# What to do with old cast iron Martin wood stove?



## mar13 (Dec 27, 2018)

The house I bought came with a wood stove in the garage that I never used.   I had the piping removed and roof patched after it leaked during some heavy rains.  (A chimney sweep told me that California is unusual that code allows for wood stoves in garages.)   Since then, it's been taking up space in my garage waiting for me to imagine a project for it or to sell it.  I now know that selling this stove is illegal in terms of pollution.  I thought of turning it into some type of chiminea as some are shown in Pinterest.  Reality is setting in and I'm thinking now I should just take it to the salvage yard to have folks recycle the cast iron.  

Any clever ideas for good outside uses of the stove?  A sauna is no longer in my plans nor is the garden box idea.  

It's an old Martin stove (Florence, Alabama) with a 30 in the front door heart and two burners on  top.  Somewhat rusty, but still looks functional.   I think the previous owner burned scrap wood and sometimes trash in it from what I found in the ashes.  

I still have the single wall black pipe, if that's relevant for a project. (The Class A pipe is in good shape and might be used for when my house's new EPA stove is  installed, as additional Class A is needed to meet the 2' - 10' roof clearance rule, so not a total loss of material.)

Thanks


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## Dug8498 (Dec 27, 2018)

Can you post a picture?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## SpaceBus (Dec 27, 2018)

I see that it's illegal to sell it, but what if you restored it and gave it to someone who is monetarily constrained but needs reliable heat?


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## jerrieric (Dec 27, 2018)

Craigslist


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## bholler (Dec 27, 2018)

SpaceBus said:


> I see that it's illegal to sell it, but what if you restored it and gave it to someone who is monetarily constrained but needs reliable heat?


It can't be installed


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## jerrieric (Dec 27, 2018)

bholler said:


> It can't be installed


Who says?


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## SpaceBus (Dec 27, 2018)

bholler said:


> It can't be installed


Is that due to a state regulation? I know the west coast has a lot of air quality issues, so it wouldn't surprise me. There are antique stove dealers all over New England.


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## bholler (Dec 27, 2018)

jerrieric said:


> Who says?


The state of california


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## bholler (Dec 27, 2018)

SpaceBus said:


> Is that due to a state regulation? I know the west coast has a lot of air quality issues, so it wouldn't surprise me. There are antique stove dealers all over New England.


Yes


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## MDWOOD (Dec 27, 2018)

Make a nice outdoor smoker out of it


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## jerrieric (Dec 27, 2018)

bholler said:


> The state of california


So you're going to let them in your house to inspect your installation? I know I mean they're not allowed in the house unless you give them permission.


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## SpaceBus (Dec 27, 2018)

jerrieric said:


> So you're going to let them in your house to inspect your installation? I know I mean they're not allowed in the house unless you give them permission.



It's not worth the hassle, CA is nothing like ME.


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## bholler (Dec 27, 2018)

jerrieric said:


> So you're going to let them in your house to inspect your installation? I know I mean they're not allowed in the house unless you give them permission.


It is against the law to install a pre epa stove.  Yes you could probably get away with it but you might regret it if you ever have to make an insurance claim.


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## jerrieric (Dec 27, 2018)

And what is the stove was installed prior to EPA emission standards? And who's to say when it was installed?


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## bholler (Dec 27, 2018)

jerrieric said:


> And what is the stove was installed prior to EPA emission standards? And who's to say when it was installed?


Listen that is the law.  Yes you can choose to ignore it as you can with any law.  But by doing so you assume the risks and possible repercussions involved with that.   In some areas of CA you can't burn pre epa stuff at all regardless of when it was installed


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## mar13 (Dec 27, 2018)

I'll look into the smoker idea.  Having 2 young kids, it's very unlikely I'd make the time to clean up the stove to make it pretty.

I've already had a college student willing to take the stove, but (1) state rules, (2) I don't want to risk them getting CO poisoning, and (3) I'm tired of choking on other people's wood smoke when bicycling/walking past their houses.  I suspect that if people were careful to only burn dry wood and not dampen down their fires so much, the requirement for EPA stoves would have never developed, but most people aren't so obsessed with trying to get clean burns.

I'd post a picture, but that'd require digging it out from under stuff in the garage.  Here's a person with a slightly smaller equivalent stove which is in worse shape than mine:


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## jerrieric (Dec 27, 2018)

bholler said:


> Listen that is the law.  Yes you can choose to ignore it as you can with any law.  But by doing so you assume the risks and possible repercussions involved with that.   In some areas of CA you can't burn pre epa stuff at all regardless of when it was installed


Well I guess that's California for you one of the snowflake States


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## bholler (Dec 27, 2018)

jerrieric said:


> Well I guess that's California for you one of the snowflake States


No it is a state which has lots of problems with air inversions which cause the smoke to lay on or close to the ground.  If being a snowflake means wanting to be able to breath clean air then yes i suppose they are.  As am I.


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## jerrieric (Dec 27, 2018)

bholler said:


> No it is a state which has lots of problems with air inversions which cause the smoke to lay on or close to the ground.  If being a snowflake means wanting to be able to breath clean air then yes i suppose they are.  As am I.


Yeah sorry for being kind of sarcastic. So when Jerry Brown is toting putting up a satellite to see where the pollution is what's he going to do when the pollution is all coming from China and India?


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## bholler (Dec 27, 2018)

jerrieric said:


> Yeah sorry for being kind of sarcastic. So when Jerry Brown is toting putting up a satellite to see where the pollution is what's he going to do when the pollution is all coming from China and India?


Enough that is the law.  If you dont like it dont live there.


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## bholler (Dec 27, 2018)

jerrieric said:


> Yeah sorry for being kind of sarcastic. So when Jerry Brown is toting putting up a satellite to see where the pollution is what's he going to do when the pollution is all coming from China and India?


Enough that is the law.  If you dont like it dont live there.


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## peakbagger (Dec 27, 2018)

There is some pretty slick technology out there that can fairly accurately estimate emissions from a stack from the curb using a laser. It also works on motor vehicle tailpipes.


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## mar13 (Dec 27, 2018)

Well, if nothing about the stove, at least I Googled and learned some new slang (snowflake).  No offense taken - California is used to getting poked


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## mar13 (Dec 29, 2018)

I took it to the scrap yard today and collected my $3.50 for the iron.  Upon further inspection, there was a good size gap for air where two panels came together on its side.  Nice to make some space in the garage.

A scrap yard worker was telling me how after decades of old style stoves, he bit the bullet and got a new stove 3 years ago.  He was impressed with the "pretty flames", long burns, and how his wood use was cut in half.  That was encouraging to hear knowing that my Vigilant will soon also be heading the scrap yard when the state replaces my current stove.

Thanks folks for your input.


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