Wagner Coal Stoker

MATTHEW D. · By: **MATTHEW D.** On: Sun Mar 11, 2012 9:13 am

Just thought I'd share some pic of a wagner coal stoker I worked on. I surprised the forum doesn't get more inquiries on these. There is a lot more than you would think that are still running. Check out the service dates on the panel....I think this house got It's money"s worth out of this unit. I like how they are designed with the ash bin inbedded in the basement floor. Parts are scarce... but I have been getting lucky finding some. I have 4 extra stoker units if anyone needs parts?

tsb · By: **tsb** On: Sun Mar 11, 2012 9:30 am

I'd say it needed a bit of a cleaning. Didn't see much unburned coal
in the ash. Do you have any pictures of it burning ? I didn't notice
any access ports.

MATTHEW D. · By: **MATTHEW D.** On: Sun Mar 11, 2012 9:45 am

I don't have any pics of it burning....I should

Kinda hard to see inside. Give me a few days I'll get some

Townsend · By: **Townsend** On: Sun Mar 11, 2012 10:49 am

Matt, you do really nice work and I appreciate all the great pics you take showing different stages of service, parts, etc.

Once again, thanks for being out there keeping these great coal stokers running.

Rob R. · By: **Rob R.** On: Sun Mar 11, 2012 10:58 am

From where I sit, it looks like the stoker is in good shape. Interesting design...ratchet feed, rotating pot, and some really heavy duty air rings. I bet it will run beautifully when you get it fired up again.

whistlenut · By: **whistlenut** On: Sun Mar 11, 2012 11:20 am

Matt, once again, thanks for another 'window' to the world of coal appliances. It is truely amazing that the Oil and Gas Merchants edged the coal industry to the sidelines after WW2. Here we are in 2012 rethinking the use of 60 to 100 year old products, that perform in the 70 to 85% efficiency range. I burn in AA's as old as 1951, daily! Some aquastats are original, even one motor. Open them up in the late spring and they are looking as good as new. EFM units are equally bulletproof; sure some waer parts, but we are talking about 50 of 60 years of wear AND they still are running well. WOW! Matt sees the 'big guys' also, and that is where the true value of BTU production reins. Now ' Leisure Line' takes a great boiler from AA and adds today's smaller and equally bulletproof stokers to an already efficient boiler. Good thinkin' guys. Keystoker is making the same simple yet bulletproof rigs also. Harman copied the EFM bottom feed and has good results. CoakJack is a similiar design along the lines of the Leisure Line. Losch is an old favorite, and an excellent machine....GJ and Van Wert still are extremely durable and well made. Van Wert looks like a offshoot of the EFM design, don't know who can first...the chicken or the egg.
I defer to Jay, our resident knowledge base.

Many oi the commercial models Matt services must have been part of a much greater manufacturing base...there are lots of huge buildings out they and they all needed heat in the winters......

MATTHEW D. · By: **MATTHEW D.** On: Sun Mar 11, 2012 7:54 pm

Thanks for the compliments guys....it truely is a step back in time in some of these basements. Actually Rob I did that work back in October and it is burning great. It needed a new coal pipe and a good cleaning!!! I'm in the process of sorting my stoker pic from all my family pic when I came across them. I'll post some other pic of jobs as I sort things out. The more I do these jobs, the more I realize that every stoker has a story. I'm becoming just as interested in the people and the stories they tell me while I work on them. Some very interesting stuff these people tell me about tending to their stokers their entire life and living in the coal region.

gaw · By: **gaw** On: Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:22 am

From the front it looks a lot like the Loline boiler in my mother’s house sans the feed tube. The Loline has an EFM stoker. I don’t know what model number it is but it is a hopper fed stoker with the motor, fan, and ratchet underneath the hopper. It has an ash pit located to the side just like the Wagner in your picture. The problem with those ash pits is that you eventually wear holes in the bottom of the ash tubs dragging them out of the pit. Another potential problem is they can fill with water, I think moms had water in it once or twice that I can remember, that part of the basement was slightly higher than the rest. I wonder if those ash pits were made by the boiler company and included with or were they made for or by the installers. It was an interesting idea but look at all the extra work to install and also extra space needed on that side of the unit.

Do you run into any Loline boilers Matt?

MATTHEW D. · By: **MATTHEW D.** On: Mon Mar 12, 2012 6:50 am

Do you run into any Loline boilers Matt?

I have run into some Loline boilers in the past. I work on a similar setup like your moms. It had an EFM 16A slid under a Loline boiler.... hopper fed ..motor, ratchet ,fan ,under the hopper . Sounds like the same setup... sorry no pics of that. This wagner acually had a small triangular dolly with a long handle on it. The ash can sat on the dolly to prevent the ash cans from wearing out. I would assume the ash pit and the dolly were made by the boiler company.

MATTHEW D. · By: **MATTHEW D.** On: Tue Mar 13, 2012 7:00 pm

I put together another wagner stoker and took some video of it working. I'm having problems uploading it...need technical help. So here are some pic untill I figure it out.

stovepipemike · By: **stovepipemike** On: Wed Mar 14, 2012 8:33 am

Matt ,Thanks for posting the above pictures of the stoker.That Wagner looks to be the picture of rugged simplicity.I would love to have one to just sit in the shop on its own pedestal and admire. Wow they are neat!! When I study that design, it reminds me why the world used to be led by American products and know-how. Mike

MATTHEW D. · By: **MATTHEW D.** On: Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:12 am

stovepipemike wrote:Matt ,Thanks for posting the above pictures of the stoker.That Wagner looks to be the picture of rugged simplicity.I would love to have one to just sit in the shop on its own pedestal and admire. Wow they are neat!! When I study that design, it reminds me why the world used to be led by American products and know-how. Mike

You are exactly right , Mike. I also like how they designed the base for easy cleaning and repairs. I'll post a pic later of all the wagner parts I have. Maybe we can work something out.

LsFarm · By: **LsFarm** On: Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:23 am

I believe the reason that we don't see more of these, is that they were 'built in' when the house was built, or at least the basement floor poured..

For someone contemplating installing a Wagner, you not only have to do all the usual coal bin, plumbing, and chimney figuring, but you also have to get a concret guy involved, to either raise a platform with a ashpan slot, or have a slot cut in the floor, and the ashpan slot created..

Either way, it's a much simpler,, or at least simpler operation to install an EFM, Keystoker, AA, AHS etc. one or two less contractors, or tradesmen to have to deal with.

The unit is really heavy duty, I like the rotating pot, What size is the feed auger?? could it feed Pea size anthracite? which is roughly 'stoker size' bituminous?

What is the design of the boiler inside? similar to the GJ, or more intricate like the EFM's ??

Greg L

MATTHEW D. · By: **MATTHEW D.** On: Wed Mar 14, 2012 6:18 pm

I agree Greg, no one is willing to go through all that to install one of these. I was refering to any general questions on them, troubleshooting, parts, what the hell is this in my basement? Questions like that. Anyway they have a 2 1/2 in coal pipe and burn buck very nice. Don't know anyone burning pea in them. I'll ask around.

Stovepipemike here are some pic of the units I have if you are looking for a souvenir. You could make one hell of a firepit for your back patio with one of these. Just an idea :lol:

gaw · By: **gaw** On: Thu Mar 15, 2012 3:12 pm

MATTHEW D. wrote:I have run into some Loline boilers in the past. I work on a similar setup like your moms. It had an EFM 16A slid under a Loline boiler.... hopper fed ..motor, ratchet ,fan ,under the hopper . Sounds like the same setup... sorry no pics of that. This wagner acually had a small triangular dolly with a long handle on it. The ash can sat on the dolly to prevent the ash cans from wearing out. I would assume the ash pit and the dolly were made by the boiler company.

Thanks for the reply. A dolly for under the ash can sounds like a great idea. Those pictures make the Wagner look like a sweet little stoker. (little may be the wrong word)

LsFarm wrote:I believe the reason that we don't see more of these, is that they were 'built in' when the house was built, or at least the basement floor poured..

For someone contemplating installing a Wagner, you not only have to do all the usual coal bin, plumbing, and chimney figuring, but you also have to get a concret guy involved, to either raise a platform with a ashpan slot, or have a slot cut in the floor, and the ashpan slot created..

Either way, it's a much simpler,, or at least simpler operation to install an EFM, Keystoker, AA, AHS etc. one or two less contractors, or tradesmen to have to deal with.

Greg, it is definitely more work to install a Wagner or any other boiler with an ash pit but the boiler in my mother’s house was installed in the late ‘40’s. Her house was built in the late 1800’s or early 1900’s I would guess her house was not the only one to have a boiler requiring the digging of an ash pit installed long after the house was built, after all most of those old cellars were dirt so now along comes new heating technology why not install it and pour the cellar floor at the same time or at least cement the area of the floor where the boiler goes. By the way many old homes have the coal bin on a dirt floor, why waste the money on cement there and it also lets the water drain out of the coal without seeping out on the floor.

It would be interesting to know what happened to Wagner; bankrupt, bought out, evolved into manufacturing something else, or what and why.

Wagner Coal Stoker

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Re: Wagner Coal Stoker