Coal Hopper Redesign

Hey Jerry have you though of modify the hopper's on your stove's. often i have
to direct the coal towards the center of the hopper. I have Pioneer and
the hopper hold 110 lbs as you know, but with the square bottom it seems that when the hopper is full and unattended
the stove would burn only 75 lbs of coal with out moving the coal towards the center.
have you though of a 30* angle or better on the bottom of the hopper to direct the coal better. even if the
hopper held 80lbs of rice it all would be utilized and directed towards the feeder.

I was wondering the same thing i hate how the coal sticks to the side of the hopper i always try to build up the coal in the center once or twice a day.

someone here (I believe) pt some baffles in their hopper to direct more coal toward the opening. They significantly reduced the capacity of the hopper, but we able to "fix" the design. You'd have to increase the overall size of the hopper some 25% to allow for the correct shape (based on current designs)

Ideally, you'd have a round tube, but it would be 10' tall!

Looking at the same problem here. By the sounds of it I'm going to have to design and fabricate my own for the Econo. Going to make it taller and add some muffin fans into it. Looking for ideas though.

John

I beleive the reason for it is cost, you need to whole lot more bending and cutting to make a true hopper. The space in the hopper that is not used is going to be dead space whether it's angled correctly or not so you're not gaining anything.

I have a Channing and the hopper has sloped sides and the coal still stays gets caught on the sides. I check it daily and use a wooden spoon or the lid to pile the coal in the middle. You don't want too easy do ya? Will the Coaltrol my stove is very lonely.

I agree i need a reason to go play withe the stove now that i have a girly man stove. My hyfire ll is way better than that handfired I used to have. It is very lonely though . I dont know if the stove could get any better than it already is

Richard S. wrote:I beleive the reason for it is cost, you need to whole lot more bending and cutting to make a true hopper. The space in the hopper that is not used is going to be dead space whether it's angled correctly or not so you're not gaining anything.

The other things are physical size and weight when full. I don't know about you, but I don't let the hopper get more than 40% empty (60% full) without refilling it to the top.