Crane 404 - Our First Coal Burner

From Dec 10,2016 to Mar.24,2017 my 404 has done a great job of keeping a real warm spot in my house. My cats have really learned to love the area near &around the stove with 3-4 of them laying on the warm concrete . At 1pm yesterday,i turned the air knobs closed to end the life of the coal fire that had been burning since Dec 10. This 3rd season for this stove warming me has been primarily done with Gale nut coal with a few buckets of Reading nut left over from last yr. thrown in just to verify how good the Gale coal performs. I am VERY pleased with the overall performance of the Gale coal & will certainly be buying more from them.

It was a bittersweet experience to kill the fire as I really enjoy the warmth radiating from the stove & the roughly 4 gals of moisture each day from the big pot of water on top of the stove. I am now into my Spring Rush season here in my repair shop,so even the few minutes each am & pm that were needed to tend the stove will be a help in getting more shop work done.

I did not count how many buckets of coal I burned this season. Since my wife died last yr. I have lost the motivation to really care about many of the details of daily life. I do know that the coal usage was similar to other yrs.,but I needed less primary air when burning Gale vs Reading & the blue flames were prettier & kept going nearly constantly.
Now I need to get used to the hot air exchanger fan cycling more often to warm my house with only the EFM520 which is burning Gales large rice.

I know what your talking about how some details are just not that important anymore. I lost fire 4-5 times this winter because I just plain forgot to feed the Vig. Before my wife died I kept the house warm because she liked it around 74 all the time. After she became bed bound she wanted it at 80. In order to keep her warm I fed that stove without fail. I made sure I had plenty of coal and always had a bucket sitting close to the stove to make sure it wasn't wet and would catch right away.

It went out about a week ago and I missed the nice warm glow on my back as I sat at the table. Instead of lighting it off again I just turned the oil burner thermo to 70. Then a couple days ago I decided I actually missed the warmth from the stove. I went to Keystone Anthracite and bought some buckets of pea, a bag of lump charcoal and lit it off.

I sat in front of your 404 and it is a HEATER!!!! I will keep feeding my vig probably until it gets to the 40's and stays there. Then I'll switch over to the bucket a day and heat the water for the radiators. I got it piped so the water it heats goes through the oil boiler and into the system. Not sure how long I'll run that as we get hot water from the boiler also.

Letting your stove go out in the spring is like saying goodbye to an old friend.

Rob R. wrote:Letting your stove go out in the spring is like saying goodbye to an old friend.

Killing my stove for the season isn't as bad as when I had to kill injured or dying pets ,but it almost gets close to the same feeling. My stove keeps my living room at 74-76 * all the time & makes for very comfortable sitting in the evening plus it makes many cats very warmly satisfied. So far,none of the cats have complained to me & maybe with the outside temps going up,they will find happiness more outside for now. In the 5 day forecast there is only 1 nite with temps below 40*,& only 1 day with temps below 50* with 1 day over 70*.

So.. during the cold weather months,i enjoyed the warmth from my coal stove..
Now.. during warmer months I will enjoy the flowers that bloom ,the green grass with the smell of freshly cut grass & lots of time spent outdoors.

Now that right there is a positive outlook Windy man. Good on ya.....

waldo lemieux wrote:Now that right there is a positive outlook Windy man. Good on ya.....

That is an optimistic outlook on what is likely to be a very dismal spring for flowers blooming here. Last yr. most of my tulips froze & didn't flower,this yr. it looks like the daffodils & tulips are in the same condition. This next week or so will show what all got frozen.I tried to keep the outside warm too,i didn't install any new windows yet as I thought that might help keep the outside temps a bit higher but it didn't seem to help.

windyhill4.2 wrote:I tried to keep the outside warm too,i didn't install any new windows yet as I thought that might help keep the outside temps a bit higher but it didn't seem to help.

Well geez, what settings were ya using? were ya roofin it?

waldo lemieux wrote:

windyhill4.2 wrote:I tried to keep the outside warm too,i didn't install any new windows yet as I thought that might help keep the outside temps a bit higher but it didn't seem to help.

Well geez, what settings were ya using? were ya roofin it?

I try to keep the house at 74* all the time,except for the end where the bedrooms are. Maybe I should have cranked it up higher!

windyhill4.2 wrote:From Dec 10,2016 to Mar.24,2017 my 404 has done a great job of keeping a real warm spot in my house. My cats have really learned to love the area near &around the stove with 3-4 of them laying on the warm concrete . At 1pm yesterday,i turned the air knobs closed to end the life of the coal fire that had been burning since Dec 10. This 3rd season for this stove warming me has been primarily done with Gale nut coal with a few buckets of Reading nut left over from last yr. thrown in just to verify how good the Gale coal performs. I am VERY pleased with the overall performance of the Gale coal & will certainly be buying more from them.

It was a bittersweet experience to kill the fire as I really enjoy the warmth radiating from the stove & the roughly 4 gals of moisture each day from the big pot of water on top of the stove. I am now into my Spring Rush season here in my repair shop,so even the few minutes each am & pm that were needed to tend the stove will be a help in getting more shop work done.

I did not count how many buckets of coal I burned this season. Since my wife died last yr. I have lost the motivation to really care about many of the details of daily life. I do know that the coal usage was similar to other yrs.,but I needed less primary air when burning Gale vs Reading & the blue flames were prettier & kept going nearly constantly.
Now I need to get used to the hot air exchanger fan cycling more often to warm my house with only the EFM520 which is burning Gales large rice.

Sorry to hear about your wife, my condolences. While not as heart breaking as your situation my health still slipping with problems sleeping so no promise when I will be awake and circulation issues in legs and feet that makes walking awkward and painful with a loss of strength to the point stairs are a problem. I finally gave up after losing the fire 8 or 10 times. With fuel oil at under 2 bucks a gallon the cost was not that great.

I thank God daily for good enough health to be able to tend my stove,my boiler,my cats & other chores + work in my repair shop. I feel bad for those who are bedridden or not 100 % mobile & can't enjoy doing any work.Hopefully relief will come soon for you,dd.

Well... it is early in the yr., but i have left my stove go cold once again. With 3 day temps at 50 *- 60's* it seems like a good time to let the coal boiler do the entire heating job.
I enjoyed the very pretty blue flames while burning the Gale nut coal,along with needing marginal primary air to keep the flames going. When the Gale got all, i picked up 1/2 ton of Blashack from the local coal yard. The Blashack needs more air to burn & the blue flames are not as pure blue, but the ash seemed to be easier to shake down without poking/slicing as much.
This may be the end of burning coal in this stove...
Since my wife died, the pressures of maintaining my business, my property & now household work has been overwhelming.It may only take 5 minutes to tend the stove,but it is just 1 of many chores on my list each day.I have deleted other chores from my list,like the chickens,so tending the stove is very likely to join the deleted chore list as well.
I am going to have to put lots of thought into what to do with keeping my living room warm with it's cold concrete slab floor constantly cooling the room during the heating season.
A BIG radiator ? cast iron baseboard ? cheap & easy -- could add more hot air volume.
There is the more complicated ,costlier option of somehow insulating the floor & outside wall & window replacements.. but then the $$ become an issue.
For now.. the EFM520 stoker boiler will have to step up & take over the job that my Crane 404 did when it was burning 25-40#/day to keep my cats & i warm in this room.But... warm air replacing bone warming radiant heat will not be as satisfying.

Feb. 27 will be 2 yrs of this dreadfully sad & lonely single life......but... time & life keep moving on.

In floor heat above the slab, lay down 1 or 2” foam board sealed and taped together, cut strips out of 1/2” plywood for pex to run in, install new laminate or your choice flooring..

Or a cast iron radiator, but concrete floor will still be cold.

If your windows are as bad as you say, I don't think any kind of floor/pex heat will work as good as the Crane. 5 minutes don't seem like much to stay warm--unless you're talkin about next season after you replace the windows.

This concrete floor is about 16" lower than the trailer which means this room will always be cooler because of heat rising. So 1 of my long term goals is to raise this floor to the trailer level at the same time as rebuilding the outside wall. This slab sticks out past the wall about 8" or so ,stupid way to do it, the slab overhangs the concrete blocks it rests on by about 2" also. I want to cut the overhang off,then build a new wall on the edge,install 2" foil board over the concrete blocks & the entire wall... from ground level to roof. Then build a new floor at the trailer floor level & raise the ceiling.... oh ... install new windows too..... almost forgot... i'll need to put heat in it too.

freetown fred wrote: ↑

Wed. Feb. 14, 2018 10:55 am

If your windows are as bad as you say, I don't think any kind of floor/pex heat will work as good as the Crane. 5 minutes don't seem like much to stay warm--unless you're talkin about next season after you replace the windows.

5 minutes.....
That may be all it takes to tend the stove... i never really timed myself..... BUT..... there is the coal supply needing added to in the house periodically too.
I am looking to cut down on not only the amount of time involved in all the daily "chores", but i am also looking to cut down on the number of daily "chores".
I am not retired.... i have my repair shop open for business 56 hrs/week,i have my property to care for,snow removal ,cindering icy drive & parking area,clearing roofs as needed,my coal boiler to tend...... PLUS, i have to do household chores too. When i want to eat... i have to set my own table,get my own food out,clean the table off & put the food away,do laundry,put laundry away,clean the toilet.. etc.... the list goes on & on...

I have many retired customers who also don't get what kind of work load i have since my wife died,some couldn't understand why i got rid of my chickens as they .. "only take 15-20 minutes each day"... my reply was... i don't have the 15- 20 minutes each day.