260 Adventure

The serial numbers first two are the year of manufacture. We'll need that info for the archives.

Great find, I have not had the pleasure of seeing an Axeman yet. I would like to see (or own lol) one.

Hi Whistlenut, Your posts preceed you and I have very much enjoyed reading them. In my younger years my dad was always chasing me around with an oil can and a grease gun scolding me about not taking care of my stuff. I guess it sunk in because I keep a good supply of lubes in the shop and carry the smaller sizes in my tote box. Now that he is gone I lather on never seize or greese in his behalf when assembleing. I had pulled all of the fittings from the boiler before I started pressure washing. I figured the more holes I could shoot in the better and I do hate those last minute leaks when putting something back on line. If I follow your suggustion you are saying to just weld a plate over the coil hole. That was my first thought but I figured it would be tabboo and I do change my mind a lot. I removed the ash cone at the same time that I pulled the fittings and it appears to be in very good shape. The bolt came with not much fuss. I have not done much with the auger, motor and controls but will putter away on that stuff as time goes on. Thanks a bunch for your input. I am sure I will have questions as I get deeper into the project. My house is a two story 2240 sqare feet with an attatched garage which is where the boiler will be. I am located on a Island and exposed to the NW wind which never stops blowing here in the winter. I shoveled 4-5 ton through the memco this winter and it struggled during some of the colder months. My oil boiler kicked in to make up the difference. I expect a 260 will not be working very hard but think that I will give it a try and put a modine or two in the shop for dump zones . I am currently dumping into my house zones which has worked fine with the memco. If I find that I can't idle it down enough to be economical I will be looking to trade down. I have solar panels that do my hot water so I won't be running much into the spring season. I know it sounds foolish but I get attatched to these old relics that I find and bring back to life. Just getting it torn down and pulled up a flight of stairs and onto a trailer was a true bonding experience.

Hi Kevin, Hope you had a good winter. This Yugo driver can't wait to get into that diesel pick up truck.LOL

Hi Coaledsweat, My serial numbers are 79A1628. It is full auto, has more than a 30 round bin but I don't expect to be concealing it.

MEMCO...that is a VERY aggravating prehistoric excuse for a boiler. No wonder Frank's Boilers outsold them 25 to one. Better than a dozen cans of Sterno, but not by much.

Biasi's run a close second to the MEMCO's, and you can buy a GOOD refurbed stoker for the same money as those boat anchors.

I can comment on a Memco because I had one, also. Same with the Biasi's.

Same here Whistlenut, and I installed a Biasi for a friend. It was a big step up from the Tarm he had!
I forgot chatting with you Keving last year. Glad you found a real boiler and your in the right place to get the info you need as you already know. Hey, I had a great winter, including coming back to Maine and never seeing the temp above 6* at daylight for the entire week. Just what I needed to ease my mind about Tennessee. Now I know summer in Deer Isle is only about 7 days in July, so you better get busy on that thing before fog season sets in and rusts it completely!

Kevin

Fired up the pressure washer to continue washing the interior of the boiler a few days ago and come to realize that it had been cold enough the past couple of weeks to freeze and bust the trigger and wand assembly. Pretty much sums up the spring we've had here in Maine. So after dropping 75 bucks at Tractor Supply which is a 60 mile round trip from here I was pressure washing again. I blasted for a good hour with a zero degree tip and rolled the boiler a couple of times until the water coming out the other end was running clear and free of rust.
I have been sifting through the threads reading about the paint that folks have used on these units. Does anyone know what type of paint that Axeman puts on them at the factory?

AA sends them out unpainted last I knew. Silver/aluminum paint is a common choice, but I like flat black.

By the way, beautiful welding on the coil plate.

They don't paint them. They recommend aluminum paint if you desire paint.

Axeman sends two cans of aluminum paint with the controls and assorted goodies. No special brand, generic.

NICE decision on the plate to 'remedy' the coil area issue. You will NOT be sorry! Indirects and in your case the solar factor make a large storage tank a no-brainer.

If you need anything at AA, I'll PM my cell number to you right now. I have an 8 AM appt with the fine folks at AA on Monday.

Thats interesting, I assumed they came with paint. I think I'll go with a black bottom and aluminum top but it might just end up being the color of whatever I have on the shelf. Thanks for the compliment Rob, I had a good teacher.

Hi Whistlenut, thanks for the offer. I think I am ok for now. I'll only have a few hours after work to tinker on it this coming week and it looks like most of that time will be spent cleaning and maybe splashing some paint. I'll get a parts list put together and place an order at some point.

One thought about the Black two-tone.....It will be darker in the boiler room, and if that is not an issue, go ahead, otherwise, a lighter shade sure perks up the environment. One think for sure, there is not one 'swingin' Johnson' that can be blamed for a scratch in the paint on ANY AA Anthratube.
I have a friend who went all black with his 130, and it just sucks the life out of the boiler area. You will be using a semi gloss or flat paint, so it won't look like a Porche or Bentley when you are done. .....Yellow and black stripes on the anthratube....'bumble bee'.....all green for the 'Politically Correct folks who embrace the Bunny'.....Fire Engine RED for the Hot Heads.....Lily White......for the newbees.

..........I know.....night John-boy

I hear ya Whistlenut. My boiler room will be my attatched garage but when you live so far from the hardware store you can't throw anything away and my garage is proof of that. So with all my collectables my garage is kind of dark. I saw a pic on here of one with the silver/black combo with a few black accents and I thought it looked quite nice, kinda like a Harley that never leaves the garage.

Hang some lights around that big bad boiler. A dark boiler room makes service a pain.