New Burner/Old Fisher - Coal?

[Caldonia Sun]

Hello,

New to burning wood. I have a Fisher Papa Bear, probably from the late 70's. I bought it used & refurbished. It's burning great, although my wood is old and burning very quickly - need to get a cord.

Anyway, I found the manual for this stove and it says it can burn coal. I am considering using coal for overnight and wondered if anyone is doing this and if they have any tips.

Thanks in advance,
CS

 

[Don H]

There's a picture of a coal basket in this thread. With coal you need something to let air feed from underneath and a way to remove ash from below.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/fisher-pappa-bear-find.164989/#post-2212177

 

[bholler]

It will be a very poor coal stove. And infact it can be dangerous burning coal in a stove not designed for it

 

[Caldonia Sun]

Thanks for the replies - I think I'll forego trying this.

 

[Don H]

"When using coal for fuel in your Fisher Stove it is important that a grate or coal basket be used. The grate or coal basket should have legs which will place the firebed at least two inches above the firebox bottom" Fisher Bear VI series manual, page 13.

See manual https://www.hearth.com/images/uploads/Bear_VI_Series_Early_Manual.pdf for more information on burning coal. Also if your Papa isn't a series VI you would need to check your manual. The earlier manual on this site states "Coal - not recommended - now under test".