I've been burning a lot of Mulberry now that it's gotten nice and cold, and it leaves chunks are hard, smoldering coals once it's burned down. I have been scooping them out almost daily since the firebox starts to get filled up within just a few days, but I know there's still a lot of BTUs trapped in them things. Now don't get me wrong, it's been awesome for the matchless reloads, but I need way to get these things to burn down. I've heard someone mention that Pine will help chew through coal buildup...is that the case? Thanks in advance, and enjoy these rolling secondaries as a token of my gratitude. Animated GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY
Absolutely. Any soft wood will work, especially ones that don't coal up. Lots of it's just use pine for this as many people don't want pine. Those of us that know better, like it. I had the same coaling issue last year as well. I was mostly only cutting high btu/ good coaling stuff, so I ran this. Toward the end of the season, I either figured it out, or listened to the FHC crowd.
When you get burning hot and heavy, clean ashes out frequently, it will help quite a bit reducing coals .
I can open my door about a half inch with the cat still engaged. I open the air all the way and crack the door to burn the coals down. Brings the stove top temp up about a hundred degrees
Another twist that I used to use often was to open the stove at the end of the burn. Pile the coals somewhat together. Lay one small split on the pile. Close door. Leave air wide open. Should burn the coal pile down nicely. Worth a try.
We've tried various things after getting the new stove. The best we've found is that when the stovetop gets below 350 we then simply open up the draft to full open. Sometimes we might add one small piece to the fire but usually not as the coals burn down pretty good with full draft.
I open the air all the way, pull coals forward put a piece across on top , turn on the blower to get some extra heat out while burning the coals down
I'l get a deep bed of coals taking up valuable space when I'm pushing the stove when it is real cold with red oak. I've tried just opening the air and getting them glowing bright red but with all that air it just seems to be sending it all up the chimney. I have better luck just burning pine on top of them like I would normally burn pine. I get heat out of the stove and the coals eventually burn up. I've also tried pushing all the coals to the left, sticking a pine or maple split in on the right, then pushing all the coals over on it and sticking a pine or maple split in on the left leaving all the coals in a heap in the middle which really didn't accomplish much more than just being another way to do it, but it's fun to do.
Thanks for the posting. I have the same problem and will be following. I have been opening the damper to attempt to get the coals to completely burn, but the temps. have not been conducive to doing it lately. They are starting to moderate some. I burn my regular mixture on top of the coals with only more large coal development. Don't have any pine to try the suggestions. I do have some maple. What kind, soft or hard, I don't know. It is not separated from my stacks.
I'm happy to report that after this morning's Poplar rager, my coals are history! I raked the coals forward a bit, and stuffed the stove full of super dry splits...I will definitely be incorporating this strategy into my routing. Thanks all!
I burn a load or two of pine weekly to keep the coal mountain down in the owb. Before I found this trick I would struggle to keep up on real cold nights for lack of fuel, blocking the blower, etc. Wound up doing a lot of wasteful work shoveling coals before figuring out the pine trick.
For real...I'm a little embarrassed to admit that early on I had good 8" deep coal bed before I realized what was going on.
I have access to quite a bit of poppal. This sounds like a good use for it once its been dried. Usually with all the coals I'll rake them so as much ash as possible drops into my ash pan, then I leave the door open about an inch or so until they burn down, refill and repeat.
