Retrofit Boiler to Stoker

does any one make a retrofit for a hand fired boiler to auto feed it?

There are many ways to answer that.. in general the answer is NO... a stoker unit usually is side mounted and the grate dumps the ash into an ashpan below. With a hand feed boiler, there are grates to remove, a hole to cut in the side of the water jacket and to weld and seal and pressure test.. then you have to look at the BTU capacity of a stoker unit, compared to a hand fired firebox..

There are a LOT of considerations.. That said, I've used an antique stoker to retrofit a handfired boiler to a stoker fed boiler.. but it is pretty unique.. there is no store or manufacturer to go to to buy the parts or plans for the engineering needed for the conversion...

What type of boiler do you have, what are it's 'issues' and what are your heating [BTU] needs and requirements.. In general ,it is better to buy a stoker boiler ready to go, unless you like welding, retrofitting and experimenting..

Greg L

.

I think if you can cut square hole in the boiler in an area that is not jacketed then you could bolt-in a Harrman vertiflow assembly into it. I know that's what the owner of the Chimney Sweep Energy Corp, a dealer by me said he was doing to his HS Harm. But I have no idea what your boiler is like. On my VF3000 the rectangular hole that the Vertiflow feeder bolts to is jacketed. If your a welder then sure anything can be reto fitted I guess.

I have an energy king boiler I just thought I could replace the door with a hopper unit so it would dump coal automatically. its a new boiler I am not going to cut holes in it I was just wondering if there was some knd of boilt on unit just a thought.

If you are handy, and can fabricate some, then you could make a replacement door, for the stoker to enter into the boiler, you would have to support the door on wheels, and change the door latching mechanism.. you couldn't use the hinges anymore.. A flat bed stoker has a hopper above it, it would have to be supported as well.
You would need to be able to slide the stoker/hopper/door assembly out, to light the fire and to inspect it if there are problems.. It could be done,, but you might be better off looking around for a good used stoker boiler ,, a Kaa2, Ka6, EFM 350 or 520, or an AA or AHS or Harman VF3000..

Greg L.