Print

[Ebaumcratz]

What is the best outdoor wood burner (or coal) stove?

[Scott7m]

Not tooting my horn but I think it would have to be heatmaster, air comes in under and over fire in some models.   But coming up through the coal bed is required for coal, then when you throw in shaker grates its a no brainer.

natures comfort also has combo stoves available but it isnt standard

[chaikwa]

I'm not sure there IS a 'best'. It seems like they all have their good points as well as bad. I think to get the best of the best, you'd have to first determine exactly what you want to achieve and how you'd like the stove to achieve it, then build it yourself. That was the approach I took in regards to firewood processors. I'm building my own by incorporating many ideas from 5 or 6 different manufacturers.

I just bought a Hawken, mainly because they are local to me, appear to be simple, they welcomed me to their facility to inspect and view anything I wanted to at any stage of manufacture and were honest in answering my questions even when it wasn't in their best interests. And I have to say, when they state that the package will be complete, it is certainly COMPLETE! I haven't had to buy one extra thing, (yet), during my installation. Right down to wire connectors, electrical tape and extra plumbing fittings, it's all been there in the boxes. They even threw in extra compression ferrules and 0-rings in case I screwed them up. The only thing they didn't tell me was what a pain in the butt un-rolling and working with the pex tubing would be! The salesman for this area has been here twice at my request to check my work as I go along to make sure any mistakes I make get corrected before I get too far ahead of myself.

As for how the unit will actually work... I haven't got that far yet!

[Scott7m]

Not trying to knock anyone here, don't want to give that impression.  With a handful of companies out there it comes down to preference and feature choice, but given they mentioned coal was why I leaned towards hm

[yoderheating]

 Scott is right, there are not many companies that make a good standard coal burning outdoor furnace. Some offer a special model to burn coal and some have different grates but Heat Master is the only company that makes most of their furnaces to be able to burn both.

[slimjim]

Have you guys all forgotten the chatter about the Portage and Main brick lined shaker grate that was introduced last spring that got all the great reviews, it's the heaviest in it's class, air comes in through the easily replaced shaker grates and from behind the door, fully adjustable doors, silicone coated door gaskets, sectional construction, off the shelf Johnson controls, clean enough that I think it may pass phase 2 testing, a lot of thought went into this conventional wood and coal boiler

[chaikwa]

Not trying to knock anyone here, don't want to give that impression.  With a handful of companies out there it comes down to preference and feature choice, but given they mentioned coal was why I leaned towards hm

I didn't get the impression you were trying to knock anyone at all. Like yoderheating said, Heatmaster is the only one to make standard models that will burn BOTH. If the OP was wanting to burn both at any given time, I'd say Heatmaster would be the clear choice. Even if he wanted to *JUST* burn one or the other, Heatmaster might still be the best choice, but I don't know anything about them.

Actually Scott, if I lived closer to you, I'd have made my purchase from you, but I wanted to be able to take my OWB and transport it back from whence it came and throw it thru a window if something goes wrong and I can't get service!

And if the truth be known, I'd STILL like to build my own, but my raw materials costs were within $2000 of the Hawken and I couldn't/can't justify my own build. These OWB's ain't exactly rocket science from a manufacturing standpoint, so with 30 years in heavy fabrication and welding, I think I could pull it off!

[DaveWertz]

What about Hardy? They burn both. Mine came equipped with shaker grates. I think the H2 and know for sure the H4 come with the option of shaker grates.

[victor6deep]

Ridgewood. Duh O0j

[Scott7m]

What about Hardy? They burn both. Mine came equipped with shaker grates. I think the H2 and know for sure the H4 come with the option of shaker grates.

Yea they will burn it well, but loses some efficiency n such, vs an e model or something similar

[Scott7m]

Ridgewood. Duh O0j

Coal!?  I don't hardly think so......  I live in coal country and would never sell a ridgewood to someone wanting to burn coal.

[CountryBoyJohn]

I think "best" depends on your preferences.  I think that Central, Portage and Main, and Heatmaster are the "best" products.  But, each stove offers something different.  I landed on Heatmaster because it had all the features I was looking for.  Stainless steel, forced air, quality construction.  I remember back in Feburary when I began my research on stoves, one of the first websites I went to was Heatmaster and remember saying to myself, there is no way I would be able to afford that thing!  (just by looking at the pictures, before I even got a quote)  It just looked so professional and not like something built in somebody's garage.  Anyway, that's my .02.  Depends on what you're looking for.

[f150bft]

What is the best outdoor wood burner (or coal) stove?

  I had changed my mind several times on the stoves because everyone I spoke to had the BEST stove on the market. Like it has been said before, it's what you are wanting in a stove. Finding a dealer that will take the time to talk to you and find a stove to match the needs is a plus. Read some reviews but don't put all your decision making into reviews. Some people will bitch about everything and nothing. A dealer that is close to you could be a good thing. It's a huge investment so it has to be right for you. Good luck in your purchase!