Axeman 260 / AHS 260 head count

I know there are more AA/AHS 130 owners out there but I was looking to get a head count on the 260 owner/operators here at NEPA.

Could you sound off with your specifics like year of manufacture, how long you have owned/operated the 260, steam or hot water, pea or buck, and your general impressions of the unit etc.

Thanks and I'll start out:

Axeman 260, built in 1980 (refurbed 2011), 2nd season with unit, steam heat, burning pea coal. The thing likes to run!!!!

1981 260M here but you already knew that!

Most certainly, but wanted you to sound off any how, so thanks. That certainly is a fine boiler you have there Mr. Sweat! Hot water I recollect and you burn pea if I'm not mistaken.

He's gone on a hunting trip at the moment, but forum member "Rick 386" runs an AA260 at home. His is a neat setup with a gear motor running the auger rather than a second belt.

Ahhh, yes, I remember the man now. Nice fellow. Ok, that makes 3 so far. Hmmm, got to be more out there!

Isn't there some pilot guy from the Great Lakes area burning a 260?

AA's: 11 of them; from 1953 through 1986. Yes, they are all running, all hot water, no steam. 6-130's from 1952 to 1988. Burning Buck at some, pea at others, and a pair of 130's on rice. They are all over Maine, and I've seen many in basements sitting from the 1980's when oil went nuts. Guess what, we are there again. Order up a TT load today....

Oh, forgot the AHS's: 1-260, 3-130's.

I've seen plenty in Vt, along the Connecticut River corridor, and in the southwest part of NH.

Larger homes, multiple home, apartment buildings. In Maine, guys who have them and are NOT running them have many of the questions Matt DeRenzo answers: Who works on them????
There is a need, and parts on hand would be handy....

I don't know who that would be.

From memory the following forum members are running S260's: watkinsdr, chevymatt, macdabs, and ValterBorges.

I heard that "Skilled Aviator" has done a great deal of R&D (also read as R$D)in the realm of Coal. I think he likes the guys from Williamsport pretty well.....and something about UAE. He even has learned that you can second guess the boys from PA, but you cannot outsmart them! It's like : Don't order a steak at a Seafood Restaurant, unless you just plain don't know better.

Checking in from Kensington, NH. Installed my new AHS130 in April 2011; and, quickly discovered the 130 wouldn't even come close to meeting my heating requirements. Upgraded to my AHS260 in August 2011. Had some initial teething pains after installation; but, rapidly learned how to tame the S260---A.K.A. "Beast." I burn anthracite pea 24/7/365 heating my house, DHW, and in-ground pool. I really like everything about the 260 except the puff backs... AHS really needs to update their design to keep the Dwyer PLC set variable "SV" (ashing temperature) continuously updated based on boiler load.

2nd year running, 2010 S260 Model, this year installed new champion dual wall black pipe and put in new thimble adapter with clean out T and larger 7" damper.
During shutdown cleaned out the fin area between the fan and pot lots of ash and debris.

Burning blackshak pea, SV@125, T160-180F, Dwywer reading .04 normal, .07 when stoking, house is a toasty 72F, instant/unlimited hot water and no puff backs so far.

Once you learn the right SV / Temp settings for your house and to always keep the coal hopper filled, and get an egg shaped ash pan that take the large contractor trash bags it's a breeze and only requires attention every 2-3 days.

It puts out alot of btu's including radiant heat so make sure you need that kind of output or you'll be cooking yourself out of your house.

So far this year I learned to wear eye protection when ever inspecting burning coal because I got fragged in an eye lid by a cracking piece got lucky it hit my eyelid and not the eye and I was at least 12" away.

Sorry Townsend, I've been preoccupied with my health/eyesight issues..

Yep I think I've got the grand-daddy of AA260's. mine is a 1950 model. This one resided in a house on the flood plain of the
Susquehanna [sp?] river, it got submerged every year or two.
I had to do quite a bit of reconstruction on the base,, and the electric motor had MUD and SILT inside, in the windings and
armature!!

My AA is very reliable, and runs about 6 months a year. heating my 4000sqft farmhouse, DHW and my 2400sqft shopfloor.

I'm not sure what Whistlenut is refering to, other than me trying different sources for coal when UAE refused to sell to out=
of-state TT carriers.. Maybe he is just teasing. I finally stopped being cheap, and just paid for a 24ton load, and built a coal-storage building for it.. right now I have around 50-60 tons under roof, enough for many years

So: Townsend: did you run your AA all summer for DHW?? or shut it down for a few months?? I'm currious how well it did making only hot water and not steam??

Greg L.