Does anyone use one of these? I just discovered their existence. Being able to heat outdoors using used motor oil seems like a pretty sweet deal.
Smudge pot
- Thread starter lBasket
- Start date
I've had a few. Be VERY VERY careful not to let water get inside it or it can froth the oil right out of it in a firey lava river when it boils. Nice and hot but smokey and dangerous!
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Getting the impression I'm better off just finding a wood stove and if I reallyyyy want to burn oil I can add a dripper
Like pouring buckets of used engine oil in that have rainwater too.when the water boils it will send the oil frothing out the stack. If you aren't drunk and stupid it isn't a big deal. Just be aware!
One of my first jobs as a kid was lighting smudge pots in the SoCal citrus groves on cold nights. We got paid and could miss school the next morning. Of course, our noses were crusted with black crud from the clouds of oily smoke but we didn't care, we had money in our pockets.
The first restrictions on the use of smudge pots were enacted in California in 1950. They were banned in Southern California in the late 1950's, at about the same time that household incinerators were banned, and totally banned in California by the early 1970's.
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OP
Wikipedia says they burn smokeless once they get going, is it just the startup that has the bad smoke or are these gross the entire time they're burning?
There are "smokeless" smudge pots that burn natural gas. Those are nothing like the old style that burned a mixture of used motor oil, Ag diesel, etc.
OP
Okay... I probably can't burn something that lets out acrid smoke in my neighborhood lol. That is probably out.
My friend had a lil wood stove outside by his carport and it was nice so I'm thinking along those lines and thought it would be nice to use oil as fuel. But probably too gross.
OP
I watched like 30seconds of it before I got bored. Dude talks at like 1/16 the speed I read it is painstaking trying to extract information out of videos
You can go discuss smudge pots with him when you are in Moab since he lives there. There's a lot of info in that vid.
Mine is going right now. Make sure you get one with a recirculation pipe as they burn cleaner. Burning oil will give off smoke if air inlet is not adjusted right. If you burn diesel there is very little smoke. Outside use only. Lower photo shows smoke because there is a small amount of water in the bottom and its boiling off. Large amounts of water will be dangerous.
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TNHEADDUCK
TJ Enthusiast
I have one and only burn off road diesel in it (the smoke is minimal), mine has a diffuser about 18 inches over the exhaust port that you can swing out of the way when you crank it wide open. It really puts out a lot heat even on the low setting, when you open it wide open it will shoot a flame out the top about 5 or 6 ft and is quite the conversation piece.
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TNHEADDUCK
TJ Enthusiast
There are several nurseries and orchards about 60 miles or so from where I live, I purchased it from one of them. It looks alot like the one pictured above but has the diffuser above the exhaust and is taller. It was practically in new condition, we use it when we have groups of people over for outside gatherings and don't want to fire up the wood burning pit also on off-road trips. The exhaust will get cherry red when you crank it up.