The reason I was wanting to feed from the top is that I was going to have a welder friend of mine build a funnel that could be loaded for auto-feeding. I live on the edge of the woods, so there is more deadfall out there than I could ever hope to burn. All looks like free heat and free hot water to me
I love the concept of an outside wood boiler, but those suckers are **expensive**. So I was hoping I might get the heat i want without emptying the bank account to do that. (hence, build my own). I was sorta borrowing the idea from a snorkel stove