Yukon Big Jack

 
lee192233
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Post by lee192233 » Mon. Jan. 25, 2021 11:52 pm

D-frost wrote:
Fri. Jan. 22, 2021 1:17 pm
Lee, I have a Yukon Eagle I......I purchased coal grates from Yukon in Minnesota about 10 years ago. Maybe they can be modified to the 'Jack'. Price then, I think was around $250........now...?????? It was an easy swap out the wood grate and drop in the coal grate. Good luck.
Cheers
That's a good idea. I think I will give them a call tomorrow.
Thanks,
Lee


 
lee192233
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Posts: 57
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Location: East Central WI
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Yukon Eagle Big Jack Wood/Coal
Coal Size/Type: Blaschak Nut
Other Heating: Carrier 96 % Propane Furnace

Post by lee192233 » Thu. Jan. 28, 2021 10:59 pm

I called Yukon and they said it wouldn't work. From the parts list they look like some very nice shaker grates. Could I build some or do they need to be cast iron? I suppose steel would warp and burn up really quickly.

I've been burning for exactly seven days. I've burned eleven bags including the 2 bags for the initial fill. Isn't there a way to use degree days to figure out usage? It's been pretty cold the last week. Low teens and single digits at night.

Thanks,
Lee

 
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D-frost
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Post by D-frost » Fri. Jan. 29, 2021 10:36 am

Lee,
The Eagle grates are 'stout'......too bad they will not fit. With your wood supply, just maybe, doing the 'slice & poke' is the way to go for your setup.
Cheers

 
lee192233
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Location: East Central WI
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Yukon Eagle Big Jack Wood/Coal
Coal Size/Type: Blaschak Nut
Other Heating: Carrier 96 % Propane Furnace

Post by lee192233 » Thu. Feb. 04, 2021 10:44 pm

I'll be giving the Big Jack a test. Here's the forecast for the next week.

 
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Post by franco b » Thu. Feb. 04, 2021 11:08 pm

lee192233 wrote:
Thu. Jan. 28, 2021 10:59 pm
I've been burning for exactly seven days. I've burned eleven bags including the 2 bags for the initial fill. Isn't there a way to use degree days to figure out usage? It's been pretty cold the last week. Low teens and single digits at night.
Fuel oil companies use degree days to schedule deliveries.

If you keep track of the number of degree days and pounds of coal burned in that period you will arrive at a figure of pounds per degree day. If you burned 2 pounds per degree day and if there were 6000 degree days per winter in your area, then you would burn 2 times 6,000 or 12,000 pounds or 6 ton. It could also be done as degree days per pound.

Online weather services list the high and low for each day, in your area, so add them together and divide by two and subtract that number from 65 to get the degree days for that day.

 
lee192233
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Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Yukon Eagle Big Jack Wood/Coal
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Post by lee192233 » Sat. Feb. 06, 2021 7:23 am

Franco B,

Thanks for the info! I will figure it out.

This coal burning thing is addictive. It was about 0° F last night with a 10-15 mph west wind. Woke up to a 70° house. Front face temp 315°, flue external temp 200°.

My latest coal consumption figure is 53 lbs a day.

Here's a link to a look inside the firebox.


Have a great day,
Lee

 
lee192233
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Posts: 57
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Location: East Central WI
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Yukon Eagle Big Jack Wood/Coal
Coal Size/Type: Blaschak Nut
Other Heating: Carrier 96 % Propane Furnace

Post by lee192233 » Sat. Feb. 06, 2021 6:16 pm

I found the degree day info and did some calculations. It looks like my coal consumption is about 1.2 pounds per degree day. It's been a short test. I've burned about 800 lbs in 15.5 days.

Does that seem like a reasonable amount? I'm heating about 3000 square feet of living space.

Thanks,
Lee


 
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Post by fig » Sat. Feb. 06, 2021 10:28 pm

Less then me. I burn 80 lbs a day heating 1200 sf.

 
lee192233
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Post by lee192233 » Mon. Feb. 08, 2021 12:00 am

fig wrote:
Sat. Feb. 06, 2021 10:28 pm
Less then me. I burn 80 lbs a day heating 1200 sf.
Thanks for the info. I'm pretty new to coal burning. I just want to make sure that I am not wasting coal.

I'm seriously considering switching to a proper coal furnace. My question is how well would a DS or Hitzer burn wood? I know they cannot say they burn wood due to EPA regulations. I believe they used to advertise their stoves ability to burn wood.

Thanks for your input,
Lee

 
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Post by hcarlow » Wed. Feb. 10, 2021 1:36 pm

I burned 80 lbs. in my coal boiler in the last 24 hrs. with temps -8 with no wind this morning . I heat about 2500 sq. ft. , basement , 1st and part of 2nd floor , but that includes my hot water also . I am looking at a Hitzer 55ul hand fed for a back up and that will burn wood also , just not sure how good at this time . If you go that route with the Hitzer hand fed you may need the Hitzer 82 . Good Luck

 
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Post by Rob R. » Wed. Feb. 10, 2021 3:20 pm

lee192233 wrote:
Sat. Feb. 06, 2021 6:16 pm
I found the degree day info and did some calculations. It looks like my coal consumption is about 1.2 pounds per degree day. It's been a short test. I've burned about 800 lbs in 15.5 days.

Does that seem like a reasonable amount? I'm heating about 3000 square feet of living space.

Thanks,
Lee
Very reasonable, especially if a heated basement is not included in your 3000 sq ft estimate.

I have about 3000 sq ft above ground and 1200 sq ft of basement, all heated very evenly. I burn about 1.8 lbs per degree day.

 
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Post by Rob R. » Wed. Feb. 10, 2021 3:23 pm

lee192233 wrote:
Mon. Feb. 08, 2021 12:00 am
Thanks for the info. I'm pretty new to coal burning. I just want to make sure that I am not wasting coal.

I'm seriously considering switching to a proper coal furnace. My question is how well would a DS or Hitzer burn wood? I know they cannot say they burn wood due to EPA regulations. I believe they used to advertise their stoves ability to burn wood.

Thanks for your input,
Lee
The better something is designed to burn coal, the worse it burns wood. Sure, you can burn wood if you have to, but it will be a smokey experience.

 
lee192233
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Posts: 57
Joined: Wed. Feb. 20, 2019 1:40 am
Location: East Central WI
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Yukon Eagle Big Jack Wood/Coal
Coal Size/Type: Blaschak Nut
Other Heating: Carrier 96 % Propane Furnace

Post by lee192233 » Thu. Feb. 11, 2021 7:32 am

hcarlow wrote:
Wed. Feb. 10, 2021 1:36 pm
I burned 80 lbs. in my coal boiler in the last 24 hrs. with temps -8 with no wind this morning . I heat about 2500 sq. ft. , basement , 1st and part of 2nd floor , but that includes my hot water also .
Thanks for the info. I appreciate it!
Rob R. wrote:
Wed. Feb. 10, 2021 3:20 pm
Very reasonable, especially if a heated basement is not included in your 3000 sq ft estimate.
I have about 3000 sq ft above ground and 1200 sq ft of basement, all heated very evenly. I burn about 1.8 lbs per degree day.
Thanks for the input!
My 3000 sq ft estimate is probably a little conservative. We have a 2300 sq ft footprint ranch with a full basement. About 1000 sq ft of the basement is finished. The slab and block foundation walls are uninsulated. The walls in the finished part are 2x4 with with fiberglass insulation set 1" from the block to promote airflow between. We spend most of our time in the finished basement because that's where the kids toys are. I have the basement registers adjusted to keep it about 72 degrees in the finished area. The rest of the basement doesn't have direct airflow from the furnace but my man cave stays around 68 to 70 and the mechanicals room gets up to 75 from the radiant heat. The upstairs stays right at 70 degrees. Much warmer and my wife is uncomfortable, she has a 3 degree comfort range! :lol:
Rob R. wrote:
Wed. Feb. 10, 2021 3:23 pm
The better something is designed to burn coal, the worse it burns wood. Sure, you can burn wood if you have to, but it will be a smokey experience.
I'm happy with my furnace, it burns wood really well. With properly seasoned maple I can get a nice 6-8 hour burn. I don't like slowing it way down due to creosote and smoke. The problem is then I'd have to load her up 3-4 times a day to keep up in this weather. I can't do that because of work and because I don't feel like waking up at midnight to stoke the fire. Then the furnace isn't as efficient because of heating up all the fire brick and steel so it takes an hour before it starts heating again. When the highs are in the upper thirties or higher I can easily keep up when burning it twice a day. The house temp then swings around from 70 to 73-74 degrees.

I've been looking at the Kozy King by DS stoves. The literature says it has a secondary combustion system. That leads me to believe it was initially designed to run wood as well as coal. (we all know anthracite doesn't need much secondary combustion) I'd really like the shaker grates! Poking and slicing works well but is hard on the knees. I'd also have the water heater coil added so there would be some savings on electricity for me. 5 people on an electric water heater is expensive!

Here's what I woke up to this morning. -4 with 8 mph NW wind. House at 70 degrees. Furnace at 340 degrees face temp, 190 degrees flue temp, mano at .04, 118 degree duct temp. Poked it and sliced it and added about 30 lbs. I'm happy with the performance I'm just looking for something easier. The problem with that is all my savings on propane over the last ten years will be gone!

Thanks again for all your input!
Lee

 
lee192233
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Location: East Central WI
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Yukon Eagle Big Jack Wood/Coal
Coal Size/Type: Blaschak Nut
Other Heating: Carrier 96 % Propane Furnace

Post by lee192233 » Sat. Feb. 13, 2021 7:08 am

Good morning everyone!

Woke up this morning to a 71 degree house, right at thermostat temp(I bumped it up a degree). :D The Big Jack's combustion blower had just shut off after a call for heat from the thermostat. Face temp was 375, flue temp 240, duct temp 140. Outside temp 0 with a 12 mph NW wind.

My consumption average is down to 1.1 lb per degree. :D I've been lowering my draft. I now have it down to .03. When I first started this year it was at .06. Losing way too much up the chimney. Should I take it lower? I have a little more adjustment in my baro.

Here's a pic of the revved up fire bed. I last tended it about 9 hours ago.
20210213_053334.jpg
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Sorry for the sideways pic!
I wish I had some glass on the loading door. I'd sit and watch it while I had coffee and did my morning devotion.

Have a great day and thanks for reading my ramblings!
Lee

 
lee192233
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Posts: 57
Joined: Wed. Feb. 20, 2019 1:40 am
Location: East Central WI
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Yukon Eagle Big Jack Wood/Coal
Coal Size/Type: Blaschak Nut
Other Heating: Carrier 96 % Propane Furnace

Post by lee192233 » Sat. Feb. 20, 2021 7:29 am

Good morning everyone,

Today is a sad day. I stopped adding coal yesterday morning. I just poked and sliced it per my usual routine. This is what I woke up to this morning.
16138230094416170846790227829640.jpg
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I ended up burning 1600 lbs in 29 days. I haven't figured pounds per degree day yet.

I'll clean it, pull the extra bricks out and burn the 6 or so weeks of wood I have sitting in the basement.

I plan on adding firebrick across the rear of the fire box. I will trim the bricks at the front to fit better. By doing that I think I will be able to fit about 100 lbs at a time. I'm also planning on figuring out a way to employ an ash destroyer like Lightning used in his Clayton. My 1/4" steel rod works but doesn't work well to break up clinkers. When the furnace was running hard I would get some clinkers. Is there anything I can do to prevent this? I assume clearing the ash
better would help.

Thanks again for your advice through this thread. I really enjoy burning coal. If I could get some cheaper I think that's all I would burn.

Have a great day and God bless,
Lee

Edited for grammer


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