Christmas outing

For the non-technical side of living with Steamboats, videos and general pictures.
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wsmcycle
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Joined: Sun Mar 13, 2011 5:43 pm
Boat Name: FEARLESS,l'il steamy
Location: Fort Smith Arkansas USA

Christmas outing

Post by wsmcycle » Sun Dec 27, 2015 4:18 am

On a crazy warm Christmas day, yesterday, i took my lil steamboat with the new boiler out on the Arkansas river. I usually burn large clumped coal but this past year on my big boat "Fearless", i have been burning bagged coal. My MO is to start up on charcoal and then switch to real coal. i had 80# when i threw on a load of of bag coal. Mistake!! The old grate in the Semple boiler was not made for the smaller coal and it fell through choking the air flow and all but killing the fire. i didn't want to start shoveling out the coal.... so after a two mile jaunt we were back at shore. every outing is a success when you are loaded up and headed home.
Merry Christmas memory!
LIGHT THE FIRE!!
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PeteThePen1
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Re: Christmas outing

Post by PeteThePen1 » Sun Dec 27, 2015 11:20 am

Great Stuff! Steaming on Christmas day in the Northern Hemisphere.

I thought that all you folks across the pond were wood burners. I was surprised to hear that you actually burn coal. Actually, now I can see clearly the mess that burning coal has left in the my boat, I think I might convert to wood. Unless somebody has any tips for clean coal burning...

Regards

Pete
wsmcycle
Full Steam Ahead
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Posts: 218
Joined: Sun Mar 13, 2011 5:43 pm
Boat Name: FEARLESS,l'il steamy
Location: Fort Smith Arkansas USA

Re: Christmas outing

Post by wsmcycle » Mon Dec 28, 2015 9:54 pm

Coal is dirty but, it has so much more energy in it than anything else by the pound that it is my choice. Wood is much cleaner but it requires so much more attention to maintain a high heat burn. I still use it on the occasion that I have left over fireplace wood.
LIGHT THE FIRE!!
smokestackmag
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Re: Christmas outing

Post by smokestackmag » Sun Mar 20, 2016 3:00 pm

On using coal:

I like burning coal because of the high Btu content as well as the smell. As my lovely wife is from Austria my boat is (mostly) always nice and clean. I solved the problem by bagging the coal at home in paper lunch bags (they hold about the right volume - 4 lbs). However, I had to double bag them as they are a little thin. I shall, in the future, try to find the same size bags that are made of a thicker paper. The only serious downside is if the bags get wet....
Tim Lynch
SL Flying Cloud
Oxford, CT USA
Editor Smokestack
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