[AT] The best laid plans of mice and men

[Cecil E Monson]

	I had all the intentions in the world of spending two days
at the Gathering of the Orange this past week. I wanted to bring my
AC G with the sickle bar mower to show and a golf cart to ride around
in for a change. I knew lots of my friends would be there and it would
be a good show. Weather really did me in. We had 3 inches of rain
Wednesday morning that washed out the driveway pretty bad. Instead
of happily being on my way to Canandaigua, I spent Thursday hauling
crushed stone (4 dump truck loads) and fixing the driveway. It rained
again Thursday night but was easily fixed. I got out of here late on
Friday and when I got to the Finger Lakes, I found out it had rained
bloody murder at the show that afternoon. I spoke to both Carl Gogol
and Mike Maynard on the my cell phone but did not get to see either one.

	I had a mission also which was to track down and speak to a man
who has developed a high efficiency heating system using a combination
wood and oil burning hot water boiler with a 1000 gallon tank incorporated
into the unit. It holds heat for several days and furnishes hot water as
well as heat. I found him and had the opportunity to discuss his system
at length and liked it a lot. I looked at one of these units that has
been in service for 4 years and the owner only has to fire the wood
burner once a day in the coldest winter days and goes as long as three
days on mild 20 above and warmer days. The firebox only holds about 80
pounds of wood and heats the entire 1000 gallons of water in one burn.

	He, like some of the rest of you, convinced me that my new shop
should have the heat in the floor and the new house we are building should
be heated the same way. He builds a unit that looks similar to the rear
end of a locomotive to me in that it has a small fire door in the rear
and a large round shape that encloses the 1000 gallon tank. The entire
unit gets heavily wrapped with insulation to hold the heat. He said it
can be placed near the house or in a 10' X 20' room attached to the shop.
Attaching it to the shop was a great idea and will allow me to drive
right up to it with a tractor and loader or the skidsteer and load the
firebox. It has an oil burner also and will automatically burn oil if
the wood is not being burned. Being as we have a nice 10 acre hardwood
woodlot directly behind the shop, I have all the wood I will need right
there.

	He recommends using PEX tubing placed on the floor joists one inch
under the floor and I wondered if any of you have direct experience with
this stuff. Present cost is 35 cents a foot and I am going to need about
4000 feet of it plus the fittings.

	It should be an interesting year.

Cecil
-- 
The nicest thing about telling the truth is you never have to wonder
what you said.

Cecil E Monson
Lucille Hand-Monson
Mountainville, New York   Just a little east of the North Pole

Allis Chalmers tractors and equipment

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