What Brand of Stoker Stove Is Best

I thought the link I gave you to read may explain why I would select the harmans as the best for burning the coal, I am not sure whether you looked at it or not, read the link, and try to put 2 and 2 together, you'll see why I select the Harmans.

If you can not figure it out, then I would say:

Harmans are the best for burning ! Harmans are the best for burning ! Harmans are the best for burning ! Harmans are the best for burning !
. Harmans are the best for burning ! Harmans are the best for burning ! Harmans are the best for burning ! Harmans are the best for burning !
. . Harmans are the best for burning ! Harmans are the best for burning ! Harmans are the best for burning ! Harmans are the best for burning !

TAKE CARE AND GOD BLESS RICK !

GeorgiePorgie wrote:I thought the link I gave you to read may explain why I would select the harmans as the best for burning the coal, I am not sure whether you looked at it or not, read the link, and try to put 2 and 2 together, you'll see why I select the Harmans.

If you can not figure it out, then I would say:

Harmans are the best for burning ! Harmans are the best for burning ! Harmans are the best for burning ! Harmans are the best for burning !
. Harmans are the best for burning ! Harmans are the best for burning ! Harmans are the best for burning ! Harmans are the best for burning !
. . Harmans are the best for burning ! Harmans are the best for burning ! Harmans are the best for burning ! Harmans are the best for burning !

TAKE CARE AND GOD BLESS RICK !

How old are you???
So you are calling me stupid ("read the link, and try to put 2 and 2 together") and ranting like a child ("Harmans are the best for burning ! Harmans are the best for burning ! Harmans are the best for burning ! Harmans are the best for burning !
. Harmans are the best for burning ! Harmans are the best for burning ! Harmans are the best for burning ! Harmans are the best for burning !
. . Harmans are the best for burning ! Harmans are the best for burning ! Harmans are the best for burning ! Harmans are the best for burning !") because I quoted you saying it is just your opinion.
Hey relax, no reason to get your panties in a bunch you are entitled to your opinion and that's all it is your opinion.
By the way, I read your link. If you have so much knowledge of coal stoves why don't you give advise and actually help someone on the forum? Use your knowledge for doing good.

And by the way I hold the patent on my signature "Take Care and God Bless"

I love having a laugh !

But fo rthe serious side , here it is:

Rice Coal burns more efficiently or less efficiently depending on many factors, but one factor has do with the travel path angle and the proximity of coal particles toward each others, and that's what you were supposed to discover from the link, if what I have just stated were not true, George Somers wouldn't have been able to get a patent on his Keystokers with a horizontal grate !

Harmans on the other hand, push the coal from a lower angle, the rice coal travels up, horizontal, and down again, so it goes through all possible angles of burning, and that's why you rarely see unburnt ashes coming from a Harman stoker stove.

All other stokers stoves ( except for Auger fed ) with the grate having an incline, ( Older Alaska, Reading, and Leisure lines, etc ) would have more black particles of unburnt coal in the ashes .

Any more questions ?

I love joking around, and never meant any insults, no hard feeling !

And of course God Bless

Thought I was going to have to throw a bucket of water on you two.

When I was looking for a stoker stove, I looked at the Harman and the Leisure Line.
I ended up with the Leisure Line for two reasons. The price was substantially lower
and the feeder mechanism was much less complicated.

The Harman idea of burning on different angles might be a valid point, but the
radius grates and the mechanical pusher didn't appeal to me. The carpet and a
simple cam action makes more sense to me.

The Coal-Trol was also a consideration.

GeorgiePorgie wrote: I love joking around, and never meant any insults, no hard feeling !
And of course God Bless

No hard feelings here!! Let's start off on the other foot. Welcome to the forum.
Now lets go help where we can!!

Hi Rick:
Let's not get the water poured on us by TSB, even though I want to thank him for noticing some of my points, Hey they don't call me Curious George for nothing !

Anyway, Aside from the other factors that I pointed out earlier to consider ( looks, efficiency, etc ) few other things come to mind as well:

Weight and size of the stove is always something to be considered, I always liked the Alaska, because I can always manage to move it anywhere all by myself, you can easily dissassemble the Alaska, or the Reading by removing the doors, and take out the rest piece by piece, once that is done, you can manage to move the shell without any difficulty, I just transported one last week in a small minivan, without any help, it's hard to do that with the Harmans, or the Keystokers. For the Warmer weather season, I always take mine out of the house including going up and down steps, all by myself.

Other Menmbers posted about Leisure line having the best customer service, and I don't doubt they do, I believe all manufacturers have great service, they keep each other in check. I have dealt personally with the Reading Stove Company, Alaska, and a Local Harman dealer in the area, I can not complain about any of them.

The one major thing to consider, is the cost, if you can pick up a stove from a couple going through divorce, for real cheap, then all other factors are null !

If I think of anything else , I'll let you know.

I AM LOOKING FOR A REBUILT COAL STEAM BOILER. I HAVE A VERY LARGE (6000SQFT) OLDER HOME (1850) AND THE NEW OIL BOILER THAT I PUT IN
IT JUST TOO EXPENSIVE TO RUN. WHERE CAN I FIND ONE. I SAW ONE AT SOMEONE'S HOME THIS WEEKEND THAT WAS A 1950 EFM. IT WAS A REBUILD
AND RAN QUIET AND SMOOTH AND EFFICIENT. THIS IS WANT I WOULD LIKE TO PUT INTO MY HOME & USE MY OIL FURNACE AS MY BACK UP.
CAN ANYONE GIVE ME SOME GUIDANCE ON HOW TO PROCEED. THIS WEBSITE WAS GIVEN TO ME BY THIS PERSON. ANYONE THAT HAS A BOILER THAT
CAN DO WHAT I NEED, PLEASE GIVE ME A CALL. MANNYG 845 596-0934.

To me its one that works I like one that lets you go for 3to 4 days without looking at it! I got one that was made in 1943, and rebuilt in 2008, matt from carbondale,PA put it in he did a good job and knows all about the stove,and he will help me with anything that I need to keep it up and running, he will get you a good stove!(my stove is hooked to a oil burer so it can use the air ducked to head to house but it has a water jacket that also heats my water )

Dans58 wrote:I've been trying to figure out what brand stoker to buy. I found that most dealers says their brand is better than others. It seemed impossible to sort out the objective information from bias. So, I decided to talk to dealers that sold more than one brand as I thought they would be more likely to give the PROs and CONs of each stove. One dealer I talked to sells: Reading, LeisureLine, Alaska , Hitzer and Keystoker. He had all brands in stock, and openly said that of the brands he sells, Keystoker is the most efficient and the best quality stove. Surprisingly, he wasn't very high on LeisureLine. When I asked about the coal-trol thermostat, he said great device,but it was needed on the LeisureLine stoves. He felt that the coal-trol was how LeisureLine turned a "very inefficient" stove into a somewhat tolerable one. His opinion of Alaska stoves surprised me. I originally had thought about the Alaska Channing III, which he had in stock for $1550, but he cautioned me that "you get what you pay for". He felt the burner design on the channing was not efficient and said that they used more coal than other stoves . If someone was only looking at price, the Channing IIIs were a good deal. In the end, I bought a Keystoker DV90 that he had leftover from last year. It seems that Keystoker was one of the few brands that most people/dealers agreed were high quality. I guess only time will tell.....

I have no dog in this race because my burner was in the house when I bought it. I DO know my coal supplier carries a bunch of different lines but he says the keystoker is the best and the one he recommends for efficiency and quality. I think you'll be happy with your choice. Happy burnin'!!

GeorgieP: coal quality has as much if not more to do with the amount of 'black' in the ashes than the burner style. I can give a Harman stoker a dose of crappy coal that will look like salt and pepper in the ashpan, and I can give a different dose of coal to any flat bed or tilted bed stoker, even the inefficient Tri-Burner stoker and the ash will have no black in it.
You are making blanket statements that are based on your experience, which means they are your opinion.

Now, the Harman Mag is a good stove, but for the money?? nowhere near the top of the list. The Harman service sucks, plain and simple. Do a forum search for Harman Service, and grab a comfortable chair and your favorite beverage, 'cause you will have a LOT of posts to read from a lot of unhappy people. Harman does not set up their stoves for an efficient idle, we on the forum have figured out that the LL style of full time combustion fan is a very good modification for the Harman stoker. From the after the sale service, I put Harman dead last. Only the quality of the stove brings it up from the bottom of the list.

For the price, and the quality, and the unequaled service and innovation of new ideas, and new technologies that WORK, I say Leisureline for a stove. The right price, highly efficient stokers, excellent heat transfer [almost cold flue pipes] and exemplary service all through the ownership of the LL product.. make it #1.

Keystoker and Harman next, Alaska then Reading last..

Of course these are my opinions, based mostly on reading and moderating this site. Seeing many stoves in opperation, and reading about the issues, problems, and needed modifitcations to make a stove/stoker burn right and efficiently. My ownership of several LL products, all sold to very happy new owners also reinforces my opinion.

Greg L

Hi Greg:

When experimenting, I did not try two different doses of coal, my neighbor and I at one time, decided to split a load of coal , it was the same load from the same supplier, they ( neighbor ) have a Harman, and I had the Alaska, and to my surprise their coal ashes were very close to powdered white, and mine weren't ! I am sorry I don't own an infrared spectrometer to do a finer analysis.

I did mention in earlier post in the discussion, that Harman tend to be pricey, so we agree on that point. I do understand that taking into the formula the customer service is a creteria for many people for selecting a stove, but the stove is pretty much made of steel, it does not change, while customer service is based on the particular person servicing the account at some point, and people do change; the local Harman dealer was wonderful to deal with, other may not have been so great ! The leisure Line Customers happened to be lucky, and the new owners are geared toward customer service as well, if different owners had bought the company, and they had the Wall Street mentality, cutomer service would have been different, but the stoves would have remained the same !

I have never said anything bad about the leisure line stove, it's hard to obtain all these stoves and experiment with them. My posting had to do with what I have observed working closely with these stoves, watching other people posts is like watching the die-hard Chevy fans versus the Ford Fans. I try to be objective, afterall we owe this to the members and readers of this forum. Keep in mind , all stoves have their good points, that's what keep the manufacturer in business.

The best stoker? Keystoker and Leisure Line. Solid engineering, fabulous customer service, and the coal trol.
All others pale in comparison. Poke around the site, and you will see few if any problems with these brands. The few you
do see are set up issues, that for the most part are solved quickly. Power venting is another layer of complexity, that if
I had to deal with, I would probably not have a stove.

I have debated hopper handfired v. stoker for years. Finally, again, I went with a hopper. To me the noise is an issue. My dealer carrries Keystoker and Reading and swears by the Reading. RUns 2 constantly in his drafty old shop and keeps the chill off. Which one has the least noise for the living room?

I too do not like the noise. I replaced the factory combustion blower with a Dayton ball bearing equivalent replacement. I then put a small lenght of flex duct on that and it act as a muffler. The Dayton fan was quite a bit quiter, and the muffler incremented the sound a bit more quieter. The convection fan does not run too much but I have a Coal-Trol, which manages all functions quite nicely.

I've had the Harman Magnum stoker for two seasons and am real pleased with its performance! Its reliable and requires very little maintenance although it costs a little more than other brands. Pluses are that the heat is regulated with a wall mounted thermostat, the coal bed heat is adjusted with a wing-nut screw and the combustion controller is real simple to set (timer based). Also, I fill it once a day during the winter and once every 2-3 days during warmer days (just fill and forget - no shaking down required.) On the negatives - the blowers are a little noisy, so if its in a room where the tv's located, the noise could be annoying. It also requires electricity to run - so if your looking for heat during a power failure this isn't the one for you. Let me know if you have more specific questions. Good Luck!