Lister 10/1 Awfully Close To Vegetable Garden

[Listerational]

Hello,

I installed my Lister 10/1 in my garage which is about 15' from my vegetable garden. The muffler is about 18' from the garden and is about 15' tall. Are there any preventative measures that I can take to ensure that nothing exiting the muffler will find its way onto the vegetable garden?

Thank you,

Jim

[mike90045]

Put an elbow on the pipe?

It's mostly just soot (depending on what your fuel is).

[LowGear]

What an interesting point. 

This reminds me of a gardening show I was watching and the hosts were discussing the dangers of treated wood in a raised garden.  They were setting on railroad ties.

I'm with the fuel question people.  Vegetable oil or bio-diesel sound less dangerous.  But then some substances swallowed aren't nearly as dangerous as if those same substances were inhaled.  ie: mercury

Casey

 

[Listerational]

If its just soot then an elbow will shoot it away from the garden.
I am still using diesel. Have not made the switch to biodiesel or vegetable oil.

Thanks for the helpful replies.

Have a good day.

[gusbratz]

when I worked for the gas company I had my houseplants that I like to keep at work with me. I kept them in the little building attached to the main compressor station. they would sit there and shake as the engines ran. they did the best I have ever seen. lush dark green, so filled out. I always thought it was all the co2 in the air from the engines running.

[Listerational]

Good correlation.  I wonder if maybe it was warmer there also.

[Hugh Conway]

@Listerational
We are using a "pit-of-doom" underground enclosure for a muffler on our listeroid. It is constructed of concrete blocks with a few pieces of concrete slab cast on site as a top. The whole thing is covered with about 18" of dirt. The dirt is glacial till, and has little or no nutritional value for plants. I figured that area would remain barren as exhaust and by-products leached into the soil.
I was amazed to find that the pit-o-doom and its immediate area have become covered with deep lush green grass, while the area a few feet away remains scraggley as the rest of the farther away areas. If you are using the garden for edibles, maybe the exhaust is a concern, otherwise it seems to actually promote growth here!
Cheers,
Hugh

[Tom]

It might be putting nitrogen in the soil.

[BruceM]

I'd be half tempted to try an 25 foot earth muffler (think septic leach field trench with perforated pipes in and out) in this situation IF the water table isn't too near the surface. You can digest the wastes in the trench by occasionally pouring in a fertilizer solution to stimulate bacteria growth.  The side benefit is zero exhaust noise.

My only first hand experience with an earth muffler is with my neighbor's propane converter DES 8/1...it works fabulously well, zero exhaust sound and no exhaust smell at all, just the smell of earth.  The gasses are cooled so much that there is a flow out that is barely detectable.  You can only hear it if you stick your ear on the end of the pipe; it's a faint puh, puh, puh.  Much like if you exhaled into a 4" pipe.

 I think you're smart to think about it, Listerational. Why pollute your own home grown food!

[veggie]

Go vertical with the exhaust system and get high enough so that a breeze will carry the soot.

Veggie

[gusbratz]

I'd be half tempted to try an 25 foot earth muffler (think septic leach field trench with perforated pipes in and out) in this situation IF the water table isn't too near the surface. You can digest the wastes in the trench by occasionally pouring in a fertilizer solution to stimulate bacteria growth.  The side benefit is zero exhaust noise.

My only first hand experience with an earth muffler is with my neighbor's propane converter DES 8/1...it works fabulously well, zero exhaust sound and no exhaust smell at all, just the smell of earth.  The gasses are cooled so much that there is a flow out that is barely detectable.  You can only hear it if you stick your ear on the end of the pipe; it's a faint puh, puh, puh.  Much like if you exhaled into a 4" pipe.

 I think you're smart to think about it, Listerational. Why pollute your own home grown food!

I like the idea of that, do you just run your exhaust into a 4" corrigated pipe and that's it?

[BruceM]

In a recent thread I outline the construction for a leach field muffler.  It's built like a septic leach field.  Perforated muffler pipe in, perforated PVC sewage pipe out, 3" gravel with dirt over it.

http://listerengine.com/smf/index.php?topic=7773.0

[Samo]

I recently saw a science program on exhaust injection into the soil, where the farmers turned the soil onto an extended tractor exhaust while laying seeds. The nitrates and oxides in the exhaust are used as fertilizer. So maybe this backs up some of the comments of those running earth based mufflers.... Maybe you want to route the exhaust under the garden bed?

Samo

[dieselspanner]

Careful boys,

Remember the Day of the Triffids.....................

[Samo]

So stick to planting tomatoes and and broccoli and all should be well??
Though thinking about it, post apocalypse our lister gen sets would be pretty useful