A retort in the woods

[Woodworks]

Been offered this old beast. Not sure weather it's worth putting the effort to bring it back to life

[richy_B]

Could be an interesting project if you have the time. If its for free then some steel and rods is a reasonable spend. Worst case you could run it in for the steel and recoup a bit. If it's a 'purchase' I'd be very apprehensive.

[Woodworks]

Think it's free but it's hellish heavy and definitely a lot of work also not sure the main chamber is sound. Took these pictures from underneath.

[richy_B]

Perhaps it might be best to let nature reclaim then. If the main chamber is a bit iffy then it could well ignite during a burn and you find you have a bit of trouble keeping the whole thing from rocketing up temperature wise. I have a retort and unattended it could easy reach temperatures of 700c, where things start to go wrong.

[Woodworks]

Perhaps it might be best to let nature reclaim then. If the main chamber is a bit iffy then it could well ignite during a burn and you find you have a bit of trouble keeping the whole thing from rocketing up temperature wise. I have a retort and unattended it could easy reach temperatures of 700c, where things start to go wrong.

 

I am leaning that way. I can just see me spending good money getting this lump back to base then having it rot here instead of in the woods where it sits. Just don't want to end up kick myself down the road though. Still I cant weld and presume getting the kit and learning how to do it would be costly.

 

Also don't know how well it works. Looking at it I cant see how the combustion chamber can get anything like enough air. The charge chamber is 1.3 m3 so one hell of a lot of gas is getting directed into it mid burn and no air to let it fly.

 

If you look at the bottom through the ivy youcan see this baby air vent

Edited June 20, 2016 by Woodworks

[richy_B]

Not a lot of money for a decent arc welder and some accessories and its certainly be a good project to learn to weld. Conversely you could also spend money on a holiday!

 

It does look a bit small. Maybe 50-60 kg of charcoal a burn. Maybe a lot less.

 

Good luck either way.

[Woodworks]

Not a lot of money for a decent arc welder and some accessories and its certainly be a good project to learn to weld. Conversely you could also spend money on a holiday!

 

It does look a bit small. Maybe 50-60 kg of charcoal a burn. Maybe a lot less.

 

Good luck either way.

 

That little?

 

The charge chamber is 4' diameter and 4' long. Think thats around 1.3 cubic meters. Hmm OK not that much weight but I make that around 90kg once sieved if same conversion rate as current retort.

 

Can I ask what retort you have Richy? My one is going to need overhauling or replacing soon so weighing up the options.

Edited June 20, 2016 by Woodworks

[richy_B]

I've got an Exeter retort. It's 1.6 cubic metre charge. This usually produces 90-100kg per burn. I couldn't see how big that one's was in the picture but it looked quite 'stumpy' .