# Should he buy this Woodmaster 5500??



## SmokeEater (Aug 22, 2012)

My Son-In-Law has been offered to buy a 3 year old Woodmaster 5500 with some of the attached appurtenances and a honda powered Troy Bilt wood splitter of the same age for about $5000.  He wanted a boiler that would have the capacity to heat his small greenhouse with radiant heat, his 2 car garage and workshop, his swimming pool, and his house.  All along I've been touting the advantages of going with a larger capacity indoor gasifier with storage installed in his detached garage some 50 feet from the main house for his heat source.  He plans to put this smoke dragon (and it actually may be a decent stickwood boiler) in the garage with no storage and firing it as need be.  Meaning once a day if only the house needs heat or whenever if the other outbuildings need it.  This could work for some time, and yet the setup could easily be converted to a gasifier in later years.  I thought the $$ for all was a good buy, but?  What input can you guys/girls give me to forword on this???


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## PassionForFire&Water (Aug 23, 2012)

$5,000 is already a good down payment towards a decent wood gasifier with 80%+ efficiency
Please tell him to not buy a "smoke dragon" and to burn wood responsibly.
Do a heat loss analysis and determine what size gasifier is required


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## hobbyheater (Aug 23, 2012)

SmokeEater said:


> 3 year old Woodmaster 5500 with some of the attached appurtenances and a honda powered Troy Bilt wood splitter This could work for some time, and yet the setup could easily be converted to a gasifier in later years. I thought the $$ for all was a good buy, but?


 
Life has taught me that with your first 4x4, chainsaw, circular saw, sailboat and yes the first boiler, you really don't always understand which type meets your needs best! Without the wood splitter my feeling would be to pass. But having the wood splitter included it makes the Woodmaster a tempting learning tool.

Ooops!  I misread your post.  $10,500 is a bit much for the two.  I thought $5500 included the woodsplitter.


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## mikefrommaine (Aug 23, 2012)

hobbyheater said:


> Life has taught me that with your first 4x4, chainsaw, circular saw, sailboat and yes the first boiler, you really don't always understand which type meets your needs best! Without the wood splitter my feeling would be to pass. But having the wood splitter included it makes the Woodmaster a tempting learning tool.
> 
> Ooops!  I misread your post.  $10,500 is a bit much for the two.  I thought $5500 included the woodsplitter.



The boiler is a model 5500. And the deal would be both for 5k. At least that's how I read it.

I would pass on it all though.


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## hobbyheater (Aug 23, 2012)

mikefrommaine said:


> The boiler is a model 5500. And the deal would be both for 5k. At least that's how I read it.
> I


You got it right ! Hope the rest of my day does not go this way!


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## goosegunner (Aug 23, 2012)

If I am reading this right, he plans to put it in the garage?

Very bad idea!  Not approved for indoor install.

gg


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## SmokeEater (Aug 23, 2012)

hobbyheater said:


> Life has taught me that with your first 4x4, chainsaw, circular saw, sailboat and yes the first boiler, you really don't always understand which type meets your needs best! Without the wood splitter my feeling would be to pass. But having the wood splitter included it makes the Woodmaster a tempting learning tool.
> 
> Ooops! I misread your post. $10,500 is a bit much for the two. I thought $5500 included the woodsplitter.


The $5500 does include the woodspliter.


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## goosegunner (Aug 24, 2012)

SmokeEater said:


> The $5500 does include the woodspliter.


 
Go over to Arboristsite and look at the catastrophic failures of the Troy built splitters before you put too much value on it.


gg


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## hockeypuck (Aug 24, 2012)

I owned a 4400 for a three years between 2005 and 2008. We moved from this house but still in contact with the current owner and it still runs fine. I bought it because we cleared a house lot in the middle of 30 acres. I had tons of junk wood to burn and this thing would burn it and I LOVED IT!. Would run through the night with out issue for any cold night in middle New Hampshire and feed a 2000 sq ft home. If you could fit it through the door it would burn.

You have to be careful with local laws. There were a bunch of municipalities that passed EPA certified boilers only. Do a cursory check with your local code enforcement. I lived in the middle of 30 wooded acres. I would not try to burn that on less than a 10 acre lot. Your neighbors may get irritated with the start up and shut down smoke. Solid machine just need to use it in the right circumstances.


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## SmokeEater (Aug 25, 2012)

Thanks everyone for your valuable input.  I'll take each and every reply and relay your concerns to my son-in-law.  Frankly, I'm advising him to install a moderately sized gasifier, such as the Econoburn 200, with sufficient storage to supply heat to his home and future greenhouse and pool.


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## papa bears stove (Aug 26, 2012)

I would definitely stay away from the deal.  The unit is not UL listed and therefore should never be installed in any enclosure. Should a incident occur, the insurance company is not going to be obligated to pay for any damages. The other reason I would strongly advise to stay away is that the boiler cannot be installed outside as it does not meet NYS DEC criteria for outside installation.  Huge fines and confiscation of the boiler could result.  Check the following web site for NYS regulations http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/51986.html


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## goosegunner (Aug 26, 2012)

SmokeEater said:


> Thanks everyone for your valuable input. I'll take each and every reply and relay your concerns to my son-in-law. Frankly, I'm advising him to install a moderately sized gasifier, such as the Econoburn 200, with sufficient storage to supply heat to his home and future greenhouse and pool.


 
My first boiler was a used OWB. I used it one sumer to heat my pool. It would do it but it was really difficult to burn it properly. It took lots of attention. It would burn clean when burned down to coals but man would it smoke on the fills. It was an embarrassing how much it smoked. It had a 270 gallon water jacket but it would still cool down. Most OWB's are way overrated on their BTU output.

I now have a Econoburn 200 with 1000 gallons of storage. It heats the pool very well and is basically smoke free. I have had a few smoke issues but it was from bridging and they were very brief.  A indoor gasifier would most likely heat most of the garage just from loss to the area.

I would also look at some of the gasifiers other than Econoburn. Some of the new technology would be nice and some boilers are much easier to clean. Technology can have its drawbacks so weigh those considerations carefully.

Induced draft and simplicity to clean would be at the top of my list if I were shopping. Lambda controls would be there but could do with out.

gg


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## SmokeEater (Aug 26, 2012)

papa bears stove said:


> I would definitely stay away from the deal. The unit is not UL listed and therefore should never be installed in any enclosure. Should a incident occur, the insurance company is not going to be obligated to pay for any damages. The other reason I would strongly advise to stay away is that the boiler cannot be installed outside as it does not meet NYS DEC criteria for outside installation. Huge fines and confiscation of the boiler could result. Check the following web site for NYS regulations http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/51986.html


papa bear your advice is well taken.  I just read over the NY Regs and there's no way he can comply with this OWB because he has a neighbor who is within 300 feet of his intended  site for the "boiler" no matter what it turns out to be.  An indoor gasifier with storage in his new separate boiler building would be perfect, but the OWB can't go.


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## peterp (Oct 18, 2013)

SmokeEater said:


> My Son-In-Law has been offered to buy a 3 year old Woodmaster 5500 with some of the attached appurtenances and a honda powered Troy Bilt wood splitter of the same age for about $5000.  He wanted a boiler that would have the capacity to heat his small greenhouse with radiant heat, his 2 car garage and workshop, his swimming pool, and his house.  All along I've been touting the advantages of going with a larger capacity indoor gasifier with storage installed in his detached garage some 50 feet from the main house for his heat source.  He plans to put this smoke dragon (and it actually may be a decent stickwood boiler) in the garage with no storage and firing it as need be.  Meaning once a day if only the house needs heat or whenever if the other outbuildings need it.  This could work for some time, and yet the setup could easily be converted to a gasifier in later years.  I thought the $$ for all was a good buy, but?  What input can you guys/girls give me to forword on this???



Hi SmokeEater, Can you please let me know the contact information forthe person selling the WoodMaster 5500 so I can see if it is still available?  Thank you Pete, My personal email is 29pineavenue@gmail.com


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## peterp (Oct 18, 2013)

Hi SmokeEater, Can you please let me know the contact information forthe person selling the WoodMaster 5500 so I can see if it is still available? Thank you Pete, My personal email is 29pineavenue@gmail.com


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