Crane 404 - Our First Coal Burner
- windyhill4.2
- Member
- Posts: 6072
- Joined: Fri. Nov. 22, 2013 2:17 pm
- Location: Jonestown,Pa.17038
- Stoker Coal Boiler: 1960 EFM520 installed in truck box
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Crane 404 with variable blower
- Coal Size/Type: 404-nut, 520 rice ,anthracite for both
blrman07,I knew you picked up & transported your coal in buckets,the member I was referring to stored his in many buckets. This way of storage will eliminate some work for us. We plan to keep adding buckets,we currently have over 70, I want to be able to store in excess of 1/2 ton of dry coal all the time
Yep big difference between 50 buckets and 7. I hit a basement mine and was given a ton of nut. I built a 2 foot wide, 5 foot long, 4 foot high bin out of 3/4 plywood and some 2x4's. It took me about three hours and a box of drywall screws. I sat it right outside the kitchen door. To get my coal now all I have to do is step outside 3 steps and I'm there. I'll still replace what I use with the 7 buckets a week but it will be nice not having to go get coal when the snow is blowing sideways!!!
- windyhill4.2
- Member
- Posts: 6072
- Joined: Fri. Nov. 22, 2013 2:17 pm
- Location: Jonestown,Pa.17038
- Stoker Coal Boiler: 1960 EFM520 installed in truck box
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Crane 404 with variable blower
- Coal Size/Type: 404-nut, 520 rice ,anthracite for both
Snow blowing sideways !! blrman07, must you remind me of that nasty stuff coming ? I've been enjoying the cozy feeling of a warm stove & forgot about how bad winter can get. Well, we had 40* this a/m,windy,raining,but in our house the Crane was silently heating @ 275*,the house temp was 74*
- windyhill4.2
- Member
- Posts: 6072
- Joined: Fri. Nov. 22, 2013 2:17 pm
- Location: Jonestown,Pa.17038
- Stoker Coal Boiler: 1960 EFM520 installed in truck box
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Crane 404 with variable blower
- Coal Size/Type: 404-nut, 520 rice ,anthracite for both
We got the whole way up to 40* yesterday & this a/m the low was 48*,today it got up to 63*,Sunny,window stats are now operating.
- Doby
- Member
- Posts: 477
- Joined: Tue. Dec. 02, 2014 9:57 pm
- Location: Elysburg PA
- Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Alaska Kast console and Alaska Channing III
- Coal Size/Type: Rice
- Other Heating: oil but not much
Maybe me!windyhill4.2 wrote:MA,good for you on the loss. warminmn, I actually got the idea from someone else on this forum who posted that he does it that way,I can't remember who........
- windyhill4.2
- Member
- Posts: 6072
- Joined: Fri. Nov. 22, 2013 2:17 pm
- Location: Jonestown,Pa.17038
- Stoker Coal Boiler: 1960 EFM520 installed in truck box
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Crane 404 with variable blower
- Coal Size/Type: 404-nut, 520 rice ,anthracite for both
Doby,are you the one who fills buckets & stores the coal in them until it goes into the stove ?
- Doby
- Member
- Posts: 477
- Joined: Tue. Dec. 02, 2014 9:57 pm
- Location: Elysburg PA
- Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Alaska Kast console and Alaska Channing III
- Coal Size/Type: Rice
- Other Heating: oil but not much
Yep I have 84 total somewhere in the neighborhood of 1 1/2 ton, the rest 55 gal drums and 45 G trash cans, heck I dump the coal from the can into the stove so why not store it in them
- windyhill4.2
- Member
- Posts: 6072
- Joined: Fri. Nov. 22, 2013 2:17 pm
- Location: Jonestown,Pa.17038
- Stoker Coal Boiler: 1960 EFM520 installed in truck box
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Crane 404 with variable blower
- Coal Size/Type: 404-nut, 520 rice ,anthracite for both
We were planning on building a bin till I saw your post in some thread,i told my wife we will try that way too,saves some work & the coal is already to use,just carry the buckets into the house .Thanks for the idea.
- windyhill4.2
- Member
- Posts: 6072
- Joined: Fri. Nov. 22, 2013 2:17 pm
- Location: Jonestown,Pa.17038
- Stoker Coal Boiler: 1960 EFM520 installed in truck box
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Crane 404 with variable blower
- Coal Size/Type: 404-nut, 520 rice ,anthracite for both
Woke up yesterday morning with an awful migraine,put me out of commission all day ,work-wise & I forgot the stove.Last nite as things started to cool down,i checked the stove.....125*....poked from below & left the ash door open for 10-15 min. till the whole stove was glowing with flames,closed the ash door,added more coal,set it for the night.This a/m the living area was 76*,stove was at 325*,outside was 42*. We were debating on letting the stove go out as the next few days will see highs in low 70*,but I am going to just let the ash build up to slow it down for the daytime,then revive it for the nighttime hrs.This coming weekend will be our next cool down & we will likely need the heat from then on.
- windyhill4.2
- Member
- Posts: 6072
- Joined: Fri. Nov. 22, 2013 2:17 pm
- Location: Jonestown,Pa.17038
- Stoker Coal Boiler: 1960 EFM520 installed in truck box
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Crane 404 with variable blower
- Coal Size/Type: 404-nut, 520 rice ,anthracite for both
Still dealing with a migraine again today,tho not as bad as the other day. I did manage to get a fair amount of work done in our shop & neglected the stove.... Seems that somewhere between 125* & 115* the fire goes out.So,we threw some paper & wood in,got it back on coal again,just in time for the cooler temps predicted.
- Rob R.
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- Joined: Fri. Dec. 28, 2007 4:26 pm
- Location: Chazy, NY
- Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 520
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Chubby Jr
Supposed to be 75 degrees up here on Monday. I think you will be cracking the windows if that 404 is still online.
Are you into the latest delivery of coal yet?
Are you into the latest delivery of coal yet?
- windyhill4.2
- Member
- Posts: 6072
- Joined: Fri. Nov. 22, 2013 2:17 pm
- Location: Jonestown,Pa.17038
- Stoker Coal Boiler: 1960 EFM520 installed in truck box
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Crane 404 with variable blower
- Coal Size/Type: 404-nut, 520 rice ,anthracite for both
That heat wave,yesterdays 75* is now past us,cooler temps are here.No coal delivery lately,waiting for $$Rob R. wrote:Supposed to be 75 degrees up here on Monday. I think you will be cracking the windows if that 404 is still online.
Are you into the latest delivery of coal yet?
- windyhill4.2
- Member
- Posts: 6072
- Joined: Fri. Nov. 22, 2013 2:17 pm
- Location: Jonestown,Pa.17038
- Stoker Coal Boiler: 1960 EFM520 installed in truck box
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Crane 404 with variable blower
- Coal Size/Type: 404-nut, 520 rice ,anthracite for both
Well, I sure am glad we have the stove running,we had 36* outside this a/m on our sheltered porch thermometer. The real test of just how cold it was showed on the cars & lawn tractors setting out,they had ice on them. We walked around to different spots of our garden & found leaves frozen stiff,with ice covering them. We could see white frost on many spots throughout, I love the growing season best of all the yr.,BUT,we do have a warm house,thanks to our coal burning Crane.
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- Hand Fed Coal Stove: V ermont Castings 2310, Franco Belge 262
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- Coal Size/Type: nut and pea
This is a good example of how difficult it is to get an accurate temperature reading. What seems simple is not so simple because there are other factors to consider.
The sheltered porch thermometer was probably the true air temperature yet ice was forming on areas exposed to probably what was a clear sky. Anything exposed to a clear sky will lose its heat to that very cold sky by radiation and water condensed and formed ice even though the air temperature was higher than 32 degrees. This can happen even at much higher air temperatures.
The sheltered porch thermometer was probably the true air temperature yet ice was forming on areas exposed to probably what was a clear sky. Anything exposed to a clear sky will lose its heat to that very cold sky by radiation and water condensed and formed ice even though the air temperature was higher than 32 degrees. This can happen even at much higher air temperatures.
- windyhill4.2
- Member
- Posts: 6072
- Joined: Fri. Nov. 22, 2013 2:17 pm
- Location: Jonestown,Pa.17038
- Stoker Coal Boiler: 1960 EFM520 installed in truck box
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Crane 404 with variable blower
- Coal Size/Type: 404-nut, 520 rice ,anthracite for both
Just yesterday my wife asked me to get the Crane heated up. She decided to boil red-beets in preparation for pickling them,i love pickled red-beets.So,the stove was filled with coal,primary air knobs opened more,i did hold the ash door open for a few minutes to start the heat build-up. We had to open a lot of windows to shed some of the heat,but the beets got boiled while the house was being heated & we got lots of fresh air in too.Amazing what one can do with a coal stove ,with such consistent heat output,gotta love coal.