hot water donkeys

Try this old post to start

No kidding Andrew, if you Google - hot water donkey plans - there are pages and pages of results, and some really good designs.

Get hold of a 5 gallon beer keg (if you can). Perfect for the job and won't rust to boot.

Hi Andrew, pity you are not in FNQ as our ranch goes up for auction in a couple of weeks and one of the items is a donkey with 3 tonne split hardwood. We have been using a donkey for 20 yrs and a couple of years ago we calculated we were saving around $600/yr on electricity. The savings would be considerably more now with the increases in power prices. Takes me 1-1 1/2 days to cut and split enough wood for a year as it only takes a good double handfull of wood to get enough hot water for 6 showers, A stainless beer keg with the top cut out of it, it's about 50 litre, with 20 metres of 12mm copper pipe in a double coil inside the keg. Fill the keg with water, hook up your water in and out, light the fire and 15 minutes later Bob's your aunty.WARNING. As you have no way of regulating temperature very well make sure the kids in particular are closely supervised. It only takes a very short time for the water to get very,very hot. If you want the deluxe model you wrap the keg in fine wire netting and plaster it with reconstituted termite mound around 25-30mm thick and this will keep the water hot for a lot longer. Give us a yell if you want some photos of our setup and I will get my wife to organise it, I can't do it, bloody hopeless at that caper but build good donkeys.

Best one I have seen was unusual one at Lorella Springs.
Get I old brass/copper car radiator with pipe in and out and immerse in water in copper ( for X and Ygens -a device for boiling clothes and bedlinen ). Light fire underneath.
Bingo.
But you need a pump for that.

Regards Philip A