DS Machine Anthramax Hand Fed Coal Stove Review

windyhill4.2 wrote:I mean no offense to anyone,hopefully none is taken from my sharing my simple thoughts about this .

I for one enjoyed your simple thoughts, just as I enjoyed the review of the Anthramax as it was delivered and the testing with and without the hopper.

It takes feed back of all sorts (Good & Bad) to stimulate each others brain. I find the tricky part of these computers is not offending anyone. I try to keep an open mind, and not B.S. people. I remind myself all the time; not to say anything on the computer, I wouldn't say to some ones face. I remind myself all the time; Although I'm hiding behind this computer, I'm talking to another human being. One reason I like this site is; I believe most all the members feel the same way. Yes, it can be tricky............ I too welcome your "simple thoughts" , as you put it.

windyhill4.2 wrote:Since this thread is about the review of the Anthramax & NOT about the Anthramax vs. the Ultimate base burner,i sure hope it can be steered back to the happy review thread that this started out as. I was very much enjoying the review from the OP's point of view,comparing it to other like stoves. While I have followed with great interest the thread of box stove to baseburner & admired the accomplishments & am now following with great interest the thread of modern era baseburner,i just do not see how those stoves fit into this stove's review thread along with so much negativity of the stove being reviewed. There are those who like to drive model T's ,but there are those who enjoy driving more modern cars,there are pro's & con's to everything in life. There are those who like the antique stoves even to the point of spending lots of time making molds & parts because no new parts are available & that is FINE for those who want to do that & enjoy doing that. (It makes me happy to see those who do that for themselves) Then there are those who want to buy a stove that is currently in production,can be hooked to a chimney & immediately put to heating ,no waiting to get parts made,etc. & can be had for a reasonable price.Not everything in life has to be studied to the nth degree, not everyone has to own IH or Farmall tractors because that is MY brand,someone needs to own those lesser brands too Personally ,i do not care what someone else buys,just don't make it sound like I am the most stupid person in the world for not choosing the brand that someone else has decided is the ONLY brand because that is their brand. ~~~ grobinson2 ,again,THANKS for doing this review,i did enjoy the early part of the thread & looking forward to more of the same less than nth degree,continuing real life use of your new stove. I mean no offense to anyone,hopefully none is taken from my sharing my simple thoughts about this .

^^^^ Very well said. ^^^^

I very much liked the review of the Anthramax stove, as I had one delivered to me a week earlier and welcomed someone else opinion of the stove, from a firsthand, owners viewpoint. I looked at the Hitzer and the DSM and felt the DSM was a better built stove. I prefer the door latches, the heavier weight of the stove in general, the knife edge hopper seal and the solidness of the hinges (the Hitzer's didn't seem as solid ). I would like to know (or maybe "understand" is a better word) why such hatred of DSM's stoves? If they are that bad, I would then ask, what else is out there that is better (with a hopper)?

Oh, and windyhill, other than maybe a Super A (which I don't own), I prefer plowing snow my JI Case VAC tractor and not a Farmall.....Just sayin'

I am enjoying this thread immensely. Been studying coal for a year now (old wood burner). DS seemed the way to go with the Circulator but the new stove is of interest. Need a tight stove I can run at an idle.

Appreciate good pics which Glenn is providing.

Old baseboards look great but at this point in time do not want to have to get to know a foundry owner on a first name basis.

Thanks all !

Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood Moooooooooooooooooorning Coal Burners,
Well, well, well... My problem is that I am a sarcastic smart ass even when face to face. That said I would agree that this thread has turned negative toward the DS Machine Company and that is a bit ridiculous as they are a great company. Back to the stove! I did a shake down last night and found out how to really wake the kids. haha... So for you AMAX burners out there if you are reading this thread and saying my stove is not that quite during shake down. When you grab the handle pull up on the handle just lightly when you shake back and forth with very very short quick strokes and it is VERY quite (For a coal stove shake down anyway). Last night I was in more of a hurry and just grabbed the handle and shook and it generated a little more noise then usual. I thought a bolt or something else in the linkage may have come loose but after playing with it a bit I realized what had changed. As far as the first goes it is in there just burning away. Same stove top temp and even though it was down in the 40's last night we are nice and toasty here this morning. If you are someone who is looking for a stove where you can load it and forget it especially if you are talking about using the hopper this is one heck of a stove. I do feel the baffle needs to be worked on a little bit but it really is a well built nice stove. That said I am still not a fan of the hopper for my personal use but if you are someone that wants a stove that looks modern but very nice and you like a hopper then you would be crazy not to take a look at this model.

Thanks again,
Glenn

grobinson2 wrote:Steve,
Well I am sorry to hear that all around. It is a shame we are so far away from each other and that your feelings about DS Machine have become negative. While I don't agree with the assessment about there newer stoves I can understand how someone might come to that conclusion being that they have made many changes. While I have not known the guys at DS for years and am not close personal friends with them I have found them to be very nice, hard working, honest people that are very open to improving there products if deficiencies are brought to there attention. I feel there build quality and attention to detail is above other stove manufactures of products I have used in the past and I like how they do not give you the impression that they know it all and you know nothing and to hell with your ideas, comments or concerns. I feel there new products may not be perfect but are light years a head of what they were producing 10 years ago. I like how they are putting time and money into further developing coal stoves when everyone else out there is producing the same old thing or even worse closing down there lines and pushing gas or pellet stoves.

As far as the baffle, if you look at the picture I posted on a previous page of this thread where I have the coal all piled up without the hopper in the stove. I am thinking if that baffle was solid and started as it does not just below the rear six inch discharge and then sloped upward as it went toward the front door and had secondary air holes all through it (Yes I know too many "and's") and by the time it almost reached the front of the stove it was closer to the top of the firebox it would force the exhaust gasses to slow down and burn before exiting out the back. On Tuesday I am going to go up to the show room and rip apart one of there CMax 75's before they can run around there counter and stop me and see if maybe that could be made to hold more coal. It would seem that the CMax75 has the potential to be a much more efficient stove for wood and coal.

On another note the A Max is just humming along this evening with a steady stove top temp of 275 F. Coal has gone down slightly especially in the middle where the charcoal was used to start the coal bed. Have a nice evening Guys!

Thanks again,
Glenn

Hi Glenn,

i see what you are presenting about a baffle for the AMAX now. should work. I too really like the grates and shaker on these stoves they work very effectively and with little effort.

you might be interested in the way I tilted the bottoms of the fire bricks out toward the edge of the grate line to eliminate the ash build up along the front and back edges and corners. it's in the conversion thread i'll look for it later and link it in if you like.

i hope you are successful getting into the CMAX 75. I had hopes for the direction it represents but couldn't inspect it close enough to disprove the doubts I had either. don't forget to post on what you find.

steve

Steve,
Yes Sir the ash lip in the front and back need to be delt with for sure. I like the idea of using the standard brick but putting them on an angle, (do you have any issues with ash buildup on the angled bricks like the Clayton furnaces do?). I was trying to think of a sulution for the elimination of the lip without having to use a proprietary fire brick and without having to change the size and shape of the grates. Thought about using the bars between the grates like Hitzer uses as they worked well. Once out of Church I will get on the laptop and take a look at how you did your bricks.

Thanks again,
Glenn

well if nothing else this has been a very good thread and good job to all !! keep up the good non arguing info. !!

Glenn,

i couldn't find the pics here but I did find them on my camera card.

here is all I have 2 pics of the back bricks moved out. I cut loose the little rods at the bottom, drilled them and the grate support plate and pegged them in place with roofing nails.

i did the front ones too but it's kind of hard to get that pic short of hanging in the stove upside down thru the hopper door.

these pics show the ash built up after all last yr. in Baseburner service.

Steve that is a great idea and I think I am going to try that as soon as this test batch goes out. Nicely done Sir. The A MAX is still humming along without need for loading or shakedown.

Thanks again,
Glenn

Good evening Coal Burners,
Just a quick update on the AMax. After 96 hours the stove is still humming along at 275 F. House has been perfect at night and okay during the day with every single window open. Hard to tell of course but I am guessing it will go out around this time tomorrow night give or take. Supposed to be in the 30's this weekend so I want to get the pea coal test started asap so I can keep the stove on a low burn. I was able to get into DS Machine today and take a look at the smaller and larger AMax. I think there may be a little misunderstanding about the differences between models. Just like the previous circulator models the new AMax line is differentiated by the number of shaker grates that are in each model. While of course there are more fire bricks as you go up in size they do not get taller or shorter but are instead deeper as in front to back to accommodate the extra grate(s). Hope your evening is a good one guys!

Thanks again,
Glenn

Thanks for the update

Glenn,

when you clean out this time, can you measure from ash lip to ash lip front to back and from grate rest to grate rest side to side ?

DBW, did you get to look into the C-Max 75 at all ?

thanks,
steve

Sorry Steve, it keeps melting my ruler. I will be sure to get you the measurements before I reload.

Thanks again,
Glenn

Good evening Guys,
Well this evening at around 10:00 PM EST the stove went out. That is 119 hours of total burn with the stove top temp being between 250 and 300 F. The stove was loaded with 107 pounds of nut/stove coal and as you already know this was done without the use of the hopper. So... While I am quite happy that I was right in my theory that I could get a longer burn by removing the hopper and loading the stove all the way to the top of the firebrick as we discussed in previous posts because of the way the baffle is currently designed it really was kind of a pain in the butt. Still 119 hours with a stove top temp of almost 300 F! I am really very very pleased. For a stock stove right off the showroom floor I just think these numbers are really quite good. If you are looking for a currently manufactured stove that burns well and is easy to maintain I think the DS Machine Anthra-Max should be on your list of stoves to check out.

Tomorrow night I will start the next test which will be pea coal and using the hopper. My predictions is that I will like the hopper much more when using pea then with the stove/nut and that I will get lower stove top temps but will get a longer burn time. The only thing that may also happen is a out fire. I feel this could happen the day after I start the stove. Once the coal has caught I turn down the bimetal thermostat to the lowest position possible and I close off the secondary air and close the MPD. At night I think it will be fine but during the day if we have a warm humid day I could see the draft not being strong enough and for the fire to go out. I also think I will get wasted coal between the front and back grates and the already explained and described ash lip. Obviously I will report back with pictures tomorrow night.

Steve, I will take those measurements you asked for tomorrow when I clean her out. Also I just noticed you asked if I had been able to look at the CMax75. I did and I was able to remove some of the firebricks and grates and look around inside one. I was very very impressed and my initial opinion is that it is a more efficient design then the AMax and looks like it takes WAY more time to build. I was very impressed with there welds and internal baffle design. Once you close it down it really does make all of your flue gasses pass by the secondary air tubes, then across the top of the firebox and all the way back down to the bottom of the stove and then all the way back up the back of the stove where you have the standard circulator tubes and then out the top. It looks like you would have to have some great draft on your chimney though for it to work properly. What I would be very interested in is a CMax with the door, shaker and handle upgrades of the AMax and one more grate. to make it a three grate stove instead of the two that currently come in the 75. I have spoken with quite a few local guys that have them and burn wood all the time and they have been very pleased. I only know one that burns coal and he has been pleased as well and he used a smaller Hitzer 50-35 for years. I might see if DS is willing to play around with a larger 75 as that might be a great combination. It would be very hard to put a hopper on though unless it was a Franco style hopper and not what DS and Hitzer burners are used too.

Thanks again,
Glenn