Burning Buck in a 520

I've seen this topic discussed in other threads and thought it deserved it's own. This way all of the available information is in one spot when you do a site search.

I just started running my 520 this season so I have no experience burning buck. Here are some of the questions I have about switching to this size coal.

What are ballpark air settings? I know it's not going to be accurate but it will serve as a starting point.

Are you putting a strain on parts that would otherwise be fine burning rice? If I switch to buck I'd like to have spares on hand.

Does it actually save money and increasing efficiency or is it just about bragging rights?

Add any other benefits/risks that I can't think of.

From what I've been told, buck should be screened to keep out the bigger pieces and that its tough on the full length auger setup. For those out there using the short auger only, its not bad but fumes could become an issue with less coal to stop fumes and more space between coal. I plan on trying some buck before buying a huge load. JC has alot of first hand expertice on the pros and cons in previous postings.

Does Blaschak offer buck in bags? I'd like to try it when we fire up the stoker at efm.

stoker-man wrote:Does Blaschak offer buck in bags? I'd like to try it when we fire up the stoker at efm.

No Bagged Buck But If you Bring empty Feed bags you can fill them up .

kevin12973 wrote:From what I've been told, buck should be screened to keep out the bigger pieces and that its tough on the full length auger setup. For those out there using the short auger only, its not bad but fumes could become an issue with less coal to stop fumes and more space between coal. I plan on trying some buck before buying a huge load. JC has alot of first hand expertice on the pros and cons in previous postings.

Yep That goes for any size coal Barley Rice Buck whatever you are puttiing in your drum should be screened The Drum
should have a screen in it or on top to keep any big pieces out or any other crap from going in the drum

Believe it or not, there is a guy a couple miles down the road with a 520 who went to Pa. to get a truck load of coal. When he got home he realized that it was pea coal . To make the story short, he mixes it with rice and is working thru it. If I didn't talk to the guy myself I woudn't believe it. I asked him if he was shearing pins . He said that it just crushes it and pulls it up the auger. Must make a hell of a racket Scott

stokerscot wrote:Believe it or not, there is a guy a couple miles down the road with a 520 who went to Pa. to get a truck load of coal. When he got home he realized that it was pea coal . To make the story short, he mixes it with rice and is working thru it. If I didn't talk to the guy myself I woudn't believe it. I asked him if he was shearing pins . He said that it just crushes it and pulls it up the auger. Must make a hell of a racket Scott

I believe it Scott because depending where he got the coal from the Pea is really close to Buck in size anyway at some breaker you can't see the differents But some breaker's you can't The Pea is small size Nut and there Buck is small Pea
remember you do have a 1 1/2 " between the flights and 1 1/2 " from the center shaft to the top of the flights
but only a 1/2 " between the Auger tube and Auger flights Yea you will here a little crunching in the tube Look at like this what is Harder Anthracite coal or the S.S. Auger & S.S tube. Yea it is hard as far as coal goes but not that hard.
Not like shale slate or other type rocks

So would you be able to burn pea in a 700 or 900? For the same reason you can burn buck in a 520? Bigger stronger gears. Scott

stokerscot wrote:So would you be able to burn pea in a 700 or 900? For the same reason you can burn buck in a 520? Bigger stronger gears. Scott

700 900 1300 Have 2" Auger's & 2.5" Auger Tubes they where ment for buck so big buck or small Pea should not be a problems The motor's on the 700 900 1300 where 1/6 HP. the 350 520 1/8 HP There are more moving Parts on the 700 900 & 1300 plus bigger auger's so the motor has to have more HP. to move the 6 gears and the 1 that rotate the pot and move the amount of coal threw the 1/2 " bigger auger & Tube

kevin12973 wrote:From what I've been told, buck should be screened to keep out the bigger pieces and that its tough on the full length auger setup. For those out there using the short auger only, its not bad but fumes could become an issue with less coal to stop fumes and more space between coal. I plan on trying some buck before buying a huge load. JC has alot of first hand expertice on the pros and cons in previous postings.

fumes & smoke are do to. To high of a air setting you have to watch the air setting and the auger tube from getting to hot if you have to much air the fire can burn back threw the coal in the auger tube. I have no problem's burning buck
my tube stays warm not hot and I have no smoke coming out of the drum I do keep the lid on and the drum full of coal
You can get fumes and Smoke from Running Rice coal to if you do not keep the drum full of coal with a short auger run

Hi 2008MOM (Most Outstanding Member) Is you system clock off a little bit? I'm looking at your post at 11:53 and it says you posted at 12:00?
I have been burning a mix of buck and rice and have no issues in the EFMs. No shear pin problems, no overloading of the motors, etc. I'm now burning straight buck in the EFM's, and blending buck and pea in the AA's and AHS's. My oldest AA was purchased used from an old hardware store and I remember back in the early 70's through the 90's that he ran rice in that unit.
At that time I wasn't familiar with EFM, so pea and nut were all I was used to seeing. He used rice because they had to shovel it twice to get it to the bin........ (low headroom, dirt floor....) I have always used pea with the AA's, but have been mixing more lately, as rice is harder to get in TT loads.

Point of interest: The old hardware store that used a single pipe steam system and 11 tons of rice was replaced by 2 propane boilers and for the last few years has burned around 3100 gallons of propane annually.
New owner, smarta (freddie sp) that us old timers!
Worse yet, they even built a new ground level boiler room and a new coal bin, but sold the boiler before hooking it up. I even got paid to remove it from the basement and they gave me the old radiators. (Converted to hot water.)

I too, have had issues with the short auger(don't even go there, Scott!)heat 6" down the tube and odors more with buck that rice. I had to back off the air slightly and keep the barrel covered. Since then I have used the 64" auger that I have and no problems since. Certainly wet coal can be a pain, but we all learn to deal with that problem. As you may know, I keep asking about a front domestic coil, and a quick disconnect rail system so that we could slide out the blower/stoker assembly for proper servicing. That would force us find an easy method to get the auger and tube released from the pot. I have been thinking that it sure would be easier to service the pot assembly out in the open, as well as clean out the vent holes, etc in the auger tube. Knowing that neither of these issues are addressed for 25 years makes one think about what I am asking for.
Only trying to make it easier on the retrofit, and easier on the tech/owner. I've donated about all the skin I care to on EFM bases and rusted/rotted tankless nuts and flanges.