pea coal in potbellied stove?

got a potbellied coal stove ,from RR boxcar, 10' wide 2' tall & round, no ceramic firebox.
got a bag of pea coal & getting clinkers. havent built the coalbed to 8" yet as i have been advised. been told to get nut coal or i'll smother the coalbed & get clinkers.
should i get a bag of nut coal & mix it ? 1/1 ratio?
should i layer the coal [pea & nut] & how?
i'd love to burn the pea coal alone if possible
thanx

Ten feet wide? My god man, you probably need egg!

Kidding aside, are you burning pea now? If so it sounds like its working. The nut may be a better choice, I'm not sure why you want to stick with pea. Anyway, mixing it won't be a big deal. Try it 4 parts pea to one part nut if you want. The nut is bigger and will leave bigger gaps allowing more air to get through. If it burns fine with pea, just fill it up and enjoy it. Without any refractory, be cautious of overheating it though. If the stove starts to glow, usually at the base, you will need to be careful. Nut will probably burn hotter than pea, so I would think that if your going good now, your probably all set.

I don't think you will get clinkers from smothering it anyway, those stove seem to burn very well and leave a fine ash. I would not expect many clinkers with decent coal.

bought a bag of pea & am getting clinkers. i'm new at this & been advised to get nut coal for better draft thru coal to avoid clinkers which i'm getting lots of. burning the pea in my pellet stove [hand fed] & may actually burn it. just trying to actualize my $8.35 investment. thanx for reply.

How hot are you running the stove? Running the stove too hot can cause clinkers, as can the coal. If you think the stove is running at a reasonable temperature, try a different brand of coal.