Coal Inserts for Squirell Stoves

[Sabcat]

Squirrel's are about the best stove going anyway (don't think so? You're wrong, sorry) but recently I heard about coal inserts, basically cast iron plates that sit at an angle either side of the grate to form a kind of shute. They're brilliant, they let you get a lot more coal on where it needs to be. The fire stays hotter for longer to the point that now I through a load of coal on at around midnight and don't touch it again until around 11 or 12.

[andyb116]

Best 30 Quid I've spent, keeps the fire cleaner and hotter and saves fuel.

[stagedamager]

We've just bought some. Totally brilliant!

[frangar]

3rd'ed!....well worth the cash although I know others that have used engineering bricks at the sides of the grate....and then used the flat surface to cook jacket pots wrapped in foil...

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

[Bazza954]

We've just bought some. Totally brilliant!

Where from may I enquire ?

 

thanks

[Guest]

Cut down fire bricks are a cheaper alternative.

[Bazza954]

Cut down fire bricks are a cheaper alternative.

That sounds more like my style !

[Nightwatch]

£30? Where from. I would consider for that price.

 

Martyn

[bottle]

3rd'ed!....well worth the cash although I know others that have used engineering bricks at the sides of the grate....and then used the flat surface to cook jacket pots wrapped in foil...

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

 

Jacket potatoes can also be done in the ash pan underneath.

 

Had the inserts for years, friend had different make of stove but fitted some, made to measure by local metal worker, in his.

[PeteS]

I've used brick fire sides from Wilkinson's about £5 for the pair.

[stagedamager]

We got ours from Midland Swindlers. Purely for convenience because we were there.

[DHutch]

Yes, fully agree.

 

Got the wrong ones and had to disc-cutter the ends off to make them fit with the back boiler, but spot on.

 

 

 

Daniel

[andyb116]

Ours came from Kings Lock chandlery, admitadley trade price.

[rgreg]

Agreed, they are well worth the money. They act as a kind of funnel for the ash and make a more efficient operation.

[Alan Saunders]

According to their website the Morsø Squirrel is best suited to wood burning even though their grate is obviously designed for burning coal. The best log-burners have a flat, insulated base allowing a build up of an inch of ash which produces the best heat and the longest slumber, e.g. 48hrs for my Jotul with a typical 30' x 9" x 9" chimney in a house.

 

I do not yet have the coal inserts but they, or firebricks, seem to be a good idea. At the least they will reduce the task of raking unburnt fuel and ash from the sides of the firebox.

 

Also, you can fit a second, interlocking front firebasket above the normal, single one which makes it safer when banked up.

 

I have a love/hate relationship with my Morsø Squirrel - it is great when it is working but a pain when bits break, glass and firebasket retainer so far. Next time I will buy a cheaper stove and replace the whole thing every few years if repair is difficult.

 

Alan

Edited January 20, 2015 by Alan Saunders

[Sabcat]

I've seen a lot of posts on here about Squirrel's breaking and I don't get it. Ours is 12 years old, replaced the centre grate 3 times and the stove glass once in that time and never had a problem with any other parts.

[Loafer]

I've seen a lot of posts on here about Squirrel's breaking and I don't get it. Ours is 12 years old, replaced the centre grate 3 times and the stove glass once in that time and never had a problem with any other parts.

I don't get it either. Very little to complain about with ours, except that it won't fuel itself.

[Sabcat]

I have a theory that people don't have coolie hats on them and don't put a cap on in the summer when it's not being used so they basically get wet and rust out.

[Edders]

 

I have a love/hate relationship with my Morsø Squirrel - it is great when it is working but a pain when bits break, glass and firebasket retainer so far. Next time I will buy a cheaper stove and replace the whole thing every few years if repair is difficult.

 

Alan

 

 

The lower section of the firebasket retainer has broken on one side of my Squirrel. I have tried fixing it with car exhaust pipe cement but with limited success.

 

How did you repair yours? (Putting another interlocking above it makes it relatively secure but more awkward to load up with fuel).

 

Thanks

 

Tony

[Iain_S]

 

 

The lower section of the firebasket retainer has broken on one side of my Squirrel. I have tried fixing it with car exhaust pipe cement but with limited success.

 

How did you repair yours? (Putting another interlocking above it makes it relatively secure but more awkward to load up with fuel).

 

Thanks

 

Tony

 

I did Copperkins one by getting a new bit. The retaining screw was solid, but I found I could remove the bust one and fit the new one by gentle use of the mooring hammer and WD40/

 

 

Iain

[MtB]

I have a theory that people don't have coolie hats on them and don't put a cap on in the summer when it's not being used so they basically get wet and rust out.

 

 

My Squirrel was fine for the first 15 years then all manner of stuff went wrong with it.

 

1) The retaining brackets for the cast iron coal-retaining grill thing across the front snapped off so the grill has nothing to hold it in place.

2) The circular griddle fell into pieces

3) The ash pan rotted out

4) The door glass spontaneously broke

5) The lip on the left hand side of the top panel casting cracked and fell off over a period of about two years

 

Apart from that it's been GRATE!

 

 

MtB

[Sabcat]

 

 

My Squirrel was fine for the first 15 years then all manner of stuff went wrong with it.

 

1) The retaining brackets for the cast iron coal-retaining grill thing across the front snapped off so the grill has nothing to hold it in place.

2) The circular griddle fell into pieces

3) The ash pan rotted out

4) The door glass spontaneously broke

5) The lip on the left hand side of the top panel casting cracked and fell off over a period of about two years

 

Apart from that it's been GRATE!

 

 

MtB

 

The circular griddle burns out anyway. Ours is lit 24/7 over winter because we live on the boat and the pattern for it with our use is it's fine for the first year, the second year it starts to deform and sometime in the 3rd or fourth year it falls to pieces. Not an expensive part or one that's hard to replace.

 

If the rest of the stove follows the same pattern as yours I'll be buying a new one in 3 years. I think 15 years is a good run for any piece of kit that gets used as much as a stove on a liveaboard. Works out at about £50 a year.

[MtB]

People say the new ones are not as nice to use as the old ones. Not sure why.

 

The Boatman Stove seems a well regarded alternative. Way cheaper too.

 

 

MtB

[Sabcat]

I think there's a couple of models of the squirrel now, one that's Defra approved and one that isn't. The 1410 is the same as it's ever been and the 1412. I'm not sure how accurate that is though. The boatman is a lot cheaper, I think it's a bit smaller as well though unless there's different models.

 

I've toyed with the idea of getting a backboiler on the squirrel at various times, mainly when it drops down to below -5 outside when the stove has to be going full tilt to get one end of the boat barely warm and I'm left sweating like a vicar on a rape charge in the saloon. This kind of weather never seems to last long though so the thought passes.

Edited January 21, 2015 by Sabcat

[MtB]

I think there's a couple of models of the squirrel now, one that's Defra approved and one that isn't. The 1410 is the same as it's ever been and the 1412. I'm not sure how accurate that is though. The boatman is a lot cheaper, I think it's a bit smaller as well though unless there's different models.

 

I've toyed with the idea of getting a backboiler on the squirrel at various times, mainly when it drops down to below -5 outside when the stove has to be going full tilt to get one end of the boat barely warm and I'm left sweating like a vicar on a rape charge in the saloon. This kind of weather never seems to last long though so the thought passes.

 

 

Yes the downside of a back boiler is you have to have the pump running 24/7, and the stove boils over if it fails. Or try to rig up a convection system which doesn't easily work if the stove is at the front of the boat and therefore higher than the back.

 

Another approach is a duct with a fan in it to take warm air from above the stove and blow it to the back of the boat. I remember discussing this with DeanS at length when he first turned up here. Not sure if he put it into action or how well it worked but I know another member here who has done it, and very effective apparently.

 

 

MtB