Using a Hitzer 983 With Wood Exclusively ?

Hi,
I am putting my hitzer 983 that I purchased a few years ago into service and would love some advice on how to use it with wood only. I have a sawmill down the road that I get oak cutoffs from very cheap and have always used wood, never coal.
Anyway, I don't really know how to use it properly with all those vents, sliders on top, sliding damper, knobs on doors, slider on bottom door? help?
Can I eliminate the whole shaker grate assembly so I can fit more wood in for a longer burn?
I have a 6" triple wall outside chimney that terminates in my basement where the stove is located, btw I am replacing a nice little wood burner with this hitzer, cant remember the make model right now.
Any input would be appreciated.

I've never used a 983, so someone with firsthand experience might be able to chime in.....

However - In general, a coal stove will burn wood just fine, but it won't be nearly as efficient as a dedicated wood stove. Coal stoves are designed to have a large volume of underfire air, and a small amount of overfire air, which is just the opposite of what you want for a wood fire. Another issue is that in a coal stove, the overfire air is usually introduced into the firebox at a higher point than it would be in a wood stove. This means that the fire will be burning primarily with underfire air, which will make for short, hot burns. Attempting a lower burn will result in a smoky fire with lots of creosote buildup.

If you're set on not trying coal, I would suggest looking at an EPA rated wood burner. There are lots of options on the market that will get you long burn times, very little creosote buildup, and much more efficient use of your wood.

If you really want to keep the 983, I would suggest buying maybe a half dozen bags of coal and trying it out. You might like it! Coal is an awesome home heating fuel. It burns without smoke, creates no creosote, bugs and spiders don't live in it, and you get exceptional burn times. I was very iffy on coal until I tried it... now I'm hooked!

Good luck with whichever route you take!

thanks for the input, disappointed to hear about the air situation tho. that could put a real damper on my plans (pun?)
anyway, im not at all against coal, just getting wood so cheap I couldnt possible justify coal.
im also worried if I will have enuf draft from my 6" flue b cus the hitzer has an 8" opening. also, just put a reducer on it and the hitzer has a recessed opening, not a fan! I went and got some chimney cement caulk to seal around the pipe, disappointing.

The 6" chimney should be fine.

Just out of curiosity, how much does the wood cost?

Well, they load my dumptruck to the very top for $40 !!! My dump is a 1 ton cab and chassis with a 10x6 dumpbed and its approx 12-16" h with 2 oak boards each side for maybe 36-42" of overall height. Just approximately. Still, a lot of wood for the money. Kind of a big pain to use in a way but im poor so id rather work hard then pay more

Heated with wood in the 983 for the last 18 years..will out heat any EPA wood burner and their small little fireboxes. Can get a good 8-10 hour burn. Top air slides above the door half open and the bottom ash door slide vent half open. If you need more heat just open alittle more if you are to hot close them alittle more. Just leave the grate system in. Shake some of the ashes down about once a week always leaving some ash in to help insulate the firebox.

thanks for the input. Did u have the single door or the split doors with the knobs? I have the split w nobs. The guy from hitzer said I should use the spinner knobs and the upper sliders when burning wood and not the bottom slide in the ash door because that was primarily for coal burning to provide underfire air vs wood needing more overfire air?
Also, I have already eliminated the grates and lined the entire underneath with firebricks (and essentially covered the ash door) like my old woodburner to get a larger chamber to fit more wood in so I can get a longer burn time. I will just shovel out some ashes periodically like I always have. I didnt want to risk warping the grates if the ashes fill up as I was warned not to let that happen whether I was burning coal or wood.
Any thoughts?

I had to house sit for my friend a couple winters ago his sole source of heat is a woodstove with no grate. I thought that it was a huge PIA to shove the fire to one side scoop ashes then shove the firs to the other sid and get the rest of the ashes. All the stoves I have used had a grate of some sort and a ash pan so this was a forign idea to me and I didnt like it at all. Its much much easier and cleaner to shake the grate and empty the pan, but with wood there is little need to shake as the ashes fall through when you add wood.

That would b nice but thats a lot of lost space in this stove (the grate assembly)
Plus, its not really difficult, 2-3 minutes max. And, again I don't want to risk warping
The grates

Its your call. However if you take the ashes out before they build up high enough to touch the grate the grates will not warp, the incoming air will keep them cool.

Well, I want the room to fit more wood to get a longer burn. Wood just cant compete with coal when
It comes to a long burn. So I need as much as I can get.

i used wood exclusively for the 1st couple of yrs, with the grates, no problem. I now use wood at the beginning and end of the season, but burn coal dec ,jan,feb. coal is so much better... but not as cheap as your wood. you should have no problem with the wood, its a big box and the grates don't take up that much room. the convienence of emptying the ash pan is one of the great things of this burner.

i had a split door 983 in the other house and used it as Bobbi ,did what hitzer recomended...used the spinouts for air on the wood fires and the slider on the ash pan only for the coal burning..worked well..leaving the grates in was a plus for removing ashes and also getting the wood fire stoked up by letting air in the ash pan vent..never left ash pan vent open unattended while burning wood.

I use a 983 hitzer. I burn nothing but anthracite coal. Love it. It is so safe. I had two chimney fires burning wood. Now I don't worry about creosote and have a very warm house.

LDPosse wrote:I've never used a 983, so someone with firsthand experience might be able to chime in.....

However - In general, a coal stove will burn wood just fine, but it won't be nearly as efficient as a dedicated wood stove. Coal stoves are designed to have a large volume of underfire air, and a small amount of overfire air, which is just the opposite of what you want for a wood fire. Another issue is that in a coal stove, the overfire air is usually introduced into the firebox at a higher point than it would be in a wood stove. This means that the fire will be burning primarily with underfire air, which will make for short, hot burns. Attempting a lower burn will result in a smoky fire with lots of creosote buildup.

If you're set on not trying coal, I would suggest looking at an EPA rated wood burner. There are lots of options on the market that will get you long burn times, very little creosote buildup, and much more efficient use of your wood.

If you really want to keep the 983, I would suggest buying maybe a half dozen bags of coal and trying it out. You might like it! Coal is an awesome home heating fuel. It burns without smoke, creates no creosote, bugs and spiders don't live in it, and you get exceptional burn times. I was very iffy on coal until I tried it... now I'm hooked!

Good luck with whichever route you take!