Benefits/Negatives of Stokers Vs Handfeds

My left hand is arthritic from the shaker handle, my right arm's muscles have grown without steriods from slinging coal into the Mark and my wife says I'm having an 20-30 minute affair with a hand fed 2-3 times a day.

At times I want to break up but still want to milk the cow's HEAT.

For you stokers that used to be handfeds, what is the main positives and negatives of a stoker vs a handfed ? Less ash issues? Electricity use? More maintenance? I'd enjoy hearing some long winded comments.

Never had a hand fed, but cut/split/hauled firewood for many years when younger at the folks...

I fill the stoker maybe once a day or less (depending on how cold) and empty the ashes every 1-2 days. I don't think there is any less ash. But, if really cold, filling and emptying almost daily.

Yes, the electric will go up some, but in the winter, I don't need a dehumidifer in the basement with the stove, but it runs only in the summer, so it offsets about the same. The electric stays about the same all year, maybe a bit more in the winter due to more lights on for more hours of the day....

Eventually my basement coal will run out, but not for the next few seasons. I can't even consider a stoker with all the odd sized coal I have. I was wondering about designing a personal breaker to make my own pea or nut sized! As of now I don't usually mind tending to my hand-fired. Bring in coal bring out ashes, better than writing checks to the oil man or my landlady!

I run hand fired stoves now.
Simple to run, electric not needed, inexpensive to install.
They need daily attention, no real automation.
I want an AA boiler so I am not tied to the stove.
It will be fully automatic, with a big bin and auto ash removal.
I read somewhere here that you can hand crank the AA if power goes out.
I will have a generator to power it and the house if the grid goes down.

I'll let you know in about two weeks. I have two hand shakers now.
I'm getting a Leisure Line Pioneer either this week end or next week.
When I get it fired up, I'll give you a report.
Burning coal now for about 30 years.

TSB

TSB,

If you neda hand installing or firing it up, drop me a PM. You're not that far away from me. Maybe, I can bring some hot coals up to jump start it.

Rick

I am really not aware of any draw backs to the stoker units......

I have both. My Harman mag produces less dust and I guess I could have longer burn time, but I like the hand fed more. Dont waste your money. keep the mark.

I'm happy as an oyster in June with my Axeman. I purposely bought an auger feed. I fill the bin once a year, empty ashes every two days this time of year. It uses about the same electricity as my oil burner used to. And, as with oil, no power, no heat. A small generator would cover that, but it's a rarity here that we lose power for more than a few hours.

Ran a handfire Efel for 20 years. For the last 3 year A Harman Mag stoker. Would not trade back to handfired. Stoker is easier, cleaner, and more stable. BTU output is better and as a result lower electric bills.

The largest pain was changing coal size from pea to rice. I ended up bringing home 25 of 5 gallon buckets - filled them and sold them to a neighbor.

The only negative is the distribution blower noise. My stove is located in a finished room.

Hand Fed: one movable part (grate) Requires no electricity Lower purchase price Window glass is not destroyed by hot ash Can last a lifetime with no major repair Quiet Easier/cheaper to install More tollerant of coal size and debris Can burn wood regularly or in a pinch
More attractive fire

grizzly2 wrote:Hand Fed: one movable part (grate) Requires no electricity Lower purchase price Window glass is not destroyed by hot ash Can last a lifetime with no major repair Quiet Easier/cheaper to install More tollerant of coal size and debris Can burn wood regularly or in a pinch
More attractive fire

same here! love the hotblast, not many can say they love hotblast. im burning wood now to kill the chill instead of having the house up to 85 degrees. cant do that with a stoker!

No, with a stoker you can't burn wood, but with a stoker, you can just turn down the fire!! No need to change fuels!

Greg L

mudman wrote:same here!

Make that three of us!!

& not much more work to operate. I spend less than 30 minute/day running my TLC when temps aren't frigid.

30 min a day? Where do you find the time? I spend 10 min a day. 5 min first thing in the morning, and another
5 min before bed. That is with an undersized stove running at max capacity 24/7. I could probably get it down to once
a day, but doing it twice, I have a large margin of error. Several times I have been at one with the couch and missed the
night time tending. No big deal, ash was pretty full, coal was still feeding, did not miss a beat.
I can see the attraction to the manual hand fed. Still way better than wood, but really, why walk when you can fly? If I lived
where power went out frequently, maybe. But, I would probably just get back up power, because the stokers are just that
good.

Stokers are good but stokers with a Coal-trol is the best. After using a Coal-trol on my stoker, you really get spoiled with the automation accuracy it provides. I wouldn't use a stoker now without having a Coal-trol running it. Of course I'm only talking about the use of radiant or forced air units. To my knowledge, Coal-trol doesn't make a controller for boiler stoker fired units yet. Hand fired units are great, especially when you want to burn wood also. I think everyone should have at least one hand fired unit, ready for safe operation. Not only does it provide the possibility of multi-fuel useage but that added security of knowing you will always have some sort of heat when you need heat.