Hitzer 503 & 983 Owners Pea or Nut?

JIMTORL · Post by **JIMTORL** » Tue. Dec. 09, 2008 8:36 pm

I been using Pea coal in my 503 and it seems to work great. What is your size of choice?
Jim

Ashcat · Post by **Ashcat** » Tue. Dec. 09, 2008 9:35 pm

tfaath · Post by **tfaath** » Tue. Dec. 09, 2008 10:37 pm

I’ve been using nut, it was strongly recommended by the dealer where I purchased my 503. I haven’t had any problems with it at all.

I have a friend that burns pea in his boiler. I’m going to try some just to see if there is any difference. From what I hear, pea is more difficult to keep burning.

Tom

JIMTORL · Post by **JIMTORL** » Wed. Dec. 10, 2008 9:27 am

I never had any issues on keeping the fire going with Pea. I sometimes have a piece get stuck in the grates when I shake down. This is not a problem for me I just give it a good pull and it breaks loose.

grizzly2 · Post by **grizzly2** » Fri. Dec. 12, 2008 6:55 pm

Nut burns better in my Hitzer 95-30, especially at low burns. I think it breaths intake air up through it better.

Blackrocks · Post by **Blackrocks** » Mon. Dec. 15, 2008 10:08 am

so far I've been burning Blaschak nut with very good results but I just bought several bags of pea to try just for the sake of cuiosity I'll let you know

Rick

CapeCoaler · Post by **CapeCoaler** » Tue. Dec. 16, 2008 12:03 am

Blashack Nut in a 503.
Very good draft.
Lit once, let the 'rents fill and shake and it is still running strong 6 weeks later!
Might try some Pea mixed in due to the strong draft.
The damper is choked all the way down and no ash can escape the stove!

topper · Post by **topper** » Tue. Dec. 16, 2008 6:27 am

I have been using nut in my 503 which has been working well. I haven't tried pea so I can't compare the two....

JafaDog · Post by **JafaDog** » Thu. Dec. 18, 2008 9:07 am

Burning Blaschak nut here. Haven't tried pea. I don't think my local dealers even carry it. They carry nut for the hand-fired owners and rice for the stoker owners.

What surprises me a little is the range of sizes with the nut. Of course the majority of the coal is within the nut-sizing range (13/16"-1-5/8"), but there are some bags with lots of nickel- and dime-size chips and some bags with lots of much larger chunks, sometimes up to what I would consider to be stove-size. I would imagine that pea would be mostly the nickel- and dime-size stuff (9/16"-13/16"). So a lot of what I've been burning could almost be considered a stove/nut/pea mix, I guess. I initially chalked the varying sizes up to breakage in the bags, but it seems to be more than just that. When one bag has a lot of larger chunks and another bag has lots of smaller chips, it's probably not just breakage.

Regardless, the nut seems to be burning just fine in my 503.

wfd.lt · Post by **wfd.lt** » Thu. Dec. 18, 2008 12:15 pm

Going well with nut in a 503 here.

bear creek burnout · Post by **bear creek burnout** » Thu. Dec. 18, 2008 12:30 pm

I had 4 T of nut delivered and it burns very well. Like Jeff, I have various sizes but most of it would be considered nut. I was considering installing a rice burning boiler but this little jewel throws off so much heat I put that whole project on the back burner...no pun intended!!