Pacifk energy vista baffle

Can you give us some more photos? One of the boost manifold etc?

for the amount of coal in that stove right now i would open that air control full until the temp gets up to 650-700 and then close it down all the way to the bottem. Stopping in the middle where it is right now doesn't allow the temps to climb far enough for the secondairy to start working correctly.

there's no problem if the pin is missing. have you tried some differant wood, like cedar, pine, or 2x4's. If the stove is differant and goes up to 600-700 degres in 10 minutes, the problem is that the wood your using is to wet and needs to dry longer. If the stove still has trouble i would wonder if the chimney cap is plugged and or the chimney itself needs to be cleaned out agian

The first thing I would suggest is loading the wood splits, front to back, instead of side to side. It will get better air flow and burn better.
Get a newer thermometer. That one you have below the door should be on top of the stove in the center, and looks ancient, not sure how accurate it may be.
When was the chimney swept last?
Did they remove the baffle before sweeping? If not, there may be soot and ash laying on top of the baffle blocking or partially blocking the exhaust outlet.
If they pulled the baffle, did they cover the rear vertical air channel the baffle rests over? If that is not covered with a rag or something, it will also get clogged with ash/soot sweepings.
Load that stove front to back full, give it full air till it is about 400-500 degrees, then cut the air back 50% till temp hits 500-600, then cut the air all the way back and see how she does before adjusting.
Don't let it get to 700+ before cutting the air back, or it will take off too high.
Looks like you throwing a split or two on at a time over a ton of coals, this may be part of your problem.
And your wood may very well be too wet yet.

How tall is the piping outside & inside together? Has anyone checked the cap to make sure it is not clogged?

Only problem with trying to load a Vista n/s is you need tiny firewood! I have no problem getting my stove to 700 with good dry firewood loaded east west, shutting down the damper in 2 stages. Get about 4-5 hrs between reloads.

Good to hear. You on the right path it sounds like. Keep us informed of how it goes.