Outdoor Wood Furnace Info

All-Purpose OWF Discussions => General Outdoor Furnace Discussion => Topic started by: oaky on March 05, 2014, 04:33:42 PM

Title: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: oaky on March 05, 2014, 04:33:42 PM
I went to see Dave Jacoby from Straw Bale Farms, Dave was exhibiting the BL-2840 in Eau Claire WI today. At the exhibit, at far distance I could see it standing, as I was getting closer to it, the grin on my face kept getting bigger & bigger. Dave was quite busy with potential buyers. While I was waiting, I checked out the furnace, after that time, I already made up my mind on purchasing before talking to Dave.

I was so impressed with the quality of the furnace, I sort of expected aluminum siding, instead, it was a heavy thick siding, very tightly sealed, the legs & frame look like it was for commercial use, the ash pan, instead of being thin, it was actually very thick & looked like stainless steel. There was a concern if the water jacket extended down behind the refractory cement lining, instead, it ended just above the cement lining which was sealed with a type of high temp silicone  gasket to prevent moisture leaking behind. Dave showed me a sample of the refractory cement & I could see the stainless steel fibers mixed in. Under the grates & over the fire drafts was what I was looking for, the secondary heat exchanger looked like a breeze to clean.

Anyhow, waiting for the finance paper work to go through & then I can go pick it up within a couple of weeks & work on the install during the summer.

Thanks slim for the info to Dave.

oaky
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: Crow on March 05, 2014, 04:37:25 PM
Attah boy Oaky! You're going to love the BL. Congrats. :thumbup:
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: slimjim on March 05, 2014, 05:17:52 PM
You are very welcome, Dave's a great guy isn't he? did you tell him the long haired libertarian sent you?
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: oaky on March 05, 2014, 05:40:49 PM
You are very welcome, Dave's a great guy isn't he? did you tell him the long haired libertarian sent you?

Yeah, Dave is a super nice guy. He was actually pretty busy with people slim, I'll be seeing him again on March 15, he will be doing another P & M exhibit at the same location. My son wants to go and see the Furnace & to check out the fishing & hunting exhibits there too. Maybe I'll mention to Dave, the long haired libertarian sent me.

oaky
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: slimjim on March 05, 2014, 06:23:26 PM
You should, He'll smile 'I guarantee it, heck he might even throw something in.
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: ITO on March 05, 2014, 06:34:07 PM
You are very welcome, Dave's a great guy isn't he? did you tell him the long haired libertarian sent you?

Yeah, Dave is a super nice guy. He was actually pretty busy with people slim, I'll be seeing him again on March 15, he will be doing another P & M exhibit at the same location. My son wants to go and see the Furnace & to check out the fishing & hunting exhibits there too. Maybe I'll mention to Dave, the long haired libertarian sent me.

oaky
Hey Oaky, where in EC is the exhibit at? I might drive down and check it out for myself.
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: oaky on March 05, 2014, 07:03:25 PM
ITO, Dave will be in the Eau Claire Indoor Sports Center on 14,15 & 16 this month.

oaky
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: ITO on March 05, 2014, 07:16:38 PM
 Thx, I will look it up, may drop down for a look.
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: AirForcePOL on March 05, 2014, 08:25:16 PM
I might be in Eau Claire during that time period.  How about a beer?  :thumbup:
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: slimjim on March 06, 2014, 04:38:15 AM
Dave should be buying! tell him I said so.
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: ITO on March 06, 2014, 05:31:35 AM
I might be in Eau Claire during that time period.  How about a beer?  :thumbup:
It's 6:30 in the morning and that sounds good, is that wrong? LOL
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: AirForcePOL on March 06, 2014, 08:05:10 AM
I might be in Eau Claire during that time period.  How about a beer?  :thumbup:
It's 6:30 in the morning and that sounds good, is that wrong? LOL

It's 5 O'clock somewhere!

By the way oaky, congratulations on your new stove!
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: oaky on March 06, 2014, 11:44:24 AM
I might be in Eau Claire during that time period.  How about a beer?  :thumbup:
It's 6:30 in the morning and that sounds good, is that wrong? LOL

It's 5 O'clock somewhere!

By the way oaky, congratulations on your new stove!

Thanks, have a temporary spot for it until that 40" snowdrift melts away from the furnace permanent spot.

oaky
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: MattyNH on March 06, 2014, 07:26:55 PM
Congrats on the new purchase!.. :thumbup:
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: Roger2561 on March 07, 2014, 03:39:44 AM
Enjoy being free of the oil/propane man and NOT hearing the oil/propane unit running.  Congratulations on your purchase.  Roger
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: oaky on March 11, 2014, 12:58:55 PM
Bl-2840 finance papers came through today, so Dave Jacoby is now paid in full. Will be picking the furnace up in 2-3 weeks, waiting for more snow melt here to temporally park it.

oaky
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: Sprinter on March 11, 2014, 02:02:59 PM
So have you started a system design plan yet and material takeoff. Now is the time, this way you won't be buying things last minute at higher prices possibly.
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: oaky on March 11, 2014, 03:19:01 PM
So have you started a system design plan yet and material takeoff. Now is the time, this way you won't be buying things last minute at higher prices possibly.

I'll be dropping a new 1" pex-al pex line in the ground, going to abandon the old line since I'll be parking the new furnace a little farther down. Going to keep the original w/a heat exchanger in the gas furnace as well as the w/a stand alone exchanger near the basement shower, gets damn cold in that NW corner.

Since money is going to be pretty tight this summer, like that's new, I won't be getting a w/w plate exchanger with mixing valve for the DHW, until next summer.

This summer, I'll dig down a few inches, lay some gravel & lay some 4" patio blocks of some sort from Menards, 4' x 8' area to set the furnace on.

While laying in the water lines, I'll drop in 10 awg underground electrical wire for a 60 A breaker box to my shed next to the furnace, just in case I need welding done in the far far future (15-20 years) on the burner.

oaky
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: slimjim on March 12, 2014, 04:36:02 AM
60 amp service for future welding would be nice Oaky but not necessary as the B-L can be taken apart and brought into the shop for EASY repairs, might be nice to have that availability for welding on a tractor or whatever that won't fit in a garage that's full of crap like mine.
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: Bud Man on March 18, 2014, 07:27:15 PM
Congrats Oaky. I purchased mine 3/13 from Luke in Eagle Lake Mn. Will be picking it up in the next 2 or three weeks. I will be busy cutting wood until then. Got a lot of work to do before next winter!
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: oaky on March 24, 2014, 06:21:13 PM
Got'er home this afternoon.

oaky
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: Pinehouse4 on March 24, 2014, 06:45:12 PM
That 28/40 looks pretty big sitting there, and I am most likely going with a 34/44 !

Looking good!

Bob
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: oaky on March 24, 2014, 06:51:10 PM
That 28/40 looks pretty big sitting there, and I am most likely going with a 34/44 !

Looking good!

Bob

Once It was set on the ground, it got smaller.

oaky
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: ijon on March 25, 2014, 04:54:03 AM
How heavy is the bl 28-40?
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: Crow on March 25, 2014, 05:01:09 AM
 According to the brochure it weighs 2300 lbs.
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: Sloppy_Snood on March 25, 2014, 08:29:15 AM
According to the brochure it weighs 2300 lbs.

Then add 8.34 lbs per gallon of water (plus boiler treatment  ;) ) for your 90 gallon jacket (if you fill before you set it on the pad).  Another 750 lbs of mass.  Don't tip the backhoe over carrying it. ;)
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: ijon on March 25, 2014, 04:40:01 PM
Thank-you.
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: oaky on March 25, 2014, 06:42:05 PM
Hey slimjim, when I went to pick up my BL2840 yesterday, I was telling Dave how some of the guys here on the forum cooked their dinner in the P&M heat chamber, he got a laugh out of it and said, he wasn't surprised, because some of the P&M owners would tell him how they use the secondary heat chamber to smoke their beef & pork.

oaky
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: slimjim on March 26, 2014, 12:02:18 AM
Makes a dam nice Canadian sausage and roll I can tell you
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: Roger2561 on March 26, 2014, 03:41:07 AM
oaky - That's a nice looking stove you got there.  After you've got her hooked up and heating the house, you'll wonder why you waited so long to pull the trigger.  Roger
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: oaky on March 26, 2014, 06:51:51 AM
oaky - That's a nice looking stove you got there.  After you've got her hooked up and heating the house, you'll wonder why you waited so long to pull the trigger.  Roger

I'm already wondering why.

Whenever I get the mail, I stop by the stove just to pet it. LOL!
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: oaky on March 26, 2014, 07:05:37 AM
Makes a dam nice Canadian sausage and roll I can tell you

My son smokes a lot of meat, he said he wants to try out this smoker when I crank it up this fall.

I'm getting a lot of traffic slowing down here as there passing by now, so I asked Dave if he could send down some P&M BL brochures, I'm sure I'll get some drive-ins asking about the furnace, he said he was more than glad to.

oaky
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: slimjim on March 26, 2014, 07:14:51 AM
Dave's a great guy, a bit demented politically but I'm working on that with him, I could use some help with that.
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: Sloppy_Snood on March 26, 2014, 08:48:17 AM
Whenever I get the mail, I stop by the stove just to pet it. LOL!

Please restrict your boiler contact to "Petting Only."  :o ;D   Thank you. LOLOLOL!   ^-^
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: oaky on March 26, 2014, 10:53:28 AM
I know everyone likes pictures.
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: NaturallyAspirated on March 26, 2014, 10:56:01 AM
Beauty Clark!   :thumbup:

Neal
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: Crow on March 26, 2014, 02:16:20 PM
Ah yes, I remember when mine was that clean. 8)
Title: Re: Purchased my Portage & Main today!
Post by: Sloppy_Snood on March 26, 2014, 07:57:13 PM
Fantastic pictures oaky!  Beautiful,,,,jus' beautiful!  8)