Moving up to the dark side

[begreen]

Well, after many years with fine stoves from Jotul, we are going for another change.

When we renovated, I wanted to go all the way for a Summit, but it didn't pass the (ahem) aesthetics dept. Second choice, I wanted an F500, but we couldn't use the side door in our corner installation, and someone thought it looked too big, so we got the F400. I love the Castine for looks and about 60% of our burning fires. Jotul, IMHO, has the best enameling on the market, and makes great, low maintenance, simple stoves.

But we have a problem with the new stove location. Now the stove is being used to heat the whole house rather than just an area. When it get very cold, the Castine has to be pushed hard to heat the house burning NW softwoods. Below 25 degrees, it barely keeps up and needs to be fed every few hours. Conclusion, we need a stove designed for long burns with NW wood.

Since then the Alderlea models came out. Fortunately PE realized that they have a great basic design and haven't altered the Alderleas from their steel clad siblings. Tom Oyen knew of my interest in the Alderlea and had a T6 that they have been testing this season. Now that the season is over, he offered it at a great price that made it hard to refuse. The aesthetics dept. is tentatively ok, though already commenting that this is going to be a big stove and she's right. But with a 2000 sq ft old farmhouse, I'd rather have the reserve heat and as BB puts it "wiggle room" for fire building, than be pushing the stove hard just to maintain 70, when it gets below 25 outside. The continuing reports of the good behavior of the EBT system was the final decider. This will be the first steel stove I've owned since an Ashley tin can back around 1968.

Next weekend yours truly will be traveling to Bellingham to meet Tom and the new stove. Then after a long journey home me and several helpers will be grunting and huffing to move this 585 lb beast inside. All suggestions for the best way to get it from pickup bed to ground level without hernias are most welcome.

 

[myzamboni]

. All suggestions for the best way to get it from pickup bed to ground level without hernias are most welcome.

Do you or a neighbor own a cherry-picker (engine hoist) and some nylon tie-down straps?

 

[RedRanger]

BeGreen: You ain`t seen ugly till you see what I ordered today. The enviro kodiak insert with the 2.5 cu.ft. firebox. That is one ugly sucker,but I convinced my wife that cause I already have a prettry gal (her),that we can tolerate the monstrosity that will be sliding into the fireplace in the next week or two.

That flaherty did it, out with old - in with the new. %-P

 

[Jimbob]

Congrats!
If that Alderlea performs like the Summit, you're going to be VERY happy!

 

[Hogwildz]

Luke........... let go to the Dark Side Luke.
Luke, I am your father. LOL

Congrats man. I'll tell ya what, a 20 dollar furniture dolly can handle 900 lbs and made it real easy to move my Summit insert from the front door across the carpet to the old fireplace.
Now getting it off my truck by myself & wrestling it to the front door is another story. Eat your Wheaties & take your Geritol
Take the door off, and bricks out.

 

[begreen]

. All suggestions for the best way to get it from pickup bed to ground level without hernias are most welcome.

Do you or a neighbor own a cherry-picker (engine hoist) and some nylon tie-down straps?

Good suggestion, but sorry to say, not that I know of.

 

[begreen]

Luke........... let go to the Dark Side Luke.
Luke, I am your father. LOL

Congrats man. I'll tell ya what, a 20 dollar furniture dolly can handle 900 lbs and made it real easy to move my Summit insert from the front door across the carpet to the old fireplace.
Now getting it off my truck by myself & wrestling it to the front door is another story. Eat your Wheaties & take your Geritol
Take the door off, and bricks out.

I have a heavy duty hand truck that will handle the stove once it's off the truck. But getting it from pickup bed to ground level without damage (to us or the stove) is another story. I'd really rather not pop a disk or herniate. No stove is worth that. I'll remove the door and bricks to lighten the load. If that gets it down to 400# then we should be ok. I will recruit some help so that we have 4 bodies, one on a corner.

Looking forward to some real strong heat. Heading below freezing tonight and already snowing.

 

[Hogwildz]

Luke........... let go to the Dark Side Luke.
Luke, I am your father. LOL

Congrats man. I'll tell ya what, a 20 dollar furniture dolly can handle 900 lbs and made it real easy to move my Summit insert from the front door across the carpet to the old fireplace.
Now getting it off my truck by myself & wrestling it to the front door is another story. Eat your Wheaties & take your Geritol
Take the door off, and bricks out.

I have a heavy duty hand truck that will handle the stove once it's off the truck. But getting it from pickup bed to ground level without damage (to us or the stove) is another story. I'd really rather not pop a disk or herniate. No stove is worth that. I'll remove the door and bricks to lighten the load. If that gets it down to 400# then we should be ok. I will recruit some help so that we have 4 bodies, one on a corner.

Looking forward to some real strong heat. Heading below freezing tonight and already snowing.

Not sure how high your pick up bed is off the ground. But I brought mine home in my 2wd Ranger. Yep, it does sit lower than a 4x4. But If I got that thing out by myself, you guys surely should be able too without busting a nut.
What I did, was to take the tail gate off, then work it back and forth to the edge of the bed. then worked one end of the pallet to the ground, then the other side. You can also use a couple heavy planks or 4x4 posts.
Build a nice ramp and just slide it down to the ground. Hell that worked for the Egyptians for centuries. I left mine on the pallet to it was on the ground. Then busted the palet loose and worked her to the door via walking it back & forth. I still think a couple of good ramps or wood planks is much easier than trying to lift it down. Good luck, better have thew ol lady grab your nads while your lifting so they don't jump up into you gut and give ya a hernia

 

[RedRanger]

If you have to go up or down stairs, getting it off the truck might be the easiest part. Fridge dolly? One guy on the handle and two on the bottom? 900lbs!! It had better look prettry after all the work that`s gonna be ;-P

 

[begreen]

Ranger 2WD is how I'm trucking her down here. Only difference is that it won't be on a palette, it will be traveling uncrated. I'll put in a sheet of plywood for it to rest on and slide easier.

No stairs to deal with except a short step at the entrance. It's just a little distance over the grass to the house, but at 585 lbs. it will travel on the hand truck most of the way.

 

[gasavage]

To lighten it up a bit you can remove the sides and the top, as they come off easily (use 1/4 drive ratchet/ socket with long extension). Basically take off everthing you can... bricks, baffle, even the door if you wish. I did this with my T5 when I brought it home. I'm working on my remodel/installation now.

 

[BrotherBart]

Trust me on this one young Skywalker. Put that thing on a pallet before you leave Bellingham. Tom will have a stove pallet around somewhere, as many stoves as he sells. Strap it on with cargo straps.

Moving a heavy leg mounted stove without a pallet just ain't using the Force Luke.

 

[Garyvol]

Any chance you can get a AAA truck to come and quick start your battery and then ask,
oh bye the way can we strap your hoist to the stove and get her off the truck too.
-gary

 

[mikeathens]

I'm doing the same thing next tuesday - twice!

It's going to be me and 3 other guys. First, lifting the Heritage into its new owners' truck, and then moving the Mansfield out of mine and onto the hearth. Yes, I said mansfield. The choice between the soapstone and the T6 was killing me. Then, my wife says "I really want another soapstone", so that's the choice. Though I still think the T6 would have been the way to go...

How are you going to get it in the truck? Will Tom use a forklift? If so, see if he'll put it on a pallet for you, and then do the ramp trick to unload it. He probably has a boatload of pallets around. That's how I'm hoping mine will come off.

 

[colebrookman]

My vote is also to put it on a pallet. Then take off the tailgate, a couple of two by sixes, with a short brace toe nailed underneath and to the ground and the pallet will spread the weight and slide right down. Don't forget to stake the ends of the two bys into the ground to they don't slide off the truck. Only takes a few extra minutes to be safe and not get hurt. Luck!!

 

[BrotherBart]

A guy that picked up his whole house, put a new foundation under it and sat it back down again will probably not have much trouble with a heavy wood stove.

 

[Gunner]

Welcome to the dark side! Looking forward to your full report...hopefully you still have some cold nights ahead to let the reins out abit.

Your decoder ring and badge are in the mail. LOL

 

[begreen]

A guy that picked up his whole house, put a new foundation under it and sat it back down again will probably not have much trouble with a heavy wood stove.

Lest there be any misconception of my fortitude, our house was lifted by a crew of about 8 guys, a lot of heavy equipment and hydraulics. I just ran the camera Unfortunately the only thing they left behind was a stray hydraulic coupling.

I asked Tom about the original crate but he says they use spiral nails to hold the thing together, so the crate is destroyed when removing the stove. I have ratchet straps and a sheet of plywood. Will ask Tom if he still has a palette. If not, I'll see if I can round up a nice stout one.

Thanks all for the tips. Once it is on the ground I have the stuff to move it.

 

[begreen]

Welcome to the dark side! Looking forward to your full report...hopefully you still have some cold nights ahead to let the reins out abit.

Your decoder ring and badge are in the mail. LOL

34 last night and Jotul was cooking. So far this is starting out to be a cold spring. I'm pretty sure we will have several heating days left at least until the end of April.

 

[gpcollen1]

I would pop the gate off and slide it down off the bed on some 4x4s or 2x4s nailed together.

 

[Highbeam]

I had three inches of snow across the sound from you BeGreen, still plenty of burn days left. I expect to use another cord.

A friend and I unloaded my heritage (on a pallet, highly recommended) from the back of my 4x4 half ton chevy full size by first finding a nice hill to back up against which made the drop from the gate to ground even less. I removed the tailgate and set two 4x4 fence posts on the bumper being sure to place concrete blocks beneath the ramps for a safety in case the ramps slid off the bumper. One of the ramp did indeed fall off the trauck and landed on the blocks.

Once down, I used a hand truck with great success.

I would have used the tractor to lift it out but the truck has a canopy on it which prevents that. Don't depend on the ranger's tailgate to support that stove.

 

[Jags]

If getting it on a pallet (which is the best suggestion) is not going to happen, you could always strap it to your dolly and lay the dolly flat (as in "on its back") and then slide it down your planks on the dollys wheels. 3 or 4 guys should be enough horse power to control the slide pretty easy. Just thinking out loud.

Congrats on the new stove BG. I thought when you said the Dark Side, you meant an Isle Royal. :cheese:

 

[swestall]

Hey Guys! Well here's my two cents. It'll be a bit detailed, but worth the read. And, congrats to both BG and Mike on the new stoves; they are both winners and you'll love them.

On moving. When we went to get our Defiant (586lbs) I moved it myself with a helper just guiding a bit. Here's the plan.

First you need to get an appliance dolley like they move refrigerators with (someone else said that too). You don't need a pallet, instead get a fourpack of nylon wratcheting tie down straps (Heavy) and a piece of 2x6 cut to the lenght of the legs.

Take all the stuff off that can fall off, off of the stove. Put the 2x6 under the stove and slide the dolley under the 2x6. Either front or back whichever will be the least likely to dammage anything. Not a bad idea to wrap it in a pad, blanket, etc.

Then secure the stove to the dolley by placing one tie down low and one high on the stove and through the dolley sides; tie down.
Now you have a stove secured to a mobile pallet.

Use some long 2x6's or portable ramps and back up to a slight incline, set the ramps up, drive it on the truck and lay it down on its back. Secure the dolley to the pickup with a couple more tie downs or some rope.

Go home and reverse the process.

When the guys came to deliver my Mansfield, they had one of those fancy battery operated dolleys. After about an hour of not being able to get up the stairs with it; we used my method and in she went.

I hope this offers at least one comprehensive way to solve the problem.
And again, best of luck with that baby! You too Mike.

 

[swestall]

JAGS I can't believe I was typing that while you were posting that..... Twilight Zone.... Or Great Minds.....


AND, Gunner, every time I see that thing, my mind says, "what the xxxx"......

 

[Jags]

JAGS I can't believe I was typing that while you were posting that..... Twilight Zone.... Or Great Minds.....


AND, Gunner, every time I see that thing, my mind says, "what the xxxx"......

I would like to think "great minds......" but I know mine, and it ain't so great.