Pellet stove for tent heat

[trackrig]

I have both a 12' x 16' wall tent and a Cabela's Alakanuk 12' x 12' center pole tent that I primarily use because it's easier to carry and set up.

I've used wood stoves, but got rid of them because of the creosote clogging up the pipe during a hunt necessitating cleaning which was a PITA out there. I also got tired of being too hot in the tent or cold when the stove ran out of wood and then I'd have to get up to start a fire again while waking up the rest of the people.

I had a nice oil burner, but it mysteriously disappeared. Another one will run about $800+ in US dollars. I'm now looking for another heat source.

Propane works, but I dislike hauling the propane tanks, but I could go back to propane.

I've been looking at a pellet stove and of course it would have to be a gravity fed one. What's been your experience with a gravity fed pellet stove?

All the ones I look at have what they call an 8-hour bin on them. I like to sleep in which means more than 8 hours. It looks like it would be rather simple to put on a larger hopper. Has anyone done this?

In a 12' x 12' tent in weather right around freezing, to keep the chill off in the tent - not shirt sleeve temperatures, how many hours of heat will a 40# bag of premium pellets provide?

Other than the pain of hauling pellets, what's your experience with using a gravity fed pellet stove for heating a tent in the fall.

Bill

[Big Grey Wolf]

Do not like the idea of hauling wood pellets into the bush and then running out when unexpected cold snap hits. We have used wall tent for almost 50 years, never had a problem with creosote in pipes, always warm even in -40oC weather and if you use large round blocks of wood will last through the night.

[nimrod]

Originally Posted by trackrig

I have both a 12' x 16' wall tent and a Cabela's Alakanuk 12' x 12' center pole tent that I primarily use because it's easier to carry and set up.

I've used wood stoves, but got rid of them because of the creosote clogging up the pipe during a hunt necessitating cleaning which was a PITA out there. I also got tired of being too hot in the tent or cold when the stove ran out of wood and then I'd have to get up to start a fire again while waking up the rest of the people.

I had a nice oil burner, but it mysteriously disappeared. Another one will run about $800+ in US dollars. I'm now looking for another heat source.

Propane works, but I dislike hauling the propane tanks, but I could go back to propane.

I've been looking at a pellet stove and of course it would have to be a gravity fed one. What's been your experience with a gravity fed pellet stove?

All the ones I look at have what they call an 8-hour bin on them. I like to sleep in which means more than 8 hours. It looks like it would be rather simple to put on a larger hopper. Has anyone done this?

In a 12' x 12' tent in weather right around freezing, to keep the chill off in the tent - not shirt sleeve temperatures, how many hours of heat will a 40# bag of premium pellets provide?

Other than the pain of hauling pellets, what's your experience with using a gravity fed pellet stove for heating a tent in the fall.

Bill

Hello Bill, just a question, is the loading of the pellet stove, power or battery operated set up

[trackrig]

The pellets feed by gravity - no 12VDC or 110VAC. There are several people who make them.

http://stovee.info/wood-pellet-stoves-for-tents/

http://www.rdbussard.com/tent_stoves.php

And this stove is of particular interest as it's made to burn both wood and gravity fed pellets. Look down it for the Wrangle or Bullet stove.

http://rileycampstoves.com/pelletstoves.html

Bill

[SavingPrivateBugout]

A pellet stove is great when you have a power source and want to be efficient. I would have to question how well it would work in an emergency situation.
In the woods ...I've only ever burned wood. Either brought from home or deadfall. Each winter I heat my shack with my portable wood stove. I use 4" .065 ERW and have never had a problem with creosote buildup. Each spring I clean both stove and pipe all of which takes 20 minutes. What I love the most is the stove and pipe are very easy to transport.
I'll have to try burning stove pellets sometime. Not as a sole source of heat but just to start the fire. The stove I got from The Redhot Stove Company here in Calgary is 10ga steel tough and only 30 lbs. Not sure if they make a portable pellet stove but if it could burn wood too then what an adaptable little stove it would be!

[SavingPrivateBugout]

http://redhotstoves.wixsite.com/redhot

I just checked their site as well. Does not really say anything about wood pellets but i'm sure you could burn them in there!? Could you not?

[trackrig]

Originally Posted by SavingPrivateBugout

http://redhotstoves.wixsite.com/redhot

I just checked their site as well. Does not really say anything about wood pellets but i'm sure you could burn them in there!? Could you not?

I'm sure pellets could be burned in a wood stove. The problem, for me, is the stove would have to be built with a gravity fed hopper to burn through the night. I'd guess throwing a couple of pounds of pellets in the stove wouldn't last any longer than filling the stove with wood without the hopper to continue putting pellets in the stove.

Bill

[SavingPrivateBugout]

What about using gravity and a thermal fan combined? Being the fan turns once the stove is up to temperature ...perhaps one could use the fan to rotate a gear that rotates a hatch to let the pellets in? I suppose one could even regulate the fan rotation to fine tune its rate of feed as well.

[calgarychef]

Going into the bush that's full of firewood and making yourself dependant on an imported fuel source seems a little whacked to me . How about a bigger stove or one that's more efficient, or some nice big pieces of coal? When my chimney gets a little dirty I give it a whack with the ax.

[trackrig]

I must admit the wood stove I used in the tent years ago had either a 3" or 4" pipe. But after using the damper on it all night, it was clogged after 5 days. If I get another one, it will have a 5" pipe, but I need to have a larger jack installed in the tent - and I'll whack the pipe more often.

That aside, I'd still like to not deal with starting a fire again at night or restocking it. Coal would work, but would be more of a problem to haul in than pellets. If I had a wood stove that would hold enough wood to burn all night, it would drive us out of the tent.

All of this led me to a combo wood / pellet stove. Could burn wood during the day if we're in the tent, get warm at night with wood, then load the pellets. If I ran out of pellets, well there is plenty of wood at our campsite. Should be more good wood this year, in the wind last year a 2' diameter pine almost landed on the cook table.

This year will be a wood stove. But the new track rig will have three fuel tanks on it. I could easily use the smaller 50 gal tank to haul diesel for a diesel furnace.

I have used a thermal fan, but they only generate enough power to barely turn the fan itself. I still have it and will take it this year for the wood stove.

Bill

[warriorboy10]

Originally Posted by calgarychef

Going into the bush that's full of firewood and making yourself dependant on an imported fuel source seems a little whacked to me . How about a bigger stove or one that's more efficient, or some nice big pieces of coal? When my chimney gets a little dirty I give it a whack with the ax.

X2

[FISHBATTEREDBEER]

hey let' take a 1200 lbstove with us and a 100lb bag of pellets,not convenient.

[trackrig]

Where'd you get 1200#s from? They weigh about 40#.

Bill

[FISHBATTEREDBEER]

Originally Posted by trackrig

Where'd you get 1200#s from? They weigh about 40#.

Bill

from having one installed?

[trackrig]

Go up to Post #4 and read the links.................

Bill

[West O'5]

Originally Posted by calgarychef

Going into the bush that's full of firewood and making yourself dependant on an imported fuel source seems a little whacked to me . How about a bigger stove or one that's more efficient, or some nice big pieces of coal? When my chimney gets a little dirty I give it a whack with the ax.

X3.....if your pipe is getting clogged up with creasote during a few days or even few weeks hunting trip,something is wrong?Burning crappy,doughty wood...poplar is terrible,old birch almost as bad....burning a low heat smudge,damper choked off too much?Maybe you need to go to a bigger stovepipe?Clearance over the peak of the tent for good draw?
I lived the majority of my life in a house with an airtight wood stove as the primary heat source for 6-7 months/year,and only ever cleaned the chimney once a year in September.No way it should be a concern in just a few days.

Ideally you want nice dry/seasoned hardwood but obviously not gonna lug a truckload of wood to the woods..Standing deadwood,windfall spruce that's elevated off the ground,or cut your firewood supply from cutblock slash piles and burn'er nice and hot a few times/day,only damp it down to last overnight.A good airtight will hold a fire and a warm tent all night with a good bed of coals to restart in the morn with minimal effort.Softwood won't last all night normally unless you lug a monster size airtight to camp,but if it's dry it'll burn hot and you shouldn't be getting that buildup.
I'd try lining the stove belly with local collected rocks,or a good block of coal for overnights,but I can't imagine hauling pellets nor even more then a nights worth of firewood to the woods with me.

[calgarychef]

I made my stove out of a 45 gallon drum, put two baffles in it to slow the exit of the smoke and gasses so the heat stays in the tent instead of rushing out the chimney. If I put some logs onto some hot coals before bed and mostly close the damper and choke down the intake it'll last a long time with out a whack of heat output. I've never had the 6" chimney clogged up.

[trackrig]

It appears that when I used a wood stove in the tent previously, the problem of the stove pipe clogging closed after a week is related to the size of the stove pipe. I believe it was 4". It appears I need to go to at least a 5" pipe if not a 6" pipe.

I called the local tent maker and they said they won't put a new stove jack in my tent if they didn't originally make the tent, but they will sell me one. I thought that was strange because they've previously done modifications to the tent........ The wife does a lot of sewing, I'll have to see what she thinks of installing a new jack.

Have also been told to look at the existing jack, that some of them come with a small hole, but are designed to be cut out to a larger hole if needed. Will have to get the tent out of the shed but it's down to 2 deg F at the moment and it snowed several more inches last night. I'll have to get motivated later today.

Bill

[Big Grey Wolf]

Just cut the existing stove jack to fit 6" pipe, suggest leave extra inch and double over a sew to make good fit and last longer.

[Chip]

I currently use a Clarry pellet stove with a 10 x 20 Alaknak tent. Here are the things I most enjoy about the pellet stove.

1. Very clean burning and safe. The efficiency of the burning process virtually eliminates any sparks emitting from the exhaust stack. (Which on the Alaknack is pretty important). In terms of cleanliness, you can spend a whole week (or more) using the stove and come home smelling the way you did when you left. No smoke odor.

2. Insane heat when you want it. By making small adjustments to the air intake, you can roast yourself out or sleep comfortably through the night.

3. Amazing boot and gear drier. The Clarry stove is quite high off the ground. At the end of a day you just put your boots underneath the stove and in the morning, they are bone dry. Socks and other stuff placed in close proximity also rapidly dry out.

4. Spend more time hunting. It takes 2 of us to set up the tent, sleeping gear , kitchen, and stove in just over an hour. That's it! No looking for dry wood and spending a day cutting it up and hauling it. I imagine dry wood was scarce this past fall. Where we hunt, a farmer reported to me 30 inches of rain.

Hauling pellets is no big deal. Everyone has a truck anyway.

There was a learning curve on the use of different pellets. Do not use Hardwood pellets. there is usually a binder in them that clogs up the burning grate. Softwood is best. Okanagan Pellet Company, La Crete, Firemaster

The stove itself is not cheap, but it is built well and will last for years.

[trackrig]

I had looked at the Clarry stove - they look to be very well built and have a large hopper which can easily last for the night.

But, as you said, they aren't cheap. I'll have a wood stove this year, so maybe by next year when I recover from buying a new Nodwell, I can afford one of these. I'm glad it works well out there.

Which size or model are you using for your tent and what's the coldest you used it in?

Bill

[Chip]

I have the non-certified larger one. It looks like they have been tweaking the design on them since I've got mine. (6 years) We've been comfortable at -20C.
the Alaknak does condense a bit at that temperature though.