Grate issues

Hey y’all! Since my last post the coal stove has been AMAZING! Now I’ve run into a little problem...the shaker grate feels stuck and I can’t get the handle to move past center. Any time I push the handle away from me nothing happens.

Backstory: We loaded the stove up on a Friday evening then had to leave for the weekend, we turned the air flow dial closed almost so the fire ran long and low. Sunday came fire was still good took a few mins to get got blue flames. He tended to the stove when we got back and reported all was good. But I feel like something is stuck in between the grates. Any trouble shooting?

Are the grates moving at all--if it was a piece of coal--it shoulda burnt completely with that long stretch of burning over the week-end--look through ash door to see if anything might be hung/caught in grates--rock/stone--short choppy strokes on grate handle.

The grate moves when the handle is shook towards me and do get stuff to fall down. I’m hoping it’s coal that might not have burn through yet since Sunday...but it’s probably not as it should have burnt through by now. I’ll have to poke around this evening when I’m off work.

A rock or broken firebrick is a common cause. You can take a rod or spoon like object and try to fish it out if so.

How many grates in that stove???

Could be a piece of coal causing the jam, but sometimes there's rocks in coal that wouldn't burn no matter how hot the fire gets.

Working in through the ash pan area, I use a flash light and one of those mechanic's telescoping inspection mirrors to look up through stuck grates and see what's jamming them. They are like a large Dentist's mirror that can swivel on a long handle. See picture below.

Then I use a right-angle tipped poker to push whatever is causing the jam, back up out of the grate. Also in the picture below.

Then, if it's a piece of coal causing the jam, it will likely burn to ash after a few hours and then pass though the next time the grates are shaken.

If it's a piece of rock, once I've poked it up out of the grate from below, I hook it up to the surface with the right-angle poker and lift it out of the firebox with BBQ tongs.

Paul

If it's got 2 grates--I'm wonderin if the linkage set-up between grates has come apart/broken--not very familiar with your stove but my HITZER has that linkage between the 2 grates??????

First thing I do is open the bottom door and let everything get (red) HOT.... if its an unburned piece of coal, it may burn up enough to either split apart or burn up.