Dumped It!
- anthony7812
- Member
- Posts: 5141
- Joined: Sat. Mar. 12, 2011 2:04 pm
- Location: Colley,Pennsylvania
- Stoker Coal Boiler: VanWert VA 400
- Coal Size/Type: Buck/Anthracite
Yesterday morning I didnt do a good shake before I went to work. So 14 hours later I get home and shake, a little too much. Damnn grate caught a hard piece of nut and wouldnt return to normal position. Of course I had to keep F'n with it and killed it. Well Im hoping to stay in the 3rd match club now.
- freetown fred
- Member
- Posts: 30293
- Joined: Thu. Dec. 31, 2009 12:33 pm
- Location: Freetown,NY 13803
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: HITZER 50-93
- Coal Size/Type: BLASCHAK Nut
We live & we learn anthony.
- coal bob
- Member
- Posts: 126
- Joined: Tue. Dec. 28, 2010 10:06 am
- Location: delaware, oh
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Ds machine basement#4 stove with hopper
- Coal Size/Type: Nut anthracite
- Other Heating: Propane
that makes two of us. im sure theres moreanthony7812 wrote:Yesterday morning I didnt do a good shake before I went to work. So 14 hours later I get home and shake, a little too much. Damnn grate caught a hard piece of nut and wouldnt return to normal position. Of course I had to keep F'n with it and killed it. Well Im hoping to stay in the 3rd match club now.
- I'm On Fire
- Member
- Posts: 3918
- Joined: Thu. Jun. 10, 2010 9:34 am
- Location: Vernon, New Jersey
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: DS Machines DS-1600 Hot Air Circulator
That's happened to me. Shook too much and I thought I killed it. Never had an out but thought I dud a few times. Sometimes, less is more. Now, when I feel one get stuck in the grates and I can't grind it, I just leave it.
Is this the hand fired section? If my stove had a hand, it would fire me. I gave up on the ultra elite one match club a long time ago. I have a collection of cardboard and wood scraps to start fires with. I have a propane torch ready to start fires with.
My stove is dual fuel, not the best design for coal. I still poke the fire from underneath as much as possible, my grate shakes down by hooking the handle on through the ash door and moving back and forth so the grate spins on the steel lip it rests on. I have not been able to shake this way without killing the fire, I think it just compresses the ash and stops airflow.
I think this is why I've seen most Monticello stoves with broken grates. My sliding center part jams on its support tabs sometimes too. Then I have to get a ball peen hammer and get under it and tap it loose. I brazed a piece of steel along it to prevent this; but generally try to leave it alone. I do have to withdraw it to push dead ash into the pan.
Annnnd, when I get a clinker jammed in it, I can't close the ash door!
My stove is dual fuel, not the best design for coal. I still poke the fire from underneath as much as possible, my grate shakes down by hooking the handle on through the ash door and moving back and forth so the grate spins on the steel lip it rests on. I have not been able to shake this way without killing the fire, I think it just compresses the ash and stops airflow.
I think this is why I've seen most Monticello stoves with broken grates. My sliding center part jams on its support tabs sometimes too. Then I have to get a ball peen hammer and get under it and tap it loose. I brazed a piece of steel along it to prevent this; but generally try to leave it alone. I do have to withdraw it to push dead ash into the pan.
Annnnd, when I get a clinker jammed in it, I can't close the ash door!
Attachments
Dan757, if I have this stove I would cut the grate shaker lever and make a removable extension. So if the grate jam it would be possible to remove the extension and close the ash door to be safe.
And with that kind of grate I also would make it more aggressive by welding a few spikes on the top of it to replace as much as possible the poking under the grate.
Some of these spikes would be bent to rake the sides and also guide the grate itself when going front to rear...
Just suggestions, sometimes work sometimes don't!
And with that kind of grate I also would make it more aggressive by welding a few spikes on the top of it to replace as much as possible the poking under the grate.
Some of these spikes would be bent to rake the sides and also guide the grate itself when going front to rear...
Just suggestions, sometimes work sometimes don't!
- jpete
- Member
- Posts: 10829
- Joined: Thu. Nov. 22, 2007 9:52 am
- Location: Warwick, RI
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Harman Mk II
- Coal Size/Type: Stove, Nut, Pea
- Other Heating: Dino juice
I thought about that with my old WESO stove but I just don't like swivel type grates. I don't think they do a very good job.nortcan wrote: And with that kind of grate I also would make it more aggressive by welding a few spikes on the top of it to replace as much as possible the poking under the grate.
Some of these spikes would be bent to rake the sides and also guide the grate itself when going front to rear...
Just suggestions, sometimes work sometimes don't!
Yes, so many grate models... But the swivel type seems to my opinion just slip under the coal bed. With some spikes on the top of them could get them more efficient.jpete wrote:I thought about that with my old WESO stove but I just don't like swivel type grates. I don't think they do a very good job.nortcan wrote: And with that kind of grate I also would make it more aggressive by welding a few spikes on the top of it to replace as much as possible the poking under the grate.
Some of these spikes would be bent to rake the sides and also guide the grate itself when going front to rear...
Just suggestions, sometimes work sometimes don't!
On the Chubbys' video,( and a vey good and pro. video), I found that the stove needs too much rocking on the shaking lever. A few spikes on the top and a few around the grate directed toward the outside of the grate would give a good ash shake and would avoid ash build up around the fire pot at the base.
- Poconoeagle
- Member
- Posts: 6397
- Joined: Sat. Nov. 08, 2008 7:26 pm
- Location: Tobyhanna PA
thats the very same set up on the kodiak and honestly don't have much trouble with it.
the fact that the coal bed overlaps the diameter of the grate by several inches on two sides , makes for a "ashed up" area that needs creative poking every 3 days is my concern with the design.
usually now having learned to not overshake, it dosnt get stuck much anymore..... the nut coal from mengel's seems to be pretty good this year, again
the fact that the coal bed overlaps the diameter of the grate by several inches on two sides , makes for a "ashed up" area that needs creative poking every 3 days is my concern with the design.
usually now having learned to not overshake, it dosnt get stuck much anymore..... the nut coal from mengel's seems to be pretty good this year, again
I'm right there with you, folks. This being my first year and also being a novice, I screwed it up royally the other evening when I tried to light up. I used charcoal, but I didn't have enough of a good base. I threw in coal too soon, and then some more charcoal, and then some more coal.....you know what I mean. After two solid hours of hovering over the stove, it died. I went to bed in a REALLY foul mood. But the next evening I tried again and had success. I can understand now why the preferred method is to light up once and keep it lit until the end of the season. It's a royal pain in the rear end to try and get it lit again. But I have to admit that it is DEFINITELY worth the trouble and effort.
- anthony7812
- Member
- Posts: 5141
- Joined: Sat. Mar. 12, 2011 2:04 pm
- Location: Colley,Pennsylvania
- Stoker Coal Boiler: VanWert VA 400
- Coal Size/Type: Buck/Anthracite
I get a good wood fire goin to start the coal fire. I love how the house friggen smells like woodsmoke for about an hour. I may be stocking a bag or 2 of charcoal here soon.
With time you will find some very easy and fast ways to light or re-light an anthracite fire. In fact now I find it not very much harder or longer than a ""good""wood fire.musikfan6 wrote:I'm right there with you, folks. This being my first year and also being a novice, I screwed it up royally the other evening when I tried to light up. I used charcoal, but I didn't have enough of a good base. I threw in coal too soon, and then some more charcoal, and then some more coal.....you know what I mean. After two solid hours of hovering over the stove, it died. I went to bed in a REALLY foul mood. But the next evening I tried again and had success. I can understand now why the preferred method is to light up once and keep it lit until the end of the season. It's a royal pain in the rear end to try and get it lit again. But I have to admit that it is DEFINITELY worth the trouble and effort.
-
- Member
- Posts: 267
- Joined: Sat. Jun. 25, 2011 7:00 pm
About shaking down that draw center grate. Does the stove have a little door above the grate. If it does you can get a STRAIGHT poker. The ones with the hook on the end are for wood. If you open that door and stick the straight poker in and move it around you will find that you clear almost everything with very little shaking of the grate. Works great for me. BY the way your grate center is burnt and will soon go away. Get it to a foundry and have one cast.