Hello All

coalkirk · Post by **coalkirk** » Tue. Jan. 08, 2013 9:14 pm

Yes, it is a stoker. I didn't mean to imply it was not. Just that a stoker is so much easier to maintain.

Rigar · Post by **Rigar** » Tue. Jan. 08, 2013 9:14 pm

Hi keving...
..welcome to the forum...you will def find answers on this site..as well as some priceless commentary !
Coal burning IS ADDICTIVE......youre not alone
...stokers are the way to go (IMO)....although I do find myself "playing" with my keystoker twice a day...(by choice I will add)
...enjoy the cheap heat!

KLook · Post by **KLook** » Tue. Jan. 08, 2013 10:09 pm

Ha! Coal in the lobster trap! whoduthunkit? Yeah, I know all about the wind, I grew up looking out to sea near Cutler. It could make the coal sound like the pea in a whistle!

I don't think they are going anywhere. (The MEMCO's) You have done the best you can I would think unless you can make it more air tight. The doors on them were horrible. And mine was better then most.

Kevin

Say hello to the Shamay boys(spelling?) and the guys that come down to JB in the spring and play. I started playing in those tourneys in 1976 and never missed one until a few years ago. Met more people then I can remember in the gym and on the field.

Keving · Post by **Keving** » Wed. Jan. 09, 2013 5:48 am

Hi Kevin, Well now you got me thinking, maybe I should weld that door shut and just fill her through the chimney pipe hole.
A friend of mine was working with a contractor that got a job renovating the basement of the Stonington gym, I remember him growling about all the coal they had to dig out of there. I have no idea what they used for a boiler. I think the coal ended up being used for backfill, building a driveway or something to that effect. The boiler is probably being used as a boat mooring. This all happened 20 plus years ago.
Yes I know all of the Ciomei boys, they were born with a baseketball in their hands.

michaelanthony · Post by **michaelanthony** » Wed. Jan. 09, 2013 9:52 am

Keving wrote:LOL, I drive my coworkers crazy at work jawing about my coal boiler. I am glad to hear I'm not the only one.

..my coworkers stopped talking about heating their homes in front of me, they know my come back all too well

Welcome mainah, freddy's a good guy, maybe we can talk him into a maine coal burner meet and greet, I understand he has about 1000 acres down there we can crash on!

Keving · Post by **Keving** » Wed. Jan. 09, 2013 6:17 pm

Hi Michael, Are you enjoying the heat wave up there in Millinocket? High 30's here today, riding around in the truck with my arm out the window like it was summertime.

joeq · Post by **joeq** » Wed. Jan. 09, 2013 7:32 pm

Aye Kev, riding in your truck with the window down? Do you have a parlor stove inside it too? welcome to the forums. You say you can't get enuff play time on your stove? I'll trade you my hopper fed Surdiac. It needs grates cleaned every 3-4 hrs or the fire starts to fade. I'ld kill for 12 hr burn times with no fussing. Bye the way, interesting original post pic of your "purple" coal fire. Is that photo shopped or what?

Keving · Post by **Keving** » Wed. Jan. 09, 2013 7:50 pm

Hi Joeq, That would be a novel idea to have a stove pipe sticking up through the cab of the truck and a coal stove in place of the passenger seat. No photo shopping on the pic, I used my cell phone to take it and I think the brightness might have fooled it a bit. Geez, I think cleaning grates every 3 hours might take the fun out of coal burning. Any idea whats causing that to happen?

michaelanthony · Post by **michaelanthony** » Wed. Jan. 09, 2013 8:02 pm

Keving wrote:Hi Michael, Are you enjoying the heat wave up there in Millinocket? High 30's here today, riding around in the truck with my arm out the window like it was summertime.

January thaw I guess, don't know much about memco boilers but you seem to have a good grasp of it ( I'm not talking about the other arm

)

Keving · Post by **Keving** » Wed. Jan. 09, 2013 8:24 pm

I think the timing was right for the coal boiler. Its kind of like having a second wife, only difference being I have to feed her with a shovel.

joeq · Post by **joeq** » Wed. Jan. 09, 2013 9:59 pm

Geez, I think cleaning grates every 3 hours might take the fun out of coal burning. Any idea whats causing that to happen?[/quote]

For some reason, when the coal burns, it leaves this nasty pile of ash!

CorrosionMan · Post by **CorrosionMan** » Mon. Jan. 27, 2020 5:31 pm

Don't pay attention to some here that claim a stoker is the way to go. They are likely city folk, or worse yet, millennials! What will stoker people do with a zombie outbreak ?!? Or SARS, or a meteor stike that causes a SHTF situation. Damn kids, get off my lawn. No respect. My Grandpa used to say something about more money than sense.

Anyways, a hand fired is where it is at. You tend once or twice a day, very little to break, quick learning curve and cheaper. What more could you want?

freetown fred · Post by **freetown fred** » Mon. Jan. 27, 2020 5:37 pm

Indeed C. Couldn't of said it better myself!!!

Toddburn · Post by **Toddburn** » Mon. Jan. 27, 2020 6:26 pm

Well put C!!! Anyone here can read the novel Hoytman has written on how to operate a hand fired stove in “first fire in a few days” it tells every possible senerio that happens, can happen, can’t happen, probably will happen, and will not happen. It’s a novel that leaves no coal unturned! Hoytmans novel is going to end up in a museum! Job well done! It teaches everything I do mean everything about a hand fired stove!

Post by **Lightning** » Mon. Jan. 27, 2020 7:41 pm

Baaa.... I ran a hand fed for 8 years. It was a good learning experience. I don't miss the shake and load a whole lot with running the AA 130 this year. There are work arounds to make your own electricity. Small genny? Solar or windmill with battery bank? A close stream for a micro hydro setup? Hamster in a squirrel cage?

Use a hand fed for a back up