# Upland 17 restoration



## webbie (Nov 22, 2013)

One of our kind members allowed me to buy an old Upland 17 which was in a home that he moved into. We picked it up in the Philly area on the way to DC.

I'm going to restore it as time allows. It looks to be in fine shape. As per the label, this is circa 1979/1980, as it is not one that I made after I resurrected the company....label says Green, NY, which is the original factory.

Ah, just noticed that they probably mis-labeled it as the serial number starts with 027 - which would seem to be for the Upland #27


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## BrotherBart (Nov 22, 2013)

If there is anything you need to know about the stove, just ask.


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## Mohawk Dave (Nov 23, 2013)

Hey webbie,

Trying to learn here. Hope you don't mind the questions. What is the purpose of this stove? Simple area heating? What design/kind of stove is this called? And how large is it? Are stoves measured by CF?
I just learned old Beckwith RoundOak #s correlate with the size, as in No. 14 can take a 14" piece of wood.

I see that you resurrected the Upland Co. Very cool. Is there a link to the story/background on that. I'd be interested in reading on it.

And what in particular interested you in this stove? The fact that it was prior to your involvement with the company? Or is it super rare/desirable? Simply curious.

Thanks for all the knowledge already shared on here!

Regards, MD


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## webbie (Nov 23, 2013)

It is effectively a copy of the Jotul 602 and/or reginald and a couple others of the day. I suspect they were all copies of the Jotul. I think that particular design is/was the largest selling woodstove in history.

Neither of them (602,17) are rare. But they are nice designs and perfect examples of the old front to back woodstoves. They are relatively efficient, having compact fireboxes with baffles. I guess the simplicity and longevity are two of the good qualities.

My interest is just for memories!

Upland History
https://www.hearth.com/talk/wiki/upland-stove-company-history/

Our little factory when we were closing it - you see my 1986 Starion parked outside!
We simple assembled - castings were made in PA.
FYI, we could have probably put together 3,000+ stoves a year in this little facility - using only two employees! A machine shop was next door, so we would let them do some of our larger tapping jobs - as I remember, about 25 cents to drill and tap a hole.


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## begreen (Nov 23, 2013)

That's a pretty compact shop. How many stoves did you end up making here?


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## webbie (Nov 23, 2013)

begreen said:


> That's a pretty compact shop. How many stoves did you end up making here?



I think we made about 1500 a year - or maybe less. I had two guys working there. This went on for two years - my guess would be 2500 total. 

But when I had the parts and demand, it was relatively easy to get 50 made per week - and it could have been turned up if needed. Unfortunately, we didn't have the demand as oil was about 80 cents a gallon.


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## begreen (Nov 23, 2013)

Not bad. Did Jotul ever come after Upland for copying the 602?


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## webbie (Nov 23, 2013)

begreen said:


> Not bad. Did Jotul ever come after Upland for copying the 602?


No. I guess the Reginald and others paved the way. I think they were mad at the chains (grossmans lumber) for the taiwan knock-offs that sold for much less. 

There was not a patent, so it was more a matter of whether a stove (the look) fooled the customer. I guess having the name and number, etc. on it made it clear that it was not a Jotul.


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## Mohawk Dave (Nov 23, 2013)

Really cool history there. I enjoyed reading about that. Are there still USA Made stoves of quality now days? I will google as well, but I would imagine EPA/AQMD and the like make it hard for actual wood or coal only stoves.


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## webbie (Nov 23, 2013)

Lots of great USA made stoves....most of them talked about on here are USA made. Even a lot of the Jotuls (Norwegian) are now made here.  Not too many really little guys though. You have to be of a certain size to pay for all the EPA and lab testing, etc.

Some of the best stove castings in the world are made at Vermont Castings - they make castings for many other stove makers also! But that's an entire foundry, something upland or most other companies could never consider!


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## Mohawk Dave (Nov 23, 2013)

Webbie,

Most old tools were made from between Illinois to Pennsylvania area b/c of the rivers, that would allow transport, water for foundries, and the simple fact that more people lived there in the 19th/20th century. I assume this is the same for older stoves. I would also assume that before Railroads were vast, there were probably many manufactures/blacksmiths that had to make these for their local cities/towns, as transporting big heavy stoves in covered wagon would not be practical. Is there truth to this, or would someone like the Pioneers and 49ers bring their stoves?

Sorry for the Hijack. Maybe I should have started a new thread.


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## webbie (Nov 23, 2013)

No doubt founderies were located where access to the melting fuels AND iron were located.

In the USA, this first meant places like Atsion in the NJ Pines, because charcoal made in Batso was used to melt iron before the discovery of coal in PA. Bog iron was also found in the creeks and gravel pits of the area.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bog_iron

Once coal was discovered - and they learned how to use it, all bets were off! Then, when they found the vast midwestern iron deposits and started using the Great Lakes for ore and coal transport, things shifted again. 

I guess a lot depends on the particular era. By the 1860's travel by RR, Canal and ship made it fairly easy to transport tonnage. Sears famously sold ranges and stoves all over the country - the modern equiv. of Amazon.com


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## inaqbus (Jan 14, 2016)

webbie said:


> It is effectively a copy of the Jotul 602 and/or reginald and a couple others of the day. I suspect they were all copies of the Jotul. I think that particular design is/was the largest selling woodstove in history.
> 
> Neither of them (602,17) are rare. But they are nice designs and perfect examples of the old front to back woodstoves. They are relatively efficient, having compact fireboxes with baffles. I guess the simplicity and longevity are two of the good qualities.
> 
> ...







webbie said:


> One of our kind members allowed me to buy an old Upland 17 which was in a home that he moved into. We picked it up in the Philly area on the way to DC.
> 
> I'm going to restore it as time allows. It looks to be in fine shape. As per the label, this is circa 1979/1980, as it is not one that I made after I resurrected the company....label says Green, NY, which is the original factory.
> 
> ...



I've just acquired an Upland 17 that I'm looking to restore. Since it's quite similar to the Jotul 602 I'm wondering if anyone has tried to put a glass door from the 602 on the Upland?
I thought it could be worth a try!
Thanks!


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