# Chain flail attachment for Gardus sooteater system



## BIGDADDY (Apr 5, 2013)

Made a chain flail attachment for my Gardus sooteater for that harder creosote.


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## lukem (Apr 5, 2013)

For getting medieval on creosote.  If that's not their slogan it should be.


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## PapaDave (Apr 6, 2013)

Report back after use, please.


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## Pallet Pete (Apr 7, 2013)

BIGDADDY said:


> View attachment 98770
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Your not running that through Clay or Stainless are you ? Pretty cool idea for steel !

Pete


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## ScotO (Apr 7, 2013)

I'd be worrying about denting the CHIT out of the pipe......I wouldn't be using that in my chimneys!


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## Pallet Pete (Apr 7, 2013)

Scotty Overkill said:


> I'd be worrying about denting the CHIT out of the pipe......I wouldn't be using that in my chimneys!


The old steel pipe its fine in but not clay or stainless. It will ruin stainless and crack and destroy clay.

Pete


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## ScotO (Apr 7, 2013)

Pallet Pete said:


> The old steel pipe its fine in but not clay or stainless. It will ruin stainless and crack and destroy clay.
> 
> Pete


I'm just thinking a good, hot fire will do better at getting that 'hard' creosote off instead of using that thing....
Burning properly seasoned wood will prevent one from having that hard creosote to begin with.  I've never had that problem in my flues.....


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## ScotO (Apr 7, 2013)

BigDaddy, I'd try building a good, hot fire here in the near future, and letting nature do the rest.  In a couple months of humid air and summer heat, most of that creosote will curl up, peel off, and fall down the pipe to the cleanout.  I'd shy away from spinning that thing in your flue pipe.  Just my opinion.

Neat idea, though.  It'd be fun to poke that thing into a hornets nest and let 'er rip (from a GREAT distance, of course...)


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## Pallet Pete (Apr 7, 2013)

Scotty Overkill said:


> I'm just thinking a good, hot fire will do better at getting that 'hard' creosote off instead of using that thing....
> Burning properly seasoned wood will prevent one from having that hard creosote to begin with. I've never had that problem in my flues.....


I agree but unfortunately there are those chimneys weather inherited with a purchase or just burned wrong that are bad. Our neighbors home when they bought it was so bad you could not put a toothpick through anywhere we used a 2*4 with nails on the end to break out the creosote then rebar and finally my chimney brush. After that they installed a nice insert and have no issue now. 

Pete


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## BIGDADDY (Apr 7, 2013)

They sell similar products and they are safe for clay lined chimney. One such product called.
ProKleen Wizard Rotary Cleaner
I just wanted to be use it bottom up and not go up on the roof.
Check out this YouTube link


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## Pallet Pete (Apr 7, 2013)

BIGDADDY said:


> They sell similar products and they are safe for clay lined chimney. One such product called.
> ProKleen Wizard Rotary Cleaner
> I just wanted to be use it bottom up and not go up on the roof.
> Check out this YouTube link



I guarentee he just mutalated the chimney ! This video comes up every now and then personally I think the guy is nuts for running that flail through a clay chimney. 

Pete


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## Backwoods Savage (Apr 7, 2013)

Just because someone posted a picture on youtube does not make it good.


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## BIGDADDY (Apr 7, 2013)

Here is a $2,000 piece of equipment that professional chimney sweeps use in clay chimney. Unable to paste it here but do a search for Rotary Viper PE


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## BIGDADDY (Apr 7, 2013)

Here it is the viper pe used by pros in clayed lined chimneys.


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## Pallet Pete (Apr 7, 2013)

Big daddy please understand I am not trying to be a jerk ! In steel that would be cool for sure the old pipes are really tuff however stainless is not and bends and cracks fairly easy. In fact the manufacturer of my stainless told me to use a poly brush because metal brushes leave scratches and can wear it out. Putting a flail into clay is like taking a sledge hammer and smashing a cinder block to pieces. Clay is not capable of taking blows like that without cracking. To be honest if a sweep came to my place and said this is how it is done I would say never mind please leave. I would hate to see you smash your chimney or bend your pipes. Growing up around wood stoves and seeing more than a few really stupid ways of cleaning them out has opened my eyes to what to do and what not to do. My parents used to lite the chimney on fire on purpose once a month to clean it out while our neighbors tied a bag of stones to a drill stick ( no joke )  things like that where just common practice back then. Just because a pro says its good does not mean it is the fact is they develop things to make there job faster not safer for your chimney. The more they clean the more they make ! There is only one good sweep by me and he uses a version of the soot eater with plastic whips and it works good so good that I bought one after he let me watch him. It keeps my chimney really clean plus I burn hot so there isn't really buildup to worry about. 

Pete


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## BIGDADDY (Apr 7, 2013)

Pallet Pete said:


> Big daddy please understand I am not trying to be a jerk ! In steel that would be cool for sure the old pipes are really tuff however stainless is not and bends and cracks fairly easy. In fact the manufacturer of my stainless told me to use a poly brush because metal brushes leave scratches and can wear it out. Putting a flail into clay is like taking a sledge hammer and smashing a cinder block to pieces. Clay is not capable of taking blows like that without cracking. To be honest if a sweep came to my place and said this is how it is done I would say never mind please leave. I would hate to see you smash your chimney or bend your pipes. Growing up around wood stoves and seeing more than a few really stupid ways of cleaning them out has opened my eyes to what to do and what not to do. My parents used to lite the chimney on fire on purpose once a month to clean it out while our neighbors tied a bag of stones to a drill stick ( no joke )  things like that where just common practice back then. Just because a pro says its good does not mean it is the fact is they develop things to make there job faster not safer for your chimney. The more they clean the more they make ! There is only one good sweep by me and he uses a version of the soot eater with plastic whips and it works good so good that I bought one after he let me watch him. It keeps my chimney really clean plus I burn hot so there isn't really buildup to worry about.
> 
> Pete


I have the soot eater and I have used it but my chimney became blocked and the only way I got it opened up was by dropping a log chain down it a  several times. 
 I read that the chain flail was safe for clay lined chimneys on websites that sell them. 
I don't want to damage my liner but I want a way to keep the chimney clean without going up on the roof. Any suggestions .


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## BIGDADDY (Apr 7, 2013)

here is another item sold for cleaning hard cresote off of clay chimney liners. What the ??


Rotary Creosote Glaze Removal Chains
ITEM CODE: 5CO-23586

1 Review(s) | Add Your Review
Availability: Available, Ships in 2 business days.

List Price: $122.69
Your Price: $75.65
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Overview
Removes heavy-glazed creosote
For use with Rotary Cleaning System
Email to a Friend


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## Pallet Pete (Apr 7, 2013)

How long do you dry your wood Big Daddy ? How tall is your chimney ? Do you have space to dry more ? I know you put it up before but I can't recall what kind of stove do you have ? You should be more than able to clean from the stove up with a soot eater. On ours we remove the top baffle and run the soot eater up then down and that's it all clean. As for the blockage that is usually an indication of wet wood. With properly dry wood and good hot fires that does not happen. An example would be we used to have a smoke dragon and that would need 2 or 3 cleanings a year each would get around 1/2 gallon of creosote. Then we started getting ahead about 2 years and the creasot went down to about 1/2 gallon a year. Now we burn an EPA stove I just did the only cleaning of the season and got maybe 1/8 cup of creosote. The pipe looks very clean. Dry wood is the answer to clean burning even in smoke dragons. You can also buy more extensions for your soot eater if reach is the problem. Have you got a pic of your chimney for us to see ?

Pete


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## BIGDADDY (Apr 7, 2013)

Pete
 I bought 2 sooteaters so I would have enough reach. I have 85 acres so plenty of space to dry wood. I only cut dead trees and split and stack for at least a year before burning. I think the wood I have been burning is pretty dry. I have a defiant stove non cat not all that old. I posted pics a while ago of my thimble I hadn't cleaned in 3 years packed with cresote. I took some grief over them but I have tried to learn from my mistakes. I have been trying to be proactive in keeping my chimney clean. I think the Gardus sooteater may have gone up between a hard cresote deposit in my chimney and not removed it because sit was only months after I swept my chimney with it that I began having problems with stove getting enough draft or air. 
I went up on the roof and looked down the chimney I had placed a lightbulb in the clean out and I could not see it. I dropped the log chain several times and that cleared it.
I thought if I made a chain flail I could run that in conjunction with the vinly whip attachment.  I don't wish to damage my clay liner though. My chimney is probably 24 or so feet high.


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## Pallet Pete (Apr 7, 2013)

Wow that's a good height. Three years is a good time to weight for a cleaning too. You may want to try 2 times a year for a while. One thing about log tree is they will not dry out until they are split even if dead. There are a few exceptions like ash but that's because they are only 30% moister to begin with. If you taking down dense trees like oak then it needs to be dried for at least 2 years split and stacked dead or not. Once you get a good stash of wood it's easy to maintain and it is insurance in a sense if you get hurt and can't cut or lose a job. It does sound like wet wood to me. What kind of wood do you cut up from dead standing ?

Pete


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## BIGDADDY (Apr 7, 2013)

I cut a lot of dead cherry last year also dead pine. I have a moisture meter and have checked wood I burn. I cut dead oak also. Locust , walnut . I have some nice hickory but none that is dead.
I have about 3 cord of dead pine I split and stacked last fall. I was planning on burning that this next winter. I have so much pine on my place i cant leave it go to waste. I have about a cord of oak that was a blow down I cut split and stacked last fall also I did split it small hoping to get it to dry faster but I will have to see what kind of moisture readings I get on it this next fall.
I wish I knew what the deal is with my chimney. Maybe it is my wood. Thanks


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## Pallet Pete (Apr 7, 2013)

I typically let pine sit for 1.5 years which does the job very nicely any less and I find it is not dry enough as for the locust oak and walnut I would recommend 2 years they take a little longer to dry out. You can burn walnut in one but it is still a bit wet. In my experience cherry dries out pretty quick but it does burn much better after a few years as well. Do you cover the tops or sides or both ? The reason I ask is if you cover the sides you get the green house effect and it does not dry properly but retains moister. 

Pete


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## BIGDADDY (Apr 7, 2013)

I don't cover it until close to winter. The dead cherry I cut was very dead and less then  15% moisture content. I guess if I was cutting green pine a year and a half wouldn't be to long to wait but I cut dead  sapless pine and split and stack for a year seems like plenty. I will check it though before I burn it.
I will try to get ahead more and let stuff stacked out longer. Hopefully that will solve my problem.


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## ScotO (Apr 8, 2013)

Ever since I've gotten three years ahead on my wood, I've had the best performance from my stove.  Honestly, having that wood split and stacked for three years (especially the oaks, hickories, and hard maple) makes a HUGE difference. 

That is the best advice one can be told in regards to burning wood.  The "3 Year Plan" is the way to go if you have the space to do it.


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