A few years ago, this forum taught me how to burn coal in my Yukon furnace. Thanks. However, as it's a weekend house, this means a new fire each weekend and it didn't seem practical for the time involved starting and then shoveling out next Friday night before re-lighting.
HOwever, experimenting on long weekends this winter, I learned to start the coal fire from the top -- this is far less tedious and time consuming then what I did before, and might make the weekend burn routine possible for next year. On Friday nights, I still have to shovel out last weekends partial coal and ash mess, figure out some way to sift, yuck, and load 40 lbs of coal into the furnace, make a drink, help with dinner, etc. It may be doable if I could keep the mess down on Friday nights. I leave the place on Monday am
I was hoping to tease DennisH out of spring slumber and ask him specific Yukon questions. When he restarts, doe he just empty the rear coal and leave the front stuff alone? Does he just use any ole shovel?
Any advice?
Yukon Eagle
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Not familiar with your specific stove but with most stoves you can give it a good shake to get rid of ash. You will have left partially burned coal and some unburned left. Push whatever is in there to the front and back down to the grate and start your new fire in the hole in the middle. Cowboy charcoal will work best.
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Realsquare:
Here's what I would do, actually here's what I usually do all the time, burn time notwithstanding. I always start my coal fire out with a wood fire. Since Yukon Eagles are designed for both it makes it a LOT easier to get a coal fire going. If you're only going to be burning for a weekend, as I used to do before my wife and daughter moved into our U.P. house permanently (I still live in the lower for a little while longer!), this seems to be pretty easy. Plus, when you start out with a wood fire, you can tend to other business like dinner, guests, etc, while the wood is getting a good, hot bed of coals established. Then you can shift to coal, either late Friday night or Saturday morning, and burn happily away until Sunday evening. That's when I'd give mine a really good shake down for the coal ash, and from Sunday evening until I left on Monday morning, I'd just go back to wood for the night. I had no problem leaving the house with just a wood fire going, because once it burned itself out, that was it. Was also a lot easier to quickly clean up and get going again on the next visit!!
Here's what I would do, actually here's what I usually do all the time, burn time notwithstanding. I always start my coal fire out with a wood fire. Since Yukon Eagles are designed for both it makes it a LOT easier to get a coal fire going. If you're only going to be burning for a weekend, as I used to do before my wife and daughter moved into our U.P. house permanently (I still live in the lower for a little while longer!), this seems to be pretty easy. Plus, when you start out with a wood fire, you can tend to other business like dinner, guests, etc, while the wood is getting a good, hot bed of coals established. Then you can shift to coal, either late Friday night or Saturday morning, and burn happily away until Sunday evening. That's when I'd give mine a really good shake down for the coal ash, and from Sunday evening until I left on Monday morning, I'd just go back to wood for the night. I had no problem leaving the house with just a wood fire going, because once it burned itself out, that was it. Was also a lot easier to quickly clean up and get going again on the next visit!!
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I think your answer of switching to wood on sunday is pretty smart-- that way there will be less stuff to shovel out next Friday. Maybe I should worry less about mixing ashes, I was using the wood ash for the mulch pile.
When you're faced with last week's partial burn/ash inside the chamber, do you try to shake most of the ash down thru the grates are just start shoveling?
I really, really really, like a coal fire. The furnace will kept the house to 1/2 degree and it just hums away perfectly - it's just that friday shovel out problem I"m trying to avoid/ or reduce. On this forum they talk about doing it once a season --with wood that job is absent.
Do you buy Stove or Nut? I like Stove, I notice it's a little harder to start.
When you're faced with last week's partial burn/ash inside the chamber, do you try to shake most of the ash down thru the grates are just start shoveling?
I really, really really, like a coal fire. The furnace will kept the house to 1/2 degree and it just hums away perfectly - it's just that friday shovel out problem I"m trying to avoid/ or reduce. On this forum they talk about doing it once a season --with wood that job is absent.
Do you buy Stove or Nut? I like Stove, I notice it's a little harder to start.
- DennisH
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If the fire has gone cold I just start shoveling! I have been burning nut coal, because that's what the manufacturer recommended. However, this winter I bought four bags of stove coal just for fun, and wow, do I like it!! I got a nice fire going and put in 60lbs of stove coal. I didn't touch it for 18hours!! 18 hour burn time! That was huge! So, I'm getting 4 pallets of stove coal to add to my "collection" of nut coal. Yes, stove is harder to get going, but once going is it ever sweet!
- Duengeon master
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Dennis, Did you ever burn bit in your Yukon?
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I don't have that problem. I find the stove very easy to start, but I don't know, maybe it's my stove. Mine is made for stove coal not nut like yours. I've never notice any appreciable difference between starting any of the coal sizes - I do get a good wood fire going though...DennisH wrote:If the fire has gone cold I just start shoveling! I have been burning nut coal, because that's what the manufacturer recommended. However, this winter I bought four bags of stove coal just for fun, and wow, do I like it!! I got a nice fire going and put in 60lbs of stove coal. I didn't touch it for 18hours!! 18 hour burn time! That was huge! So, I'm getting 4 pallets of stove coal to add to my "collection" of nut coal. Yes, stove is harder to get going, but once going is it ever sweet!
dj
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No, I've never burned bit coal in my Yukon. In Michigan I frankly don't know where to get any. Had a hard enough time finding a good anthracite dealer, who OBTW, is fantastic!Duengeon master wrote:Dennis, Did you ever burn bit in your Yukon?
As for the "difficulty" of lighting stove coal vs nut, now that I think about it, the stove coal was pretty easy to get going with a good hot bed of wood coals. Being larger chunks, more oxygen circulates around the bed of stove coal than nut, which I believe helps combustion.