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LilChickieeT

New Member
Nov 23, 2017
2
Upstate NY
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Happy Thanksgiving! So we live off grid and our main heat source is this coal stove. I have a tendency to shake it harder than needs to be done. (Supposedly) That combined with the fact that the stove is very old and the handle is wearing out is getting me in a lot of trouble these days, LOL. I was wondering if anybody can help me avoid further unhappiness from my other half by helping me more accurately identify our stove, and share with me if you happen to know if we are able to buy a new arm for the shaker portion. I would greatly appreciate it as this beach bum living in the lake effect snow area will be in a really bad place if I do break the shaker arm, as I’ve already had to empty and restart the stove several times due to my overzealous shaking of the coals. I was told it is a Moravian stove and they stopped making them in 1973. The closest thing I can find looks like it is made by the Quaker Stoce company, but that is all I have to go by. Thank you for any and all help.
 
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Thanks! Helpful but most of the links reference a wood stove, mine and the other poster have a coal stove. Posting a separate thread about the fire brick. BTW - I see in your attached pic that someone put in wire mesh to hold in the wood ash. LOL - going by the channels in mine I am placing stove brick sawed 1/2 in the front and trying another run of coal. It makes a good wood stove but probably the fire box is best suited for coal - something that does not typically slam against the slanted brick with enough force to crack it.
 
Thanks! Helpful but most of the links reference a wood stove, mine and the other poster have a coal stove. Posting a separate thread about the fire brick. BTW - I see in your attached pic that someone put in wire mesh to hold in the wood ash. LOL - going by the channels in mine I am placing stove brick sawed 1/2 in the front and trying another run of coal. It makes a good wood stove but probably the fire box is best suited for coal - something that does not typically slam against the slanted brick with enough force to crack it.


So since posting, the metal tag that went with the stove has been located. (I lol'ed at the serial number!) Yes, it is a coal stove, though I was told it is "hybrid". (We do put in a wood log or two to get the coals started initially.) We run anthracite coal & it is our only heat source. (Holds up just fine with Lake Effect Snow October-May). Now that we know what it is, we need to know how to fix it! The shaker arm is (for lack of the proper term, this Southern Belle will just call it like I see it) "wallered out". Without being able to shake it, the coals go out, thus me being the one who has to re-start the whole process, not fun. I did (being at my wit's end) add the hardware cloth to see if perhaps it would allow the ash to fall but keep the larger pieces of coal from locking up the shaker. (It didn't melt, but it didn't allow the grated enough motion to do the job, so it was removed.) If the shaker arm were in fine operating condition (like the beginning of last year) this wouldn't be of as much significance, because I could just shake the mess out of it like I used to & all would be well. This year, the arm (where it connects to the grates mechanism) is deteriorating, so I was instructed to "go easy on it" because if we break the arm, no shaking; no shaking, coals go out, etc & so on. I have already built considerable biceps in lugging, loading, & unloading coal for this beast with all the issues related to the shaker arm condition, so I need to be mindful of my new found strength, and not shake it with such vigor. (Which, btw, does NOT get the job done!) So here we are, trying to baby this thing... We need to know if anyone has any idea where we could get a new shaker arm (since the company is out of business) or if we will just have to take the arm to a fabricator to have it recreated. (Sounds expensive to me & will require "down time".)

Thanks.
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take out the old have it recreated but have him make 2 or 3. cheaper in the long run