Smudge Pot - Anyone?

[LARGEONE]

Wondering if anyone has made their own Smudge Pot, otherwise known as an Orchard Heater? Seems like a great way to get rid of used oil or diesel?


View: https://youtu.be/I1Ig7t-5LFk?feature=shared


Pics if you have one you use regularly.

 

[KC Masterpiece]

I do not but a guy down the street used to have one when I was living in Evergreen. It was pretty great for me since I just dropped off used oil at his house.

 

[simps80]

i used to dump used oil in the bottom of the chiminea then lit a wood fire over the top of it
it burns off pretty well but i eventually got told to stop that cause “it stinks”

 

[allen.wrench]

That's an interesting idea from the youtube @LARGEONE

How does it work? Motor oil and diesel take a lil bit of energy to burn them efficiently without a lot of smoke or smells. Kinda looks like a rocket stove maybe.

Allen

 

[BritKLR]

$175.00 on FBMP....

 

[LARGEONE]

Nice! Maybe I’ll check them out if they are still available when I get back from Europe?!

Edit: those are true Orchard Heaters.

 

[LARGEONE]

BTW. These need to have a dry storage or cover because moisture accumulating in the pot can be a bit dangerous. Also, safety warning…never burn regular gas in one of these…unless you use a TINY amount just to get your diesel or oil lit.

 

[KC Masterpiece]

$175.00 on FBMP....

Egr looks good they will probably pass smog.

 

[BritKLR]

Life lesson: I have a traditional 55 gal. burn barrel out behind the shop for getting rid of odds and ends and made the mistake of putting a jug of motor oil in it thinking it'd just burn off........Oh, hell NO! Once the fire got going the plastic jug it was in burned away faster then the oil resulting in a Exxon Valdez out of the drain holes in the side of the barrel. Yeah, won't do that again but, goodluck with these! (Thank goodness Boulder Counties Eco SWAT Team didn't get dispatched!!)

 

[rover67]

Life lesson: I have a traditional 55 gal. burn barrel out behind the shop for getting rid of odds and ends and made the mistake of putting a jug of motor oil in it thinking it'd just burn off........Oh, hell NO! Once the fire got going the plastic jug it was in burned away faster then the oil resulting in an Exxon Valdez out of the drain holes in the side of the barrel. Yeah, won't do that again but, goodluck with these! (Thank goodness Boulder Counties Eco SWAT Team didn't get dispatched!!)

The trick is to get a good fire going the pour the oil over the wood a few quarts at a time. Also better to do it at night. Dumping too much means you’ll end up with more oil in the dirt than burning.

 

[allen.wrench]

Don't tell the EPA. I also find used motor oil good at protecting wood that lives outside.

I learned from my grandpa before he passed away. An example: There's a shed in his backyard in Romania made of wood planks. That shed is caked in a millimeter of old oil and dust. Possibly even some radioactive dust since the shed was made well before Chernobyl popped. Idk. The shed will probably last another century. Bugs definitely do not want to touch the wood, and water jumps off if it touches the wood.

All the same, being able to burn motor oil efficiently with little smoke is pretty cool! I would enjoy understanding the smudge pot and just poking at Google, seems like a smudge pot is kinda like a rocket stove but with an EGR pipe to preheat the oil. Just a few helpful pictures I found:

Also found this facebook page:

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I appreciate they called it a Demon heater. I guess it could definitely burn some demons.

Allen

 

[BritKLR]

The trick is to get a good fire going the pour the oil over the wood a few quarts at a time. Also better to do it at night. Dumping too much means you’ll end up with more oil in the dirt than burning.

Now you tell me!




Thanks! We’ll see if I do it again!

 

[DouglasVB]

You can convert most old wood stoves to optionally burn used motor oil. If you go that route, you'll be asking all of your buddies to bring over their waste oil so you can have free heat.

For the purposes of the air pollution control division, this post is a joke.

 

[nuclearlemon]

thankfully, we have an oil burner heater at work, so all my oil goes there. but if i just have a quart or so, i do as mentioned above, and drizzle it over whatever is in my burn barrel.

 

[nakman]

I've had the pleasure now of standing around one of these at a few events this year. Way hotter than any propane patio heater, if you crank it up... and also appears to burn fairly clean, very little smoke once it's hot. But that's just visual, no idea what is really inside that exhaust output. It sure is intriguing though to have a way to get rid of old oil & heat the patio at the same time, just not sure it's the right move down here in the metropolis... @RayRay27 curious if you have any experience with these? or can think of a way to make them burn really clean?

 

[RayRay27]

I've had the pleasure now of standing around one of these at a few events this year. Way hotter than any propane patio heater, if you crank it up... and also appears to burn fairly clean, very little smoke once it's hot. But that's just visual, no idea what is really inside that exhaust output. It sure is intriguing though to have a way to get rid of old oil & heat the patio at the same time, just not sure it's the right move down here in the metropolis... @RayRay27 curious if you have any experience with these? or can think of a way to make them burn really clean?

Looks like a whiskey distiller.

I've never used one personally but If it were me I would consider using used turkey fryer oil/cooking oil or Kerosene instead of used oil or diesel. Diesel or motor oil will put off some serious emissions like NOx, carbon dioxide, and sulfur oxides/dioxides (SO2). You may not see the emissions or black smoke like a diesel motor running but I definitely wouldn't want to spend to much time next to one unless its piped to a safe location. Even being outside sitting next to one of these would make me nervous due to the exposure of fumes.

 

[fjc man]

Come on guys, dump it off at O’reilly for nothing.

 

[LARGEONE]

still kinda want one

 

[dan1554]

Back in Denver the auto parts shop would take all the gallons of used oil. Now they take I think 5 gal a day max. I have a lot of days to go to get rid of it, or go all over the valley to different stores. Or I can just throw it on craigslist for a smudge potter to come get.

 

[DouglasVB]

Was that a state rule to limit oil take backs?

Out here in California as long as I'm not dragging in a 55 gallon drum, the auto parts stores will take it back no questions asked even if I didn't buy it from them. If they saw me trying to drop off many gallons every single day, eventually I would get looked at closely to see if I was running an illegal repair shop. But you'd really have to abuse the situation before anyone at the local Napa or O'Reilly or Quest or whatever would ask questions.