Reducing Grate Area for Spring Burning

Devil505, The Harmon tlc should have 2 shaker grates, can you disconnect the back grate and just let ashes build up on it. My Keystoker hand fed manual says to do this to go from 90k to 70k. Bet it could work on the harmon. Let me know what you think.

SemperFi wrote:Devil505, The Harmon tlc should have 2 shaker grates, can you disconnect the back grate and just let ashes build up on it

I don't want to fool with the linkage connecting the 2 shaker grates. I was thinking of just reducing the size of the firebox with a few bricks & then just not using the shaker mechanism & poking from underneath....To much work!
I've never run the stove with a reduced coal load so I'll give it a try to see if it's worth it. I'm mainly retired now so I'm around to play with it!

Devil505 wrote:I'm going to try this experiment the first cool night when I just want a small, cooler fire: I'm going to just fill my firebox up about 1/3rd of the normal height.

Devil505, that’s what I did for a few years. In the mornings, I eventually tried filling on an angle; low to just cover the grates on one side and all the way to the top on the opposite side. This would yield a full width fire area in the morning and as the fire climbed thru the pile, the burn width gets smaller as the day gets warmer. Ash keeps the grates covered so little draft is lost as the day warms. At night I'd place a few small shovels atop the burn and rake out the fire to cover the bottom after it got going. It works best for me when it’s in the 40s at night and 50s during the day. If I tried this in warmer weather, I'd loose the draft when I shook and had a nearly impossible time keeping a small fire.

Since I reduced the fire box with the brick, the fire is so small that it's good for the nights in the 50s and days in mid 60s. I plan on pulling the bricks from one side as the weather cools, then all of them as it gets even cooler. At that point, I'll do the angled fill procedure again until it stays in the 40s and then it's filler' up time again

Devil505, what if you were to take fire brick and bolt it right to the back grate with stainles bolts. The mechanism would still function normaly but not allow a fire in the back. Just a crazy idea.