# moving a 600lb woodstove



## trx680 (Feb 12, 2015)

For you guys that have muscled heavy woodstoves into a house, what do you use to help you lift/carry/move the stove?
Sure its going to take multiple people but is there moving straps or something that can make the job safer and easier?


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## DougA (Feb 12, 2015)

When I moved our 700 lb. beast, I attached it with heavy ratchet straps to a dolly, then it wheeled very easily.  Getting it on & off the dolly was interesting.
An appliance cart is another option.


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## pma1123 (Feb 12, 2015)

IMO, forearm forklift straps suck on stairs....the load gets transferred to one unlucky individual because the lifting level changes. They're great on flat ground. 
I have used a furniture dolly + ratchet strap method for solo-moving, and the 2 man heave-ho method when going up stairs and carrying to the hearth. 
Also the 4 caster furniture dollys when restoring my other stove, so it moved around the garage, and out to the painting area with ease.


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## trx680 (Feb 12, 2015)

I'll have 3 steps on the front porch to deal with, then straight into the living room.

I saw the forearm straps, also see shoulder type straps. http://www.uscargocontrol.com/Movin...y-Moving-Strap-Blowout-Price-on-Moving-Straps


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## Poindexter (Feb 12, 2015)

Hire young burly men to do the job.  It is one of the distinct pleasures of being middle aged.


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## brad wilton (Feb 12, 2015)

if you can take out fire bricks saves a couple of hundred pounds. we used straps worked good still heavy  though.


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## webby3650 (Feb 12, 2015)

Just have the Hearth store you bought it from deliver it and set it on the hearth. It'll be the best $250 you ever spent! 
Here is what they will use: http://www.escalera.com


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## brenndatomu (Feb 12, 2015)

You could rent a battery powered stair climbing appliance dolly. EDIT, what webby just linked too ^^^
Or have the local stove shop come over and move it to (or close to) it's final destination. 
Is it on a pallet? A couple 2x4s pushed through the pallet make good "handles" for 4 guys to get in a good position to carry it in.
Of course anything that can be removed to lighten the load is a big plus (or "minus" as the case may be! ) like the door, firebricks, legs, etc. 
Prybars,(levers) blocks, and wheels, as in some type of dolly, are your friends. 
An old machinery movers trick is to roll heavy things on pipes, you need at least two pieces, the one that rolls out the back gets moved around to the front for its next pass.


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## Rearscreen (Feb 12, 2015)

I had plenty of time to think about this since Woodstock had a production glitch and had to wait. I did this with my girlfriend and I. Made rails sligtly canted, waxed them up, Home Depot straps lifted and pushed in place. (My girlfriends legs pushing). 700 lbs is heavy I have to say. Why not a dolly? This house was built in 1850, the joists are, well let's just say NOT 16" on center and the joists run the direction of the rails.. The rails spread the load out.


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## zig (Feb 12, 2015)

I put casters on mine so my kid and I just have to lift on/off the hearth; about 2 feet.


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## rideau (Feb 12, 2015)

Don't know how easy it is to get to your steps, but we backed the pickup truck up to the the sliding glass door.  We ran 2 x 12's from the bed, over the four steps and the step up to the door, so they ran from the bed to just above the oak flooring.  Put old carpeting upside down on the floor, and moved the stove with a furniture dolly.  Three guys handled it easily.


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## Highbeam (Feb 12, 2015)

Pick it up and go.


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## xman23 (Feb 12, 2015)

The stove guys removed every easily removable part. Two doors, fire bricks, grate, burn plates. To get it up a flite of stairs they used a refrigerator hand truck. Two guys.


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## begreen (Feb 12, 2015)

Our stove weighs in at 585#. We got the stove strapped to an appliance dolly first, then moving it with wheels was pretty easy. I had 3 other men to help me. We lifted it up to the hearth pad fairly quickly. However, if you can remove weight ahead of time like xman23 mentioned that's a good idea. Unfortunately that would have taken a bit of work for the Alderlea design so we pumped iron.


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## webby3650 (Feb 12, 2015)

I've moved in every stove to date by myself except the Cape Cod and the Mansfield with an escalera and a pneumatic tired roller board with casters. These 2 stoves are particularly difficult and awkward to move.


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## Jan Pijpelink (Feb 12, 2015)

My 72 year old neighbor helped me.


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## BradleyW (Feb 12, 2015)

Those powered stair-climbing dollies are amazing. Never saw one before my stove was installed last summer. I wouldn't try to move a stove without one.


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## Rearscreen (Feb 12, 2015)

Highbeam, never understood the phenomenon of this, my buddy and I carry anything closer to the center and it's heavier. Go to the ends and it's somehow lighter. What is going on here????


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## legrandice (Feb 12, 2015)

I have my wife and a dolly....plus some carpet to protect the hardwood.  We have moved a few, but most around 3-400lbs.  Oh, it helps to yell at each other while lifting.


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## Bluerubi (Feb 13, 2015)

My neighbor had a few steps to clear to get in the front door as well.  Hung their stove off the front edge of the pallet forks on my tractor and put it right in the door onto a waiting dolly.  Not an option for everyone, but if you have someone that has access to the equipment it was amazingly easy to just lift it out of their truck and set it in the open door.  We only did this after failing at more conventional methods to move it, so even with the machine at my disposal it didn't initially occur to us to do it in this way.


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## Highbeam (Feb 13, 2015)

Rearscreen said:


> Highbeam, never understood the phenomenon of this, my buddy and I carry anything closer to the center and it's heavier. Go to the ends and it's somehow lighter. What is going on here????



As you move away from the stove you have more clearance to use your legs while keeping your back and arms out of the game. Your legs are much stronger.


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## Schmev (Feb 13, 2015)

The shoulder straps are awesome.  Me and my bro in law moved a 500 lb stove easy.


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## firefighterjake (Feb 16, 2015)

Friends . . . and the offer of pizza and beer afterwards.


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## clark77 (Feb 17, 2015)

firefighterjake said:


> Friends . . . and the offer of pizza and beer afterwards.




i'll second this. when I moved my jotul f55 in this past Friday (lightweight at 475lbs), I lined up 2 buddies of mine to come by to help well one was running late so instead of waiting, we went on with the move. the dealer fork lifted the stove into my full size pickup so to get the stove out, we used two 2x10's by 8' long and just slid the stove down which was a piece of cake. while still crated, we strapped it to my hand truck and proceeded to our first obstacle....5 icy front steps. this by far was sketchy at best. I did the best I could to get the ice removed beforehand but I couldn't. I can say, with trying to keep traction and the weight of this stove, if the stove was 10 lbs heavier, I don't think we would have gotten her up. but we did and with no problems. there were a couple, hey lets take a break so we don't drop this thing moments though. and the final obstacle was one more step up into the house. from there it was easy wheel to its location. due to me putting the stove in front of my fireplace opening, we moved it quite a few times in place and back out to get things measured up, mocked up and finally put in place. I was using the rear exit to a T connector which connects to my stainless steel liner. all in all, many helpers make light work.


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## ozzy73 (Feb 17, 2015)

When I installed the HT ( approx 500 lbs )I kept it in the crate, 40' slide on 2x4 up to the house from drive way. Once in the house I had an old carpet under the crate to slide it in position. A flight of stairs is another story.


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## WoodpileOCD (Feb 17, 2015)

My brother and some husky friends is how I did it.  Twice.  Good story on why there are 3 stoves there.  I'll start a thread sometime.


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## peppertown buck burner (Jan 15, 2019)

i laid out ball bearings,..makes it act like its on ice


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## begreen (Jan 15, 2019)

I've moved several stoves just by protecting the stove body with a moving blanket and then ratchet strapping it to a good appliance dolly. Works like a charm. The stove is pretty easy for 2 or 3 people to move around once it has wheels.


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## Dataman (Jan 15, 2019)

Store I got it from had Dolly that climbs stairs and such.  It made it easy for them.  https://www.globalindustrial.com/p/...MItbmD-NHw3wIVCh6tBh3sbQXcEAQYAiABEgJSwfD_BwE

They moved old BK King on Porch and Wife put it in bay of building (she's strong).   Sold within days ($400).   They got deal, 2 years left on catalist, some pipe and new gasket and fire wood holding hoop.   Been nice not dealing with Firewood.


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## SpaceBus (Jan 15, 2019)

We used a utility dolly, ratchet straps, and nylon furniture sliders to move the old Defiant.


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## Sawset (Jan 15, 2019)

Hvac guys would have an appliance dolly for moving boilers, radiators, heat exchangers, and other heavy objects like an iron stove, up and down stairs, into and out of trucks.
Plywood on the linoleum.  Two guys.  Pull the doors and whatever else you can to lighten it.


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## DITTY22 (Jan 15, 2019)

tractor


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## MR. GLO (Feb 14, 2021)

Into the basement and one step down.   I used a snowbank to get off truck, pull straps  and thin laminate flooring pieces as skis and just slid it all the way in.   Strap the stove to the pallet better. Took off the door.  Should have removed the firebricks and holding plate.  F118.  

 The Rangeley was all board work with small metal pipes and blocks...no heavy lifting.  Used a side of a small hill with plywood and 2x10.


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## GENECOP (Feb 14, 2021)




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## stoveliker (Feb 14, 2021)

My stove was only 425 lbs, but I got a cheap furniture dolly on 4 casters. About the same height as the pallet.
Used silicone spray (like for garage door tracks) on the pallet, zig-zag slid the stove to the edge, used silicone spray on the dolly while my wife held it in place. Rolled it from the garage into the basement (3" up, just tilt a little).
Stopped next to the hearth pad, slid it off onto a strong cotton cloth, slid it into place, tilt one side to get the cloth out, tilt the other side. Done. No stairs though...

Regardless, on flat areas use wheels - that's what they were invented for -, and if not possible use a sturdy cloth and slide (make sure the cloth is clean (no sand), and you leave your shoes (sand) at the door... .
For small height differences, most stoves can be tilted to get one side up (then roll/slide), and tilt for the other side.


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## Solarguy3500 (Feb 14, 2021)

The day my Osburn 3500 insert arrived, my neighbor loaned me his tractor and I borrowed a 4 wheel dolly from the landlord where my office is who used to be in the moving business. 

Put a couple 4X4s on the dolly which then sat just slightly higher than the level of the hearth. I was able to get the old Dutchwest stove onto the dolly by lifting one side at a time and sliding it forward that way until it was on the dolly. Easily wheeled it across the living room and to the front door. Had to lift one end of the dolly at a time and pull/push to get it over the raised threshold onto the front porch. There are 3 steps down from the front porch, but I was able to just pick the stove off the dolly on the porch with the forks on the tractor so didn't have to deal with the steps. When the new stove arrived the truck driver was able to back right up to the concrete pad outside my garage door and using his lift gate and pallet jack he lowered the stove (in crate on pallet) down and wheeled it into my garage. When the weather improves and the snow melts, I'll borrow the neighbor's tractor again and do the same process in reverse to get the new stove in the house.


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