Pea, Nut, or Stove?

Was wondering if anyone uses or has had any luck using pea size anthracite. I use nut and have also used stove, but I heard pea will slow down burn is this true. I have a chance at some pea size so before I bought I thought I would ask the experts. Pea, nut, stove or mix? Oh and I am running a Hotblast 1557m

My hopper fed Surdiac required, and only could burn pea because of it's smaller size. if your grates are slotted small enuff the pea won't fall through, then you could burn it too. It would have the potential to burn slower, but can't say for sure, in your furnace. But in my Glenwood, the pot was too baggy to hold it.
PS Welcome to the club, and give us a story. (Diesel power 350? Are we talkin Olds?)

Haha I think more like f350 pick up, your hot blast can burn pea, I burned it in mine, just have to shake less, and not as aggressive.

Pea will burn faster, it is smaller sized therefore burns at a slightly faster rate, you can get the same results by adjusting your air. main thing is you want something that wont fall through the grates..

Been using nut/stove for 3 yrs. Might try nut/pea this yr. Might be betterer in the cuff months.

Cuff months? Where does that come from?

ata boy fred now you confused cs, !!!

Hmmmm, hell, I don't know CS, I read it on here. Figured I give it a shot at soundin edumuncateded. Scary ain't it Jamie.

coaledsweat wrote:Cuff months? Where does that come from?

fred you will never know!!!!

Dieselpowerf350 wrote:Was wondering if anyone uses or has had any luck using pea size anthracite. I use nut and have also used stove, but I heard pea will slow down burn is this true. I have a chance at some pea size so before I bought I thought I would ask the experts. Pea, nut, stove or mix? Oh and I am running a Hotblast 1557m

Generally speaking, the smaller sized coal is able to burn cooler and slower with lower BTU's per hour. This makes the smaller sized coal perfect for the "shoulder months" (cuff months as Fred put it). The bigger coal is able to burn hotter faster with higher BTU's per hour for the cold part of the winter. The reason that the smaller coal burns slower is because it can't use the combustion air as efficiently as the bigger sized coal, or simply because the smaller coal packs more tightly and doesn't allow the combustion air to come up thru it quite so easily.

Perfect case scenario is to use both sizes according to how much heat demand you need. I generally use stove size coal but in the beginning and end of the burning season I will put nut on top of the stove size to slow the burn down. The small coal being on top helps prevent secondary air from infiltrating the fuel bed which in turn slows the burn down also. Perfect for idling thru those 60 degree days and then revving it up at night when the temp drops.

Ok so stove for cold nights and pea for warmer days and nut in between. Guess I'll get a mixture of all 3
Thank you

I tried pea in my Hitzer once, it shoveled easy and burned nice.

Dieselpowerf350 wrote:Ok so stove for cold nights and pea for warmer days and nut in between. Guess I'll get a mixture of all 3
Thank you

If you get a mixture,you will lose the ability to control the burn as nicely as you can by using the smaller size to dampen the fire. You might be happy with the mixture,but it is not the same as burning separately each size.If it is practical,try to have pea on hand for shoulder seasons and to dampen a fire that gets too hot.

I guess I said that wrong lol. That's what I meant get a load of nut and get a little bit of pea and a little bit of stove to use as secondary.

you will like it that way.Hand-fired coal burning is fun;learning the many ways to control your fire is what will make you a pyromaniac!There are endless variables,no two days really the same,as far as burning conditions are concerned.