Most Technically Advanced Coal Only Base Heater Available?

BPatrick wrote:William here is tip for you. On the crawford, open the little oval door and srick in a 1/4 round rod with 90 degree bend and slide it all the way in parallel to the coal bed just above the grates. First scrape back and forth from the middle aiming to the outside of the firepot. Then turn the right angle tip down towards the grates and gently scrape back and forth going with openings in the grate. A ton of ash will come down like this with no dust. Do the same thing to the other side. Most of the time it will make the coal settle, if not, take the right angle of the rod and twist it upwards. It will make the coal settle down better than if it was shaken. I don't use the shaker on the crawford this is so effective. I thought cleaning ash with my Hearld Oak No. 18 was easy, this crawford is the easiest stove to clean. When you shake the crawford it does a decent job of cleaning the ash out but this method with the rod is perfect because the small oval door is right at where the grates are. Try this William and let me know what you think. This would work for any stove with a small oval door just above the ash pan and level with the grates. Saves tons of shaking.

Thanks for the Tip, This will work the same for the "Our Glenwood 111"...after all it is a Cousin

Your welcome guys for the tip. After all, with all the knowledge I've gotten from you, it's nice to give back. I never have to poke any holes from the top with this process. Instead of shaking the grates when it's time to get the stove going again, I slide the 1/4" rod with the right angle in between the grate and the coal bed. At this point there is a lot of ashes so it's easy and I go front to back. Then I twist the poker and the right angle is facing down or to the grates, by raking it all the way back and to the front, I'm in line with the grooves in the grates and a lot of ash can be removed this way, a lot more than by shaking alone. Be careful not to do it too aggressively as you can remove all the ash. I repeat this process on the other side and by the time I'm done, no shaking the grates, the coal settles down, like they have been shaken down, and no noise. I'm a night owl and in the morning I try to get the stoves going as quietly as possible. I've gotten it down to a science. I use stove coal. It's large so I usually grab the coal with my hands and spread it on the coal bed. This also is quieter. I found, when trying to do something at 6:00am, that it was quieter and worked better than shaking the stove. The best invention is that little oval door right below the loading door. It's right at level with the coal bed and grates.

William, I noticed you say that the Glenwood had a higher upper end then the Crawford 40. I'm not sure the meaning but I'll take a stab at it. Shaking the Crawford down isn't easy as it doesn't get enough ash out of it to get hotter burns, if that is what your going for. I found that shaking alone will get me a reload and burn time of 450 for a very long time. But, when I use the method stated above and remove more ash, I don't have to shake and the removal of the ash is easier. I let the stove get to 550, all the coals are red the top layer is almost completely red and shut it down into base heater mode with the mpd in 45 degree angle. This will run the stove from 550-800 if needed. I usually run the stove at 500, 550-600 during the bitter cold. I also found that I needed to modify the ash pan as it was too tall and disrupted the flow of air into the stove. On the Herald, I'd get the stove going and 1/2 the pot was red coal and 1/2 the pot wasn't, I'd have lots of blue flames and then shut it down for burn times. With the base heater, I need to let the coal get red. I've found that this Crawford will run at whatever temp you want it to.

BPatrick wrote:Your welcome guys for the tip. After all, with all the knowledge I've gotten from you, it's nice to give back. I never have to poke any holes from the top with this process. Instead of shaking the grates when it's time to get the stove going again, I slide the 1/4" rod with the right angle in between the grate and the coal bed. At this point there is a lot of ashes so it's easy and I go front to back. Then I twist the poker and the right angle is facing down or to the grates, by raking it all the way back and to the front, I'm in line with the grooves in the grates and a lot of ash can be removed this way, a lot more than by shaking alone. Be careful not to do it too aggressively as you can remove all the ash. I repeat this process on the other side and by the time I'm done, no shaking the grates, the coal settles down, like they have been shaken down, and no noise. I'm a night owl and in the morning I try to get the stoves going as quietly as possible. I've gotten it down to a science. I use stove coal. It's large so I usually grab the coal with my hands and spread it on the coal bed. This also is quieter. I found, when trying to do something at 6:00am, that it was quieter and worked better than shaking the stove. The best invention is that little oval door right below the loading door. It's right at level with the coal bed and grates.

William, I noticed you say that the Glenwood had a higher upper end then the Crawford 40. I'm not sure the meaning but I'll take a stab at it. Shaking the Crawford down isn't easy as it doesn't get enough ash out of it to get hotter burns, if that is what your going for. I found that shaking alone will get me a reload and burn time of 450 for a very long time. But, when I use the method stated above and remove more ash, I don't have to shake and the removal of the ash is easier. I let the stove get to 550, all the coals are red the top layer is almost completely red and shut it down into base heater mode with the mpd in 45 degree angle. This will run the stove from 550-800 if needed. I usually run the stove at 500, 550-600 during the bitter cold. I also found that I needed to modify the ash pan as it was too tall and disrupted the flow of air into the stove. On the Herald, I'd get the stove going and 1/2 the pot was red coal and 1/2 the pot wasn't, I'd have lots of blue flames and then shut it down for burn times. With the base heater, I need to let the coal get red. I've found that this Crawford will run at whatever temp you want it to.

I will certainly give it a try before the temperatures go up over the weekend. I have a slim poker (be quiet fred ) that would work just fine. One thing I've noticed that if you open the check damper while you are cleaning the fire, all of the dust gets pulled up the back pipe and outside.