Buck Stove Model 94NC

[HisTreeNut]

This is going to be a long term review of the Buck Stove Model 94NC. My initial impressions will be now but come the winter, I will add more to this review with details...the good, the bad, & the ugly, if you will. If you have questions, please ask & I will answer them as best as I can.
So tonight, I did the first of the break in burns. We are still getting cool nights here so it is not as bad to deal with the heat and we can open windows to get the smell of the paint and such without freezing ourselves out.
My initial impression...WOW...this stove burns hot! I know stoves are way more efficient than fireplaces and kick off serious heat...but I am pleasantly impressed. I used kindling and some small pieces of cut log. I got the kindling going to let the liner warm up and to get a small coal bed. I then added the larger pieces of wood...maybe 3 or 4 pieces and nothing larger than 1¨in diameter. I made 2 layers of this small wood. I let it catch and started to close the air control down when it was burning well. With the fan on low, we went from 70 to almost 80 degrees in about 15ish minutes. This puppy could cook us out of our house...easily.
Anyway, I slowly kicked the air control all the way back and you could see the burn tubes kicking in a bit here and there. It was pretty cool looking to say the least. I had some big blue flames just kind of ¨hovering an inch or two over the wood. When that burned down a bit, I added a couple more pieces of the same sized wood and dialed it back down. Nearly 4.5 hours later, we have a really nice bed of coals in the stove and the fan is still throwing off a lot of heat. The room is still at 79 degrees and that is with adding a window fan to help suck the heat out of the room. Our next room over jumped to about 75 degrees. I cannot imagine what it will be like with the fan on high.
My initial impressions...lots of heat with not a lot of wood. It was very easy to get the fire going and to keep it going. The fan is not very loud on low and turning it briefly on high, it was not too bad, and the fan blows a lot of heat This is a nice stove.
Some pictures...again they will be grainy because they were taken on a mobile device.

1) The initial burn.



2) The burn tubes kicking in a bit...


So far...I like it. Time to start building that wood supply for next year...

 

[jeff_t]

Looking forward to more. Most of what I've read about them has been so-so to negative, but like many things, you hear more about the bad than good.

How much are you heating?

 

[HisTreeNut]

Hey, thanks! My goal is to give honest information and I agree, you hear much more bad than good on most things.
My house is around 2200 sq feet, single story ranch with a crawlspace [the crawlspace has a dehumidifier and a vapor barrier]. There is some insulation in the attic but I am not certain how much is in the walls. It is wood-sided but it will need replacing in the next few years...same with the roof. It was built in 1972 with a logical design [bedrooms one side, central living space, kitchen & dining on the other side]. We have a outside wall fireplace/masonry chimney. The chimney takes up the whole wall and is a heat sink. Our primary heat is electric hot water baseboard heat. The room that the insert is in also has a fairly large ceiling fan in it with 2 speeds [fast & really fast]. We get good breeze from it but I am not sure it will help or hinder the circulation of the heat. That is an experiment for another day. Our goal is to heat primarily with wood in the winter. Hope that helps.

 

[begreen]

Can you post some interior pictures of the 94?

 

[velvetfoot]

Looks good!

 

[HisTreeNut]

Can you post some interior pictures of the 94?

I was going to do another burn tonight so before I do that, I will take a picture or two. Then I will let you know how that fire cooks us out of our livingroom.

 

[webby3650]

I was very impressed with my buck stove. It produced the most impressive heat of any stove I've had so far! And I've had a lot of new stoves. I should have kept this one!

 

[HisTreeNut]

I did another low burn tonight. It was much warmer outside tonight than yesterday so it took a little longer to draft well. It still cranked out some major heat. Small pieces of wood and we got up to 81 degrees [I got about 2 hours of burn and a nice coal bed from five or six 1" pieces of wood].
Granted it is warm outside so it does not take much to heat a room. That being said, my wife said the room took forever to cool down today. She said it was still 79 in the room mid-morning and did not get into the low 70's until late afternoon.
So here are a couple of pictures pre-second burn. Gotta get a new digital at some point.

1) Looking straight in. Ash pan to the left. The center is where the air is drawn through.. Ash pile for first burn to the right. Under the ashes is firebrick.



2) The re-burn tubes across the top along with firebrick lining.




3) Another view of the re-burn tubes. When you do get a fire going and dialed back, it is kind of neat to watch. No fire on the wood but all kinds of flame around the tubes.





I do not know much about the insides of stoves but it all looks well made and assembled .to me. I did not run the fan on high because even with the small wood, it was cooking me out. I turned it on high briefly and the best way I can describe the sound is it reminds me sort of a plane as it takes off. Anyhoo...
Almost forgot, tomorrow I will use some seasoned wood to fill the firebox, and see how long it lasts. It will be my last night of playing because it's too stinking hot...

I was very impressed with my buck stove. It produced the most impressive heat of any stove I've had so far! And I've had a lot of new stoves. I should have kept this one!

What model did you have?

 

[webby3650]

I did another low burn tonight. It was much warmer outside tonight than yesterday so it took a little longer to draft well. It still cranked out some major heat. Small pieces of wood and we got up to 81 degrees [I got about 2 hours of burn and a nice coal bed from five or six 1" pieces of wood].
Granted it is warm outside so it does not take much to heat a room. That being said, my wife said the room took forever to cool down today. She said it was still 79 in the room mid-morning and did not get into the low 70's until late afternoon.
So here are a couple of pictures pre-second burn. Gotta get a new digital at some point.

1) Looking straight in. Ash pan to the left. The center is where the air is drawn through.. Ash pile for first burn to the right. Under the ashes is firebrick.

View attachment 158378

2) The re-burn tubes across the top along with firebrick lining.


View attachment 158379

3) Another view of the re-burn tubes. When you do get a fire going and dialed back, it is kind of neat to watch. No fire on the wood but all kinds of flame around the tubes.


View attachment 158380


I do not know much about the insides of stoves but it all looks well made and assembled .to me. I did not run the fan on high because even with the small wood, it was cooking me out. I turned it on high and the best way I can describe the sound is it sounds sort of like a plane as it takes off. Anyhoo...
Almost forgot, tomorrow I will use some seasoned wood to fill the firebox, and see how long it lasts. It will be my last night of playing because to stinking hot...



What model did you have?

It was a Buck 51.

 

[velvetfoot]

Looks like a big firebox.

 

[begreen]

I did another low burn tonight. It was much warmer outside tonight than yesterday so it took a little longer to draft well. It still cranked out some major heat. Small pieces of wood and we got up to 81 degrees [I got about 2 hours of burn and a nice coal bed from five or six 1" pieces of wood].
Granted it is warm outside so it does not take much to heat a room. That being said, my wife said the room took forever to cool down today. She said it was still 79 in the room mid-morning and did not get into the low 70's until late afternoon.
So here are a couple of pictures pre-second burn. Gotta get a new digital at some point.

1) Looking straight in. Ash pan to the left. The center is where the air is drawn through.. Ash pile for first burn to the right. Under the ashes is firebrick.

2) The re-burn tubes across the top along with firebrick lining.

3) Another view of the re-burn tubes. When you do get a fire going and dialed back, it is kind of neat to watch. No fire on the wood but all kinds of flame around the tubes.

Thanks for posting the pics. We rarely see Bucks out here. That looks like nice solid construction. And finally an ashpit door and ash hole that looks usable.

 

[HisTreeNut]

Not a problem...glad to do it. I appreciate all the advice from you folks so it is the least I could do.
Update to yesterday's burn, Again, all small pieces and lots of heat. Since there was more ash on the bottom, this morning I still had a a smattering of hot coals still in the ash. The stove was also warm to the touch yet.
Tonight I am doing a sustained burn with regular wood.. Started it about 10:30 pm and and am going to bed. The fan is on a medium speed and the air is dialed all the way back.. The logs are burning slowly but throwing off lots of heat. I will be interested to see what is left in the morning.

 

[mellow]

I would recommend you going ahead and insulating your fireplace since it is an exterior chimney this summer, you WILL get good heat gains from doing it. You can click the link in my signature to see before and after with results.

 

[HisTreeNut]

Well, I did the break-in burn last night with regular logs. Got the fire going, dialed it back, and went to bed. When the wifey woke me up this morning, we had a good coal bed in the center of the stove and 3 small pieces of wood that did not burn up completely. The room was 80 degrees. The firebox is a trapezoid shape and the pieces were along the edges of the trapezoid [One to the back, one on the left and right side of the stove]. They were maybe 25% of the size of the original logs I put in last night. I pulled them to the center and got them burning.
[Funny story...we have fans going in the rest of the house to draw in cool air. It was a bit chilly this morning. My youngest daughter was walking around the house with her baby dolls and came into the room as I was closing up the stove. She said, "I think I am going to play in here where it is warm." Made me chuckle yet again. I looked at her and said, "How come you are so cute?" and with out skipping a beat, she said, " 'Cause that's the way God made me."] Out of the mouths of babes...
Anyway, the stove has a temperature controlled blower and I flipped it to that so it would shut off by itself. As I left for work around 10:15 AM, the fan was still blowing heat...not real hot but still warm heat. It had full air as well [I did not dial the air back]. Granted, warmer air temps, warmer house, so the chimney is not as much of a heat sink, but still probably an 8 hour combined burn time for that load of wood. Not bad, I think.
Side question...what is the best way to load wood in a stove like this? North/South..East/West...Crisscross? My folk's Lopi had to go North/South for the best burn. Thanks.

Here are a couple of pictures from the the other night showing the burn tubes in action.

!) Re-burn with air wide open



2)Re-burn with air 1/2 open

 

[aansorge]

This should be interesting. This is a massive stove folks....4.4 cu.ft. Obviously it should put out big heat. But will it see 12 hour burn times? I'm curious.

 

[Woody Stover]

Looks like a big firebox.

This should be interesting. This is a massive stove folks....4.4 cu.ft.

That's what they claim for the 91 also since it's the same box, but I found it to be closer to 3 cu.ft. usable. Hard for me to say from a pic, a height measurement would tell the tale, but it looks like the box has more usable height without the cat.

an ashpit door and ash hole that looks usable.

When I got the 91 I was dubious the ash dump would be usable, since I'm spoiled on the grated ash systems, but it works pretty well. The opening is big enough to use one of the cheap "coal shovels" or whatever you call 'em. You can scoop up a shovel-full, roll the coals off, then what you dump down the hole is mostly ash and a few smaller coals. If you time it right so you're not dealing with a ton of coals, there's plenty of room to save the big coals to the side when you dump the ash. Ash can pack behind the lid hinge, making it hard to open, but I had an L-shaped poker that I would run behind the hinge to clear it, then flip the lid up with it. The ash pan doesn't lock in place, so you have to keep an eye on the gasket to make sure it doesn't fray where the ends meet, which allows too much air to enter and hinders your ability to run the stove low. Last time I changed the gasket I dabbed the ends with a small amount of silicone to hopefully eliminate the fraying.

3 small pieces of wood that did not burn up completely....The firebox is a trapezoid shape and the pieces were along the edges of the trapezoid

When I loaded the 91, sometimes I would put a couple splits of Cherry or soft Maple against the side walls, figuring that they would burn a little faster and hotter at the end of the burn, keeping the heat output up while at the same time leaving less coals to move around if I had to dump ash.
It'll be interesting to hear what kind of burn times you can get with various woods, once you get the stove dialed in next winter. Keep us posted! How is your wood situation shaping up? If I was buying, like you are, I would try to check out several different suppliers and see who's got the driest fuel. They might be offended, but I'd take a moisture meter unless you are confident in your ability to judge dryness by the heft of the splits. Re-split a split and test on the fresh surface. I'd buy a few years' worth and start drying it all now. When I stacked, I would separate out the Oak, leaving that for subsequent years, and stack the faster-drying stuff. like Cherry and soft Maple, for this winter. I'd also stack single-row for the stuff you need this year. It may be a couple of years before your fuel is dry enough for you to realize the full potential of the stove.

 

[velvetfoot]

That's what they claim for the 91 also since it's the same box, but I found it to be closer to 3 cu.ft. usable.

Do either have a catalytic converter?

 

[Woody Stover]

Do either have a catalytic converter?

91 is a cat, 94 a tube stove.

 

[velvetfoot]

So, the cat takes away from the firebox?

 

[Woody Stover]

So, the cat takes away from the firebox?

It looks like it from the pic. Tomorrow I'll take a measurement from the floor of the box to the cat shield, and maybe HTN can get a floor-to-tube number if he gets a chance...his wife will likely ban stove burning once the outside temps hit 90.

 

[HisTreeNut]

How is your wood situation shaping up? If I was buying, like you are, I would try to check out several different suppliers and see who's got the driest fuel. They might be offended, but I'd take a moisture meter unless you are confident in your ability to judge dryness by the heft of the splits. Re-split a split and test on the fresh surface. I'd buy a few years' worth and start drying it all now. When I stacked, I would separate out the Oak, leaving that for subsequent years, and stack the faster-drying stuff. like Cherry and soft Maple, for this winter. I'd also stack single-row for the stuff you need this year. It may be a couple of years before your fuel is dry enough for you to realize the full potential of the stove.

A friend found us several trees which I will be splitting for 2016/2017 winter...oak, maple, cherry, & I think a locust. We have about a little over a face cord left from last year which some will be moved inside and some moved to the garage. I am contacting the guy we bought wood from last year because his wood for the most part was decent. I am looking to get 6 - 8 cord in early June. The trees will get us another 4 cord...possibly 6 at most. That will max out the space I have for wood until I can come up with a better storage solution.

It looks like it from the pic. Tomorrow I'll take a measurement from the floor of the box to the cat shield, and maybe HTN can get a floor-to-tube number if he gets a chance...his wife will likely ban stove burning once the outside temps hit 90.

No...she's banned me now. If I have time tonight, I will measure the usable space vs. what the manual says on my 94. If not, I will in the next few days and post it for everyone.

I would recommend you going ahead and insulating your fireplace since it is an exterior chimney this summer, you WILL get good heat gains from doing it. You can click the link in my signature to see before and after with results.

My brother is coming for a visit in a bit. When here is here, I hope to do a little more insulating around the stove & such.

 

[Ashful]

A friend found us several trees which I will be splitting for 2016/2017 winter...oak, maple, cherry, & I think a locust..

If you're splitting oak today, you won't be burning it in 2016/2017, unless you own a kiln. I suspect locust may be similar.

The maple and Cherry should be fine, with 18 months (2 summers) CSS'd.

 

[Woody Stover]

If I have time tonight, I will measure the usable space vs. what the manual says on my 94. If not, I will in the next few days and post it for everyone.

OK! To compensate for the angled sides of the box. I just took a width measurement half way back and used that figure. The cat shield is flat, so the box is the same height, front to back. That may differ with your tube setup.
First pic is when I first got the stove. I replace the cracked bricks and put in a new heat shield. Should have just banged the old one flat, as the new one warped as well (not as badly, though.) Your air routing may be slightly different; Probably doesn't have the V-channel half way back on the top of the box like the 91. At the top of the second pic, you can see the back two pegs where the cat shield mounts on the bottom of the cast cat housing.

 

[Woody Stover]

If you're splitting oak today, you won't be burning it in 2016/2017, unless you own a kiln. I suspect locust may be similar.

The maple and Cherry should be fine, with 18 months (2 summers) CSS'd.

Yeah, I got tired of getting burned by wet Red Oak. I wait 3 summers, unless I've split it pretty small, like under 4" on any side. He may have a little better luck with a non-cat, but it still won't be optimal.

 

[HisTreeNut]

Woody Stover --> I measured inside my stove tonight.
Front to back centered is about 21 Inches.
Left to right centered is about 22 inches.
Bottom to just below burn tubes is about 12 inches [13 inches touching burn tubes].
That puts it about 3.2 cubic feet of "usable space" if my rough measurement calculations are correct. Also, as you figured, no "V" channel.