Hitzer 30/95 Wood Burning Options ?

Hi,
I burned coal for years with a Chubby for 10 years and the last 20 a VC Vigalent. I'm not crazy about the Vigalent as a coal burner but it has the option of burning wood, logs up to 18". Although not effecient, it does the job of burning wood. I burn fallen trees on my property occaasionly and in the fall and spring it's a option. Plus coal has been tough to get in my area of Massachusetts. The Hitzer 30/95 has gotten good press as a coal burner and my question is ...
How does it burn wood if at all?
Thanks

I don't know yet but I soon will. I bought a Hitzer 30-95 today. I expect to have it hooked up and running by next weekend at the latest. I will get a good wood fire going in it to cure the paint and to get the coal started, and let you know how it burns wood. I hope it burns wood well, because I plan to burn wood in the spring and fall to take the chill off in the house when a constant coal fire will be too much heat.

I have burned wood in 4 different wood stoves over the years. I think I have a pretty good idea what is needed to be a good wood burner, and the Hitzer fire box and ventilation look like it should burn wood without a problem, but not too efficiently without adding a baffel between the fire box and the flue collar.

The way the Hitzer is set up now, it has a removable hopper that partially covers the flue outlet, and much of the coal heat has to circulate arround that to get out. I think the hopper performs some of the function of a baffel to keep heat from going too directly up the flue. In order to feed wood of any size into the fire box, it looks like the hopper has to be removed. That will alow the wood heat to exit too directly for efficiency I think. I enjoy welding and fabricating so will no doubt be experimenting with some baffel designs for wood burning.

Note that it is against Federal law to burn wood in this coal stove except to get the coal lit. I hope the FBI doesn't make a habit of reading our forums

Well, I got the Hitzer hooked up and fired up today. I remembered your question so I started a kindling fire in the usual way, and no problem at all. Then I added an oak split. That eventually took off. The draft from underneeth tends to make the bottom of the wood burn hard and hot, but not engulf the entire piece for quite a while. I was right about needing a baffel of some kind for wood. When I lit the kindling, the flames went right up the flue. You aught to have seen the needle on the magnetic flue thermometer shoot upwards. I had the hopper in place because I was planning to follow up the wood fire with coal (which I did). Even with the hopper in place the route for the flames to find the flue was too direct. The hopper does cant off toward the front of the stove for normal operation. Perhaps, if one turned the hopper arround it would act somewhat as a baffel. However I plan to build a proper baffel just below the flue and accross the whole back half of the fire box, in a very simmilar fashion as the Jotul 3 wood stove I just took out. I won't be doing that until the coal heating season is done. I will let you know how that works when I get it tried out. I do think the Hitzer can be made to burn wood quite well with a little experementation.