Trident Wood/Coal Harman SF-260 Boiler Pros/Cons

Hi,
I'm new to the forum and would like some info on the sf-260 wood/coal boiler. I'm buying a boiler soon, and would like some feed back. I have a hot air furnance now that heat my 1500 sq ft house with a water to air heat exchanger 80,000 btus. I have a wood boiler (energy-mate) is in the garage. I have one zone, and a circulator, grundsfos 15-58 that continious runs from the boiler to the house than back through a 8' section of baseboard through the breezway ,and back to the boiler in the garage. I get enough heat off the boiler now to keep my garage avg.50. The problem I had this winter is it was a full time job keeping the boiler loaded with wood . I burned 20 face cord and still have 2 month of winter.I have to fill the boiler every 4 hours to maintain 180 temp in the boiler. I'm looking at getting a boiler combination wood/coal that is more efficent to replace the energy-mate. I never burned coal and are looking for some info.
Thank you.

The SF-260 boiler will certainly more than do the job. However you'll be trading an every 4 hour tending to an every 12 hour tending if you burn coal in it. Have you considered the VF3000 which will make your tending required only evey 48 to 72 hours or better? I'm heating 4,000 sq. ft. with one and burn almost 5 tons of coal a year.

I have a Trident 160 boiler.
Pros - keeps the whole house at set temperatures and also the DHW. Never ran out of hot water yet.
Get 12 hours burns, no problem.

Cons - Not all the ash makes it into the ash pan. The shaker connecting rod is only a press fit, prone to loosening up. The fix for that is either get it welded or drill and bolt the rod and cam together.

JB Sparks wrote:Cons - Not all the ash makes it into the ash pan. The shaker connecting rod is only a press fit, prone to loosening up

Seems to be Harmans trade mark! Just welded my shaker rod last week on my SF 250 after it loosened up and the handle fell to the floor!

Razzler wrote:Seems to be Harmans trade mark!

Ah yup! there is only Harman owner that I know of that hasn't to repair a shaker mechanism and that is my friend Joe in NH.

I took my all apart line up the parts, drill a 1/4" hole reassemble it and put in a 1/4"-20 harden bolt. So far so good.

Just a matter of time and his will break to. I was thinking about drilling it but the welder was easier. Took me longer to set the welder up then it did to weld it.

I will not break the shaker handle. I will not break the shaker handle. I will not break the shaker handle. OOps. The Pro's - Generally well built (I will not break the shaker handle), simple in design, can burn either wood or coal (important to me), automatic draft control and cost. The Con's - ash pan size and electric controls in power outage. I am sure I will think of other positives and negatives but that is all for now. Joe

Hi everyone,
Thank you for all the info. From what I gather from everyone The sf-260 is on my list for purchase. The ashes not all making in to the ash pan,and the shaker rod not staying together seem like simple fixes. The boiler will be out in the garage so a little ash won't bother me,and I can get the rod welded. I do like the ideal of wood/coal boiler, but have thought about a automated coal burner. I can cut wood If the coal prices get to high. One ton of coal is 275 /bagged 300,that in upstate NY. I do like the ideal of the long burn time of coal,I will have more time.I'm going to be using whatever boiler that I purchase in conjunction with a Hot air furnance with a coil in the plentum. I don't know many people that have this setup,but would like feed back. Thanks again for the info,Good day!

I use a coil in the plenum and it works great. I temper the water to 90-100 degres and run it constantly. Makes for even demand on the boiler and nice even temperature throughout the home.

Hi,
I don't understand tempering the water to 90-100. I have my boiler blower fan set to run until the temp of the boiler gets to 180, than the fan shuts off. The circulator than brings heated water to the coil . I thought you wanted to maintain temp all the way to coil ? I will be installing a hot water tank for my domestic water,and will be putting a mixing valve(temper) to adjust water going to my faucets. This is all new to me. I install my wood boiler with a little help,but are trying to work all the kinks out before I buy something new. The circulator pump runs constant,but the blower fan on my furnance kicks on and off because of the temp of the coil,even though the thermostat in not calling for heat in the house.This cools the temp of the water which makes my boiler fan run and burn alot of wood.I had a few ideals but are unsure what would be the most efficent. 1 Wire the cir pump to aquastat to only run when temp gets to 180.2 wire cir pump to only run when thermostat in house calls for heat. or 3 put a bypass zoning valve just before coil and wire it to open and go through the coil when house thermostat calls for heat.??? I would appreciate any helpful info. thanks again,Good day.

Don't desingn your system based on mine. It's unique but works well for me. I run the air handler blower constantly and circulate the water through the coil constantly. By tempering the water I get an output air temperature in the mid 80's constantly. I don't go through cycles when my house gets cool and then too warm. It's steady and even. I know others that use the water to air heat exchangers and they use 180 degree water. The VF3000 is not a super star at recovery. I steady low demand seems to work best with it also. I don't think my method will soon be the wave of the future but since it works well in my house, i'm sticking with it. I heat slightly over 4,000 sq. feet on three levels this way. There is also not alot of difference in temperature between the levels.

Hi everyone,

I'm going to a Harman dealer next week ,he's
going to have a sf-260,and a vf-3000 in. I'm up in the air about my choice but will get a hands on when they come in. Right now Harman offering 600 $ off units so a good time to look. The sf-260 is $3100 W/dhw coil, and the vf-3000 is $4300 W/coil. Decisions??? One problem that I worry about is these units keeping up with the heat demand. When My blower in the house kicks on now it really drops the temp in the small wood boiler boiler that I have now. I think because of the small water capacity 5 to 10 gals max it cools off fast and takes time to heat back up to temp. I also got a price on a ka-6 keystoker 4700 W out/coil??? Good day.