Hitzer 503 Shaker Handle Excessive Wear

Hi all
I have been a lurker here for the past 3 years and have learned a lot. This board has been a god send for my coal burning journey. Up until now I have been able to find answers to my questions by reviewing old posts but this problem may be unique to me. I have a Hitzer 503 insert and love it. This baby puts out the heat let me tell ya. The only problem is I seem to be going through shaker grate handles at about one per season. The handle is cast Iron and the part that fits over the grate end wallows out and becomes rounded off. I don't ham fist it when shaking. I use more wrist action and don't force it when the grate jams. I spoke to Hitzer and they said when I first bought my stove they had a bad batch of castings but that the new handles no longer have that issue. The new ones they sent me all look the same and I still have this issue. It looks more like a design problem to me. It seems to me they should press a steel bushing into the shaker handle end. Is the problem my technique?? Has anyone else had this problem? Any advice would be appreciated.

First off I have a 50-93 (differant shaker handle) but was super sloppy on the grate. Can you leave the handle on your stove if you want? I can't tell from the picture Hitzer has of the 503 where the handle goes. If you can leave it on the stove what I did, the grate end is square so the end of the handle fits over the grate end, I drilled the handle on two sides and threaded them, used two set screws 5/16 and now the handle is solid to the grate but can be taken off with no problem when needed. Easy fix.

Hi fastcat
With my stove you can't keep the handle attached because you have to open the ash pan door to access the shaker grates. As in your case the shaker handle attachment is very sloppy. Your fix is a great idea but I would have to tighten and loosen the set screws each time. A bit of a pain but doable I suppose.

I would try epoxying a piece of sheet metal to one side of the opening if you have enough slop (clearance) to do this. Dry fit and test before glueing. If you still have enough clearance epoxy another piece to another side of the opening. Either the fit is extreamly sloppy or the casting is an aufully soft material. I you sure it isn't cast aluminum? Another alternative is to have a welder make up a steel handle for you. It wouldn't be a real big job. He would probably use a piece of square steel tubing welded to a piece of heavy band iron and then weld on a piece of bar stock for the handle.
One more idea is to measure carefully the size of the square on the grate and the length of your handle. Then watch ebay for a handle. I have seen them on there often. Be sure to ask the seller for the size of the opening and the handle length to make sure it will fit your stove. The old castings of anything are usually prety good.

By the way, Welcome to NEPA Crossroads. This is where I got my start in coal burning. From buying the right stove to learning how to operate it efficiently. You won't find a nicer bunch of people on any other forum site. The depth of knowledge of coal heating here is probably not gathered in any other source on earth.

Gian4,I would check the end of the grates for burr or maybe the ends are undersize? they are a trapezoid not a square(the inside of the handle is square)so the big end is 11/16", small end is 9/16" and the hight is 21/32"(the fat end or big end is up)I have been using mine for all most 5 months and its like new I hope this helps you out. Keepaeyeonit

Although I am not familar with the specifics of your stove, I do have 28 years of experience with shaker handles. I ran a Buderus hand fed for all those years. Before I got my own welder the stove had a familar arrangement. When shaking you would engage a handle on the back of the stove to shake it. Granted my lasted years but signs of wear where clearly evident. A friend welded a Troy-Bilt tiller spring to a washer that I bolted to the original engagement point for the origianl shaker handle. This lasted for at least 12 or 15 years before any rework was necessary. That tiller spring looked like chrome from all the wear, but really lasted. Do not be afraid to commit a permanent handle to the mechanism, and enjoy the simplicity of good thought vs. good looks which is why many handles are removed as to insure clean lines of the stove.

2001Sierra wrote:Although Do not be afraid to commit a permanent handle to the mechanism, and enjoy the simplicity of good thought vs. good looks which is why many handles are removed as to insure clean lines of the stove.

Gian4 said he has to open the ash door and put the handle on to shake then take the handle off to close the ash door.

A friend of mine has a 503 and he is experiencing the same problem that you are. I'll have to ask if he has solved the problem.

Thanks for all the help guys. Easyray if you find out a fix from your friend I'd really like to know. I'm glad to know its not just me.
Thanks again all.
Ken.....PS I'm located in upstate NY (Oneida NY) and its snowing like an sob today but I'm toasty warm with coal. Glad to see a fair number of upstaters on this board.

Gian4--
I have the same issue with my 983. I got a new handle (after two years with the original handle, replaced due to your problem) this year, and I already feel too much play in the new handle after about 5 months of burning. The new handle cost only $7.95, so it's not terribly expensive to replace . The grate peg itself shows no signs of wear, which is good--I suspect they make the handle "softer" than the grate cast iron material for this purpose.

I have tried to think of some method to deal with this, but haven't come up with a good one yet. If all else fails, a big Vise-Grip might be used in place of the handle if/when I tire of replacing the handle periodically.

My friend says he just uses a metal shim. He bends it in the shape of a U sticks it on one side and wraps it with duct tape to hold it on. When it wears out he replaces the shim.

EasyRay wrote:My friend says he just uses a metal shim. He bends it in the shape of a U sticks it on one side and wraps it with duct tape to hold it on. When it wears out he replaces the shim.

Sounds like a fine solution. Thanks.

I missed a key fact in my answer. The handle cannot be used without access. With that said I would make a handle out harder material. It might nearly be thicker or out of better stock. Some metals offer much more resistance to wear than others. Just a thought. I am not keen on bandaids. Fixit or go home.

2001Sierra, you could use something harder for the handle but if the grate pegs start to wear and not the handle then you are replacing parts that cost $100.00+ to save a part that cost 8 bucks or so, you can buy a lot of handles for what a set of grates cost but I"m with you on the bandaid fix.
Gian4,when you shut it down for the spring check the pegs to see if they were cleaned up after they were cast,I think one of the pegs has a lip or a real sharp edge thats eating up the handle,one handle every 3 or 4 years is acceptable but one a year is not.

You might want to look at the tolerances between the handle and the grates. It's probably pretty loose fit. That will also make for more wear.

The shim idea could be a good way to make these handles work. You might want to try a phosphor bronze shim alloy. It might work better that steel for this. Take a look here as an example of shim stock that may work:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#shim-stock/=b78bin

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