Grandpa Bear? Trying to find some info

[Striperfish]

I just bought this stove the other day, I'm pretty sure it's a Grandpa Bear from what I have read but I'm not 100% sure. Some of the measurements don't match most of what I have read but it is 6 bricks wide across the back. The measurements are 32 1/8" wide and 24" deep (not including the extension under the doors) across the top plate and 31 7/8" tall to the top plate from the ground. It has an 8" flu that exits out of the top. No stars on the door, just trees that I believe are the shorter trees, the doors are not arched, they are square. I did notice that the top hinges on the doors do not rest on top of the hinges on the stove, they are under the stove hinges. The doors only rest on the bottom hinges. I saw
a stove with doors like this in another post. There are some numbers on the inside of the doors but nothing like the GP/B I've seen in other posts. I'm thinking it's around a '78 or '79? Hopefully i didn't pay too much for this stove! It seemed like a good deal so I didn't pass it up. I'm going to attempt to post some pictures. I am new to this forum so I have never posted on here before. Thank you in advance for any help

 

[coaly]

Welcome to the Forum; You're right, it's a Grandpa. Some were made a little wider, and have the bent looking hinges like yours to make up for the width difference in the front. Normally the hinge plates were straight bar, cut on an angle, and welded on the angle iron corners. The doors would reach across the front with the 29 1/2" width.
This makes sense if this stove came from the Dunn Brothers in VA or WV. Fisher Stoves of Georgia bought out their left over stock when they closed and camfan on this forum found some in their inventory in GA. He realized what they were on this forum, so we're still putting the puzzle together. Someday a welder or worker from there may chime in and give us the details of the oversize stoves found today.
It has the early 4 fin dampers and later plated, loosly wound springs making it probably a 1978.
They started with chrome ball feet, ball handle, and 4 fin caps. They progressed from 4 fin cap to 5 fins, ball handle went to a stainless spring, then to your type plated spring, and ball feet were dropped along with 4 inch long tapered legs to a short 45* angle cut at leg bottom. These changes started in late '77 and were completed by 1979.

Here's a thread with more Grandpa details;
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/76349/

 

[Striperfish]

I would be willing to bet it was made in VA... I bought it from a guy in Powhatan VA which is roughly an hour west of Richmond VA. He said it was in the house when they bought it 10 years ago and he thought the owners put it in when it was built in the late 70's. It has been inside the house and used regularly so it seems to be in pretty good shape with no rust at all. Some of the bricks are cracked but not too bad. I'll probably replace those eventually. Does the odd size and different door hinges make it any more rare or worth more? I paid $250 for it, hopefully I didnt pay too much. It also came with 8 ft of stove pipe, 2 elbows, a wood rack, a poker and shovel set and a good size piece of stove board. Judging by what people are asking on Craigslist in this area, it seemed like the best stove for the amount of money he was asking. I wanted to make sure I got a good stove and I always heard that fisher is the best.

Thanks for all of the info!

 

[Grannyknot]

I'd say you got a pretty darn good deal.

 

[coaly]

No absolute value exists. Values are "personal things". What may be right for you, may not be right for others. I've driven 10 hours for a $600 stove, and turned down $200 stoves nearby. Depends on what you want.
Can you get your money back out of it if you were willing to sell today? Absolutely. Double door Fisher's are averaging $350 on eBay for non-reconditioned.

 

[Striperfish]

These replies ease my mind on how much I spent... I'm not looking to sell, just hoping I didnt overspend since it's going in the garage. I drove a little over an hour to get it. Thanks for your help.

 

[CamFan]

Coaly,
the hinges on the door. I have a bunch of them and this is the first stove I have seen them on. I bet it did come from Va. We did not use them. They are clean looking. Interesting.

 

[coaly]

Yeah, here's a Grandma built that way too. I'm not sure about supporting all the door weight on only the bottom hinge. One good thing about doing it that way is the easy replacement of front corner angle in case the legs were cut down.

 

[Striperfish]

I agree about the hinges. I would think that the weight would wear the pins out faster. I'm surprised they welded the hinges on where they did, it looks like there would have been enough space between the door and the angle for the hinge to be welded for the door to rest on the upper hinge too. The way the hinge is angled should clear the door when it is opened, but it would be very close. Maybe they tried it and it didn't work so this was a quick and inexpensive fix that worked.