DetroiTug's Tug is going together

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Re: DetroiTug's Tug is going together

Post by TahoeSteam » Sat Aug 19, 2017 6:13 pm

Ron,

After the boiler swap we performed on Ron Parola's "Victoria" I can say with confidence you will not regret swapping to an Ofeldt one bit. 15 minute startup times and more than adequate steam production, in a lighter, shorter and safer package.

~Wes
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Re: DetroiTug's Tug is going together

Post by DetroiTug » Sat Aug 19, 2017 6:42 pm

Hi Wes,

Thank you for the vote of confidence, now I'm even more certain to make the swap. Hopefully I can get Tom Kimmel to wind the 1/2" sched 40 coils for me. He said his coil winder would do up to 3/4" Schedule 160 on a 4" mandrel. It's a beast.

I think it will change the whole operation of the boat. There are times at meets where we stay all night and leave in the morning, it takes so long to get up steam, I just ask someone tow us to the boat ramp to load up, it isn't worth the time it takes to get up steam to go a few hundred feet. I'm really looking forward to see how it does. Going to make it physically on the outside mirror the existing boiler, so swapping it out should be easy. And too the tug will shed about 400 - 500 pounds. Gotta change that stack from steel to aluminum. That stack is 12" dia X 1/8th thick steel, lots of weight up high. My steam mentor has been urging me to swap to an Ofeldt ever since he rode on the tug six years ago. He fired it for about an hour and said the heck with that and hasn't fired it since - he steers if he goes.

-Ron
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Re: DetroiTug's Tug is going together

Post by cyberbadger » Sun Aug 20, 2017 12:43 am

Ron,

We have very comparible engines, both being 3"x"4 Twins.

A video of yours said that your current vft boiler is 42 sqft.

How many sqft are you shooting for with the olfeldt replacement?

For reference my vft is 72sqft. My goal for Jeff Lund was 100sqft, as possible. As you had told me, you were correct that using the blast pipe helped tremendously. So I'd say 72sqft is definitely in the ball park 3"x4" twin.

-CB
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Re: DetroiTug's Tug is going together

Post by DetroiTug » Sun Aug 20, 2017 6:05 am

How many sqft are you shooting for with the olfeldt replacement?

About 35 square feet. I know, I'm going backwards :) The Ofeldt in my car is only 25 square feet of heating surface and it will run the hind end off of that 2-1/2 X 3-1/2 twin simple.

The VFT boiler fully lagged in White oak will be for sale if anyone is interested, it would be great for a big compound or big single in a 22 to 30 foot boat. It's always been stored dry, ran an ultrasound on it all over a few years ago, and there was no thinning anywhere in it. I've hydro'd it up to 300, 200 for annual testing. It's 24" in diameter and 42" tall, weighs around 700 pounds. Water leg with a big 19" firebox and insulated door. Ash area with draft door all in really good shape.

-Ron
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Re: DetroiTug's Tug is going together

Post by artemis » Sun Aug 20, 2017 5:29 pm

DetroiTug wrote:After a long hiatus with steaming along on four wheels it's time to go steamboating with Iron Chief again. Pulling a hydro and getting her wooded and oiled up for a two day run. Really looking forward to it. It may be the last time I fire this VFT, the next big project is to reboiler her with an Ofeldt. I may regret it, but I've never been able to maintain much above 60 psi with the big twin simple. It runs satisfactorily at that pressure, but the Ofeldt in the Locomobile has sort of spoiled me, typically having more steam than needed and not using much fuel to make it, fast start up times etc.

-Ron
How about taking copious pictures and writing an article for Steamboating Magazine on the boiler build. Also there are a couple of Ofeldt boiler designs and building articles in earlier issues that I can locate.

Ron Fossum
Steamboating Magazine
10325 NE Hoyt Street
Portland, OR 97220
steamboating@spiretech.com
Ron Fossum
Steamboating Magazine Editor
http://www.steamboating.org
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Re: DetroiTug's Tug is going together

Post by DetroiTug » Mon Aug 21, 2017 3:01 am

Hi Ron,

Good to hear from you.

I will definitely take pics along the way and if I have time I'll put an article together. It's not going to happen until early summer next year, I'm involved in a very large project now that needs to be finished up first. I never start a project until all others are finished.

-Ron
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Re: DetroiTug's Tug is going together

Post by DetroiTug » Mon Aug 28, 2017 3:08 pm

Ran the Chief all weekend, stayed aboard Saturday night. She ran real well on the two year seasoned wood, I was holding 90 psi at full throttle which is stellar for her. BUT, none of the feedpumps were cooperating. I think the Champlain canal left some nasty deposits on all the checks, I kept bleeding them out and beating on everything and the best I could do was maintain about half a glass with the pumps running continual. The Hypro pump completely checked out and was just along for the ride. The heat exchanger on the Southworth steam pump was leaking like a sieve on the suction side, but it still worked and what we relied on for feedwater under way. I need to start putting some TSP in the strainer, before I go out. Going to pull all the checkvalves and clean them them. Had a great time, the lake we were on was very shallow in places and we ran aground once and got stuck, I had everyone go forward and I built up a hundred PSI and she cut a trench right across the bar. The sand shined the prop up real nice. I told everyone "Well that garden is ready to plant!"..

My buddy Dennis's Elliot Bay with AVL compound:



-Ron
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Re: DetroiTug's Tug is going together

Post by DetroiTug » Wed Oct 09, 2019 10:38 pm

Just a season recap:

I had the tug moored up at Algonac on the St Clair river most of the summer. That is a lot better than trailering. We took about six all day runs this summer and she was flawless in operation, I'd head anywhere on that tug on inland waters and know I'd get there.

She's up for sale, but I doubt it's going to sell, and I don't care if it does. 80 grand would console my loss :) I've been busy the last few months moving, the tug is still in Michigan and I'll be moving it to it's new home soon, along the mighty Mississippi. That will be her new water to run on, it and the Ohio river. Lots of backwoods rivers to run down here, one I want to take a run on is the Green river which is like 380 miles long, won't run all of it, but there are some interesting parts with remote ghost town ruins from the 1800's etc that should be interesting. Lot's of beautiful country side as well, so I'm looking forward to that.

Sort of a bummer leaving Michigan, I have a lot of good friends there, but I assured them I would be back for the steam meets etc throughout the summer to visit.

I'm busy setting up my shop, a man has gotta sling chips :)

-Ron
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Re: DetroiTug's Tug is going together

Post by Mike Rometer » Thu Oct 10, 2019 9:15 am

Ron, I hope you are going to keep us all photographically appraised of your new adventures on strange waters. :)
Retirement is about doing what floats your boat!

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Re: DetroiTug's Tug is going together

Post by TahoeSteam » Thu Oct 10, 2019 1:35 pm

It sounds like your steaming season might get extended a bit! Where in Ohio are you moving to?
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