Another Stove Question

franco b wrote:

top top wrote:Ok, I'll bite. What is wrong with the Kodiac grates? I have had rocking grates before, but only burned wood. This is my first year with coal so I have nothing to compare to. I am happy with the Kodiac, but then I may not know what I'm missing.

It's difficult to answer many questions for fear of denigrating someone's stove that they are quite happy with.

Don't worry about that. I just bought it and use it, I had nothing to do with designing and building the thing. The things you speak of were the exact thoughts I had before I installed it. The grates don't "shake" at all, it just rotates side to side. I probably would not have bought it except I got a brand new, never fired stove from a reputable company for half price.

As stated, this is my first year with coal so I don't know what I don't know. The stove seems to work very well, but that doesn't mean something else wouldn't be better. I used the stove for about a month then shut it down for inspection. I found several clinkers in the stove so I know it makes them, but in the ash pan I see small pieces that look like they came off a clinker. The rotating grate seems to act like a meat slicer, just grinding up the clinkers into small pieces then they drop into the pan. A few times something jammed the grate. But since the grate is never "open" like rockers are, I just left it sit a couple hours. When I came back to it whatever jammed the grate was either consumed or softened enough by the heat that the grate was no longer jammed. But poking the fire is a must, else the bed will plug up with ash and choke off the air. The sides of the fire box are sloped, not vertical, and I think that contributes to the ash buildup in the corners.

Anyway, don't worry about offering constructive criticism about my stove. I don't think anyone could be so thin skinned that it would bother them. No one can be experienced with every stove and how could we learn without honest and open conversation.

top top wrote:Anyway, don't worry about offering constructive criticism about my stove. I don't think anyone could be so thin skinned that it would bother them. No one can be experienced with every stove and how could we learn without honest and open conversation.

You are right but the problem is most criticism is not constructive unless something can be suggested in the technique of operating the stove such as you have done in overcoming the problem of ash build up on the sides. A problem that the designer should have foreseen and corrected.

Undersized ash pans or pans that don't collect all the ash; grates that don't cover the whole bottom of the fire box; too shallow a slope in the fire box; grates that take too much effort to clear ash effectively, and most important steps taken to make dealing with ash as clean as possible.

An example of dealing with the last problem is the Modern Glenwood Oak. It has very effective prismatic grates which don't have to grind up the ash to powder which floats more easily. The stove base is slightly longer front to back which accommodates the cogs of the grate shafts without intruding into the ash pit and forcing a smaller ash pan. The ash door has a smaller door within it which when lifted up gives access to the two shaker shafts. In addition there is a sliding cover so that only one shaft at a time is exposed. When shaking no dust escapes and if the ash pan is lifted out instead of sliding out, no dust escapes. A lot of thought went into just this one aspect of the stove in contrast to most stoves where no thought at all seems to have been given to any of the problems that stoves have.

Lets see, put in coal, burn coal, shake, add coal, empty ashpan.

If the ash doesn't shake down well, a little creativity and you use a poker to clear the grates from underneath.
If the ash doesn't all land in the ashpan GASP !! well there are vacuums and small brooms to clean that stuff up.

Stoves burn coal, some burn better, some not as good. They all are better than burning wood or pellets.

Some very popular stoves have lousy grates, some very ugly stoves are loved by the entire family that it keeps warm.

BUT most people like what they have, some will defend what they have like it is their child.

Bottom line: burn coal, learn your stove's idiosyncrasies, enjoy the heat.

Greg L

LsFarm wrote:Bottom line: burn coal, learn your stove's idiosyncrasies, enjoy the heat.

Bad design is still bad design. Why fool with Pierce Arrow when you could have a Model A for a fraction?