Smudge Pot for waste oil burning anyone?

[sw99]

Love my Smudge Pot. I burned 7 gallons of transmission fluid/used diesel oil mix the other day. For someone who accumulates so much waste oil, this is one of my favorite shop tools. You can make it burn extremely clean with the right venting. This photo is a screen shot of ol' smudgy working away mid burn that other day. You can hardly tell that it's even burning anything.

 

[Ausfahrt]

Do you use it to heat a space or just to burn off old oil?

 

[sw99]

They are outdoor use only and aren't suggested for use with waste oil as a disclaimer. Originally used for the orchard groves years ago. People mostly use them with diesel or kerosene, and you can achieve quite a flame if you desire . They do put off a good amount of heat and sometimes, I'll take it to Sturgis or to the campgrounds if wood fires are possible.

 

[sw99]

Sorry I guess I really answer your question. We use it primary for burning the waste oil and occasionally for sitting around outside the shop have beers. They are great if you have a little space. There are many types and different sizes.

 

[gman2304]

I take my used oil to Autozone and they recycle it for free.

 

[MasterSolenoid]

When I grew up in the 60's,
smudge pots were used at construction sites and were about the size of a bowling ball with a wick/flame at the top.
There would be several of them burning around a pile of dirt along the road.
Kids would ride their bikes past them and kick them.

Aaaah, the good old days.

 

[cptbarkey]

Huh, learned something today.

"Smudge pots were used by the Germans, the Japanese, and the United States Navy during World War II, and by the North Vietnamese in their invasions of Laos during the Vietnam War to protect valuable targets. The oily black clouds of smoke produced from these smudge pots was intended to limit the ability to locate a target. In Vietnam, smoke from smudge pots was used as a defense against laser-guided bombs. Smoke would diffuse the laser beam and break the laser's connection with its intended target"

 

[sw99]

Good to hear. Mine always claims their bin container is full. When you accumulate as much as I do, it's too much oil to keep dragging around trying to find a place to take it.

 

[Kira]

sw99: Does your smudge pot have a brand name? It looks one or two steps above 'homebuilt'.

A word on heating a building with one: Be careful.
I know a truck garage which burns waste oil for heat. They'll take all the old oil you can bring 'em.
A guy who burnt waste oil to heat his home made his house smell real bad (deadly bad).

 

[slackinoff]

I drank some beer around a big one like that last winter. It was awesome. Never seen one before that. One of my friends called and said to come drink some beer with everyone, just bring a few gallons of used motor oil, without further explanation. I said....ok....sure & just laughed. When I arrived, there in the driveway stood a big smudge pot like that one.

That is interesting they were used to produce smoke screens, did not know that. But from playing around with that one at my buddies, it seems like it would be difficult to maintain heavy smoke output as they usually either want to burn hot and clean, or just kinda go out.

As far as liquid fueled heat output, I have found that I really enjoy "radiant" style kerosene heaters. The quite inexpensive Sengoku HeatMate model HWN-110 or CTN-110 has been excellent for the past 4 winters as occasional indoor (yes indoor....I have a couple Co monitors) for supplemental heat. I installed a milesstair wick (see below link) and it's been even more efficient/clean and easier to use.

If you are curious about kerosene heat or lamps that use wicks, either radiant or convection, check out http://www.milesstair.com/
Great website for safety, parts, wicks, ect.

I don't like the "convection" style as much just because you have to heat all the air to really warm up. The below pic is the model I have and is considered a "radiant" type. Burns extremely clean as the red hot metal acts like a catalytic converter. Never seen my Co monitors register even 1ppm when running indoors.

 

[BobsArmory]

When I grew up in the 60's,
smudge pots were used at construction sites and were about the size of a bowling ball with a wick/flame at the top.
There would be several of them burning around a pile of dirt along the road.
Kids would ride their bikes past them and kick them.

Aaaah, the good old days.

These things?

 

[sw99]

sw99: Does your smudge pot have a brand name? It looks one or two steps above 'homebuilt'.

https://smudgepotdirect.com/

It's their original gen 1 smudge pot that I have.

 

[Chris142]

Often called a smudge pot but that one in your pic is not a smudge pot.

That is a side tube orchard heater.

 

[Opelman]

I use mine for the same thing. Beware of any water contamination as it can get hot enough to boil when running at battle speed and make a huge flaming mess. Also do not attempt to supercharge one with a leaf blower. Anyone and everything within a pretty good sized radius will have carbon dot freckles for days. Trust me.

 

[53' Stude]

Love my Smudge Pot. I burned 7 gallons of transmission fluid/used diesel oil mix the other day. For someone who accumulates so much waste oil, this is one of my favorite shop tools. You can make it burn extremely clean with the right venting. This photo is a screen shot of ol' smudgy working away mid burn that other day. You can hardly tell that it's even burning anything.

Up here we call those salamanders. Uncle used to work on CAT dozers for stop mining company and said they had them around on very cold days.

 

[sw99]

I use mine for the same thing. Beware of any water contamination as it can get hot enough to boil when running at battle speed and make a huge flaming mess. Also do not attempt to supercharge one with a leaf blower. Anyone and everything within a pretty good sized radius will have carbon dot freckles for days. Trust me.

Yea, definitely have to make sure there is zero water that gets into these. Funny you mention the leaf blower. I use it all the time to get it fired up quickly . I don't keep anything around it to worry about it.