Coal?

[Sako]

Would like to now if any of you have used a little coal in your stoves while burning wood?
I have access to about 300 lbs of coal that appears to be about 1in or smaller. I have only used wood in my homemade Ao&uf arch.
Could you put handful or so once in awhile?
thoughts appreciated
Thanks
Chris

[Ausable]

Would like to now if any of you have used a little coal in your stoves while burning wood?
I have access to about 300 lbs of coal that appears to be about 1in or smaller. I have only used wood in my homemade Ao&uf arch.
Could you put handful or so once in awhile?
thoughts appreciated
Thanks
Chris

Hi Chris - In a former life - LOL - I was a Boiler Operator in an Electric Generating Plant..... The answer is probably yes if it is soft coal it would be ok the way you describe doing it. --SMILE-- However - if you happen to have some Western - Hard - Low Sulphur Coal -- use it for gravel or fill. We would use that stuff in our boilers - but it had to be pulverized through pulverizing mills till it was like black talc - heated and blown into the boiler (Won't Bore You with detail). We did a test to prove a point once and made a small pile of it on the ground and poured gasoline on it and put a match to it - the gasoline burned great the coal just sat there in its pile and laughed. Soft coal or coal for home heating would work fine.......Mike

[palmer4th]

Good Question! I was wondering that myself

[Ausable]

Remember though - The ash produced from burning coal is nothing like wood ash. It might have some nasties in it - you don't want to deal with----Mike---

[HazensNotchSugarShack]

I have experimented with this when my wood supply was running low. I use paper grocery bags so I can quickly open the door and toss it in. I put it in half way of the depth of my fire box to not get excessive heat on the doors. The problem is it's like a runaway train. Once it gets going it dosen't stop for a long time. And your evaporation rate and stack temp will increace. I also have a blower system in my fire box and don't know how well it would work without it. I would slow the blower to control the fire. I don't see this as a safe option. If you are dead set on trying it I suggest going small and only when you have lots of sap! I prefer nice dry quality hard wood! Good luck and be safe!

[Dennis H.]

So with the forced draft you basically got your self a forge!!

[Ausable]

This always happens -- Start off with a guy with 300# of coal and wants to toss a little in now and then to use it up ---- Next - we will have some guy with an old coal stoker off a coal furnace rigged up to his arch with forced air - wondering why his pans and stack melted--- gotta love us innovators ----Mike----

[Sako]

Sounds like I am going to stick to my free wood supply that I use. Last year found a guy that gets cedar logs for making fence sections, I get all the slab and drops.
I love it, strap it into a bundle run the 3ft chainsaw through it, no splitting, doesn't get any better.
Thanks for the input guys
Chris

[Rossell's Sugar Camp]

Coal is all i use. I mean, coming from a place named coal center what would you expect :lol: Coal makes the fire a lot hotter. i was getting 40 gph from a flat 3x5 last year

[Ausable]

Hey Rossell -- I was wondering if anyone really fired with coal. Makes sense to me - to use the fuel at hand. Is it lump coal? - Do you fuel your fire a shovel at a time? It would make a really hot fire - especially if ya use air. I live in a National Forest Area and trees are a managed crop - Even - some of the waste is chipped for an Electric Generating Plant in the area -they fire with wood chips. I'm sure there has to be a Sugarmaker that fires his rig with wood chips too. Hey _ a Merry Christmas to You and Your Family - and the very best in the coming Sugarin Season ----Mike----

[Rossell's Sugar Camp]

I throw a shovel full in and i spread it evenly across the top every 7 minutes. every other fire we poke apart the klinkers and then once in a while we will throw in a log or 2 so the flames travel. With a blower it roars. And that was an uninsulated block arch last year. My cousin gets astounding boiling rates with coal too. It blows wood out of the water. And i use run of the mine but they are stripping coal a few miles from here this year. I am going to check the place out. Basicly the cheapest coal i can get is what i will use. And merry Christmas to all youns

[peckfarm]

Sweeeet, coal. If I could afford it there would be 500k taps and a nuclear boiler in my sugar bush.