent the remaining 24-in piece for a chimney cap “I had to fasten it down as it floats like a boat when you fill the trough ” Smude says “I fill it from the neck that comes up out of the water with about a wheelbarrow full of wood which burns for 5 or 6 hours As it burns the wood slides down into the bottom to keep the fire going ” He uses pine as it creates less ash On a 20-degree below zero day it takes about 2 hrs to heat the water to 60 degrees F just right for the cows to drink “The cows usually drink it down to the top of the stove every day so when I’m out there I just refill it light it and it’s good for another day ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Tony Smude Brainerd Minn 56401 ph 218-764-2091

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