Buckwheat in the Keystoker 90!

a few days ago, I went and bought 3 bags of buck (Jeddo from Hazelton) and WOW what a difference in overall burn and performance! I'm hooked, I can't wait to get through the rice (Blaschak) that I have left. I am going to burn nothing but buck from now on. One thing I noticed, that doesn't make sense to me (forgive, this is only my 3rd winter with coal) is the flames don't seem as high and as blue with buck as rice. The flames did reach the top of the stove but it seemed not as vigorous. I did notice the stove burned a little hotter also which makes sense with the increased air through the coal. I did increase my feed rate 2 turns and had about 1.5 to 2 inch of ash on full burn. I didn't change my combustion air though (Keystoker said it wasn't necessary). The flap is 1/2 open. I got much better burn with buck and no clinkers, just a curious observation on the flames. My draft is set at factory spec of -.02. Rice packs tighter than buck so I would expect less flame with rice and more with buck. Can anyone shed some light on this that burns buck?

Some of the differences you are observing may be due to the change in coal source, not necessarily the size. It is common to bump the feed rate up with buck, adjust air to get the proper amount of ash on the grate.

I agree, it's probably just the coal itself, not the sizing.

Sounds logical. I noticed also I seemed to get less ash with the buck, which I like. All around I can see no downside to buck other than some suppliers around here don't carry it. Ziegenfus in Palmerton does, that's where I got the bags.

So, I am 2 turns out from max feed on the buck. If I need a little less ash on the grate at full burn I can close the air flap a little to burn a little slower?

I would double check with Keystoker. The last time I read the manual for those models, it said to use rice coal only!

mariohotshot wrote:I would double check with Keystoker. The last time I read the manual for those models, it said to use rice coal only!

Yes, they said you can burn buck as long as it's not a direct vent stove because they are prone to hopper fires with buck.

How does it meter? I had thought keystoker said buck didnt flow as well as the rice would and was prone to jams from the hopper? Aslo do you think it is more effecient, as in pounds of coal burned to equal same output?
Thanks as I also have a keystoker 90 that I have been overly enjoyed to start burning this year.

ytseman3 wrote:

mariohotshot wrote:I would double check with Keystoker. The last time I read the manual for those models, it said to use rice coal only!

Yes, they said you can burn buck as long as it's not a direct vent stove because they are prone to hopper fires with buck.

You are correct on this. I still don't understand the logic though

I had no problems with it feeding or getting stuck, the only thing I had to do is increase the feed rate a few turns to get the same heat output as the rice because the buck doesnt pack as tight and has more air space. As far as efficiency, it was explained to me by another member on here that a pound of coal only has so many BTU's and it doesn't matter what the size of the coal is, it will still take about the same amount of coal to heat the house. It's just that the buck seems to burn better for me. I think of it as putting a less restrictive air filter in your car, lets it breath better and work a little easier. Not sure if that's the best analogy, but you get the idea. It just felt like the buck was "the right" coal size for me based on my application which has the stove in the basement. I saw my clinkers go away, the fire would come alive and reach high output faster which kept my upstairs temp more even between idle time and fire time. I only had 3 bags and it's gone now, i'm back to all rice and it does burn well also but I definitely like the buck better. I'm hooked.

ytseman3 wrote: I saw my clinkers go away

That is one of the biggest advantages of buck in an inclined bed stoker.

I;ve run buckwheat in my Keystoker to prevent the clinkers when it was really cold years ago, and had no problems. my dealer suggested it. I ran 100% buck and then backed it down to 50/50 mix and it worked fine. I had some clinkers form when I pushed the stove very hard when it was really cold and the clinker formed pushed into the glass and backed everything up and it made the fire go out. it was a mess! I don;t think I made any changes to the settings, it seemed to burn just fine.

This is the complete other side of the coin for me. When I bought my house this past fall there was 2 ton of coal left with the stove. One ton of rice and one ton of buck. I'm running and older Keystoker Ecno 70. When ever I ran the buck straight I had nothing but problems. Most of the time it would just slide off the incline burner for no reason. It'd run fine for two days then you'd open up the stove to check everything (no glass) and all the hot coal would be in the ash pan. So I'd adjust the feed back and I would barly get enough heat to keep the kitchen warm. I switched to running 95% rice coal. I dump a coffee can of buck into each hopper when I fill up to just use up the buck. I need my garage space back going all bulk next year. No more bags

I assume an incline burner is slanted down, my stove has a flat grate design which prevents that problem I assume.

ytseman3 wrote:I assume an incline burner is slanted down, my stove has a flat grate design which prevents that problem I assume.

You are correct. Could be the reason. I'm not sure why the guy burned it but it doesn't seem to be very good for my set up.

Dennis....I just had a thought regarding your buck coal sliding issue. Did you check to make sure your stoker is level front to back? If it is 'leaning' a little forward maybe that is enough to change the angle of the grates and cause the coal to slide off?