Coalpail.com Forum

So I’m new to the coal burning business. I have a Glacier Bay fireplace insert which I’m using free standing in the basement. I’ve been burning tractor supply antracite nut coal and some very large local bit pieces .. I need to order some local fuel. Couple of tons. My grates seem to jam up with the ts coal. I thought I was over shaking but this last time I tried to control it better to no avail. Would I be better off going’s with larger coal like egg or lump or going smaller with pea size. I think the stove is a Model MCC and is same as a Gibraltar. I’m getting a lot rocks and klinkers.
Thanks for any help...great forum. I’ve been lurking and learning.

Welcome. You may want to post this in the anthracite section. There isn’t much action here in bituminous.

I tried TSC coal and it was full of fines. It also clinkered up really bad. I switched to Blashack. It has very little fines but clinkers just as bad. Those are the only two choices in my area besides bituminous.

Anyway try the other section. There’s much more action there.

Luskateer wrote: ↑

Mon. Jan. 27, 2020 10:01 pm

So I’m new to the coal burning business. I have a Glacier Bay fireplace insert which I’m using free standing in the basement. I’ve been burning tractor supply antracite nut coal and some very large local bit pieces .. I need to order some local fuel. Couple of tons. My grates seem to jam up with the ts coal. I thought I was over shaking but this last time I tried to control it better to no avail. Would I be better off going’s with larger coal like egg or lump or going smaller with pea size. I think the stove is a Model MCC and is same as a Gibraltar. I’m getting a lot rocks and klinkers.
Thanks for any help...great forum. I’ve been lurking and learning.

It's not the bagged coal either...
Post by McGiever - Cant get stove above 400*

If blaschak is available in your area it's the best! I have a Gibraltar (Glacier bay) and switched to stove coal from nut. My Gibraltar Lcc burns way better on stove coal but it's big and you need a good fire going to start up the stove. I use a big kindling wood fire but a bag of pea would work if you have only a small wood fire then pea and finally load up the big chunks. Gibraltar grates jam no matter what you're burning but nut is the smallest I'd feel comfortable burning on them simply because of the design. Anything smaller would jam even more and lots would fall through wasting fuel

Hi thanks for responding. I’m getting better at keeping my single door unit alive for couple days at a time now.. I’m learning not to over shake. Even still she jambs up and I have to dismantle her. My wife and I have named her baby. I see block coal and stove coal for sale around here. I’m still working out the bugs. I live on 6 acres and have tons of wood. I’d like to burn a combination.

These stoves are great for that combination plan. Another reason to burn stove coal in my opinion is its ability to burn with good air flow. Big coal breathes much easier than small coal from below. If you mix wood with coal a lot your wood ash will settle into the fire and dampen it making it harder to maintain good air flow will be a frustration at times but with practice it's definitely doable. I've pretty much stopped burning wood except to liven a slow burning unmaintained coal fire which works great! Wood is more work and I have no trees of my own to harvest so I'm taking the easy road now but these are some of the best stoves to do that in. They do not burn wood as efficiently as most or all newer wood stoves but the flexibility is admirable.

I hate to say this for fear someone will break something but when my Gibraltar stove grates jam I just force it back and forth and break the coal. Have done this for years and no problems. It seems like Everytime I do it it's going to break something but it only ever breaks the coal. Slamming the shaker handle with everything I've got seems crazy but I've just been giving it a little more for years until I decided they're invincible. Lol. Now I hope nobody tries this and snaps a tie rod but I've been beating the hell out of the jams for 15 years. No problem yet