Coalpail.com Forum

joeq wrote:And let the games begin! :discuss:

How come the games always involve me in the middle

...youve never played monkey in the middle??

Rigar wrote:...youve never played monkey in the middle??

only with the Wilson sisters :punk:

Here's a idea...size you stove and hopper to a size that requires 12 hr. between tendings for your size heating load most of the heating season.
This could then require longer than 12 hr. in milder temps and shorter than 12 hr. in harsher temps. Ash happens...and it needs shook out.
Remember...no matter the hopper size...It's all about the ASH!

Just size it proper and you're done. Use the ole KISS method

I don't think some of our members would appreciate having to go backwards to tend to a 12 hr burn, when they're getting 24-48 hrs now. In a hopper fed stove, what size would provide a 12 hr burn, W/O tending to scraping or filling?

DSM 1300 -- about 40 pounds in the firebox, 20 more in the hopper give or take a little.

dcrane wrote:

Rob R. wrote:I know this doesn't answer your question, but I thought of something you should keep in mind. Often the ash pan is the limiting factor in how long the stove can burn without attention...and even if it wasn't, you still have to physically shake the grates every so often. My point is that I have never heard of a gravity hopper-fed stove that exhausted the hopper before it needed the grates shaken or the ash pan emptied.

halleluiah... I love hearing smart sense! the hopper preheats /preps the next load, it may settle slightly (an inch or so)... but other than that....it does NOTHING a good quality coal stove that can be "banked" does (ohhh wait...yes it does... it takes $500 out of your pocket!). You still need to touch it every 12-24 hours depending on season, it begets you nothing but a hopper that may burn out, no ability to clean flu pipe without dismantling your stove and added area/seams to weaken its airtightness and lets not forget the added risk of the dreaded "hopper fire".

Yes, you're on the right track, BUT................ I'll share my findings; A stove without a hopper gets banked up as high as possible. Normally mounded a little higher than the fire brick. A hopper fed stove gets banked all the way to the very top of the stove. Stove for stove; Come tending time, the hopper fed stove has a bigger, stronger fire, because it was banked higher (hopper). Because of this, tending times CAN be stretched out longer if needed. Of course, it takes more coal to top things off again. EXAMPLE: An average winter day, I would tend my HITZER 50-93 every 12 hours. If it needed to go 18 hours, it could. A non hopper stove would be lucky if it had any fire at all after 18 hours of not being touched. Another EXAMPLE: My uncle heats half the square footage of me, using a Harman Mark-III (no hopper). In the dead of winter, he needs to tend his Mark-III twice in 12 hours, in order to maintain a good hot fire. 3 times if we're in a deep freeze. My HITZER 50-93 (with hopper) heating double the square footage, would need tending every 12 hours, no matter how cold it gets. By the way, My uncle and I go through the same amount of coal every year. The only difference; he has to tend his hopper-less stove more often. Hopper fed is also easier to load. Nothing to dread if coal burns in the hopper. Simply replace the gasket. A stoker is where the dreaded hopper fires are. Personally, I would never own a hand fired stove without a hopper. Oliver

DS1600 my hopper holds about/approximately 40+ pounds of nut or 50+ of pea (usually depends on the size).