Largest wood stoves too big for smallish canvas tent?

[gstan44]

hey there,
wanted to get folks' opinions on this:
a friend is giving us their 13 foot diameter bell tent and we are wanting to get a wood stove to try some colder weather camping (low 30s F overnight).

I really like the idea of getting a large wood stove (wall tent shop's Yukon 5 or Colorado cylinder alpine) so that we don't need to wake up during the night to feed the fire.

So question 1 is:
are these large stoves going to just cook us out of our 13' diameter tent?

question 2 is:
we are going to get a larger bell tent (16 foot diameter) next spring and use the 13' tent for guests, is the big stove too big for the 16' tent as well?

thank you in advance for your thoughts...

 

[teamwhitebelly]

Too funny, Im sitting in my Kodiak 10x10 wall tent with the Colorado cylinder crankin!! It is only 55 deg out now but hot as heck in here. I believe it all depends on the wood you burn. We burnt pine this elk season and it went fast and no way to burn all night, I am burning elm and cedar now as I type and should last for a few hrs. without adding.

 

[go_deep]

I have zero issues with an oversized wood stove in my tent, go big or go home!
One way to get a longer burn is let the wood burn down to coals and push them all the way back, then load it up with wood. Instead of burning from bottom up, it burns back to front taking significantly longer. I can get about an 8 hour burn on mine doing that.

 

[gstan44]

Thank you for the quick replies--Big stove it is!

 

[11boo]

If you woodburners have the room, this stuff makes for easy fires and no chainsaw needed. Best part is 5 bucks for 40 lbs.

 

[swampthing]

I have been in tents with oversized stoves. Keeping the door or windows open is the key here.

 

[Bubblehide]

The only downside to a large stove is the room it takes up. I have a 13' bell tent, currently set up in my hunt area (I am stuck to base camp hunting this season). I have several wood stoves, and a Mr. Heater propane heater. I chose to use the propane heater for ease of use. And, since the tent is canvas, I don't have condensation issues. The Mr. heater (30, 35 and 40K BTU settings) will cook you out of the tent in a few minutes. I only run it in the morning and evening to dress and clean up, with current temps (lows in the 40's, at worst). I stopped feeding a wood stove long ago unless the temps are brutally cold, like zero or below. However, if I have to get up to relieve myself, I will still feed the stove, since I am already up.

Honestly, other than wind considerations, I would go with a Kodiak Canvas 12x12 cabin tent over the 13 foot bell tent (I got a deal way to good to pass up) for about the same footprint. You just have more usable space in the 12x12 than a roundish bell tent. In short, I see the 13' bell tent as a good 2 man tent, the 12x12 is a good 3 man tent, and a very roomy 2 man. You can also get the 8x8 enclosed porch for the 12x12.

Granted, the bell tent is a super easy set-up process. However, the 12x12 in not a difficult process, just takes a bit longer.

 

[Salmonchaser]

The advantage of the larger cylinder stoves, you dont have to stuff it full and while I don’t under stand the physics involved it runs cooler than the same amount of wood in the smaller stove. I have two tents and two stoves, when I take the smaller tent, the 16 vs 20 I always take the larger stove.
Stuffed full at night, the larger stove will have coals in the morning, takes about 10 minutes to have the fire roaring.