Originally Posted by
mountainvan
I converted my 2.5x10 last year for roughly $1,600. I did all the work myself, plus had an oil tank and got another for free. $1,200 of that was the oil burner. You should be able to convert a small rig for much less.
Mountainvan, Did the oil set up prove to be as efficient as you were led to believe? I'm considering converting my 3x8 to oil, which should be similar to what you had to do. the processing of wood with my set up is rather quick, but in season, the handling seems to take too much time. Besides, I like the idea of being able to run the last bit of concentrate into the evaporator, shut down, cover the pans and lock the door. Right now depending on the wood I'm burning it takes 1-sometimes 2 hrs for for the coals to be gone enough to cover the pan and leave. Besides I understand the boil is very constant since you are not opening the doors every 8-9 minutes and that would be a big plus too. On the other end, it takes 20-25 minutes to attain full boil with my HP AOF/AUF but I hear oil is faster there too. Any time saved can be used in the woods.
Dave Klish, I recently ordered a 2x6 wood fired evaporator from A&A Sheet Metal which I will be converting to oil fired
Now have solar, 2x6 finish pan, 5 bank 7x7 filter press, large water jacketed bottler, and tankless water heater.
Recently bought another Gingerich RO, this one was a 125, but a second membrane was added thus is a 250, like I had.
After running a 2x3, a 2x6, 3x8 tapping from 79 taps up to 1320 all woodfired, now I'm going to a 2x6 oil fired and a 200-425 taps.