amercan harvest 6039

[brian102]

what is everyones view on this? im looking at one local for 500 dollars comes with pipe kit for it. I have a office for my business in the basement im down there maybe 3-4 hours at a time 3-4 days a week also weekends im down there for most of the days. We currently heat our upstairs with a cab 50 and love it. So the fuel would already be there as we store the pellets in the basement. It is not insulated as of yet but we are slowly building that way. would this be a good investment or no? It could be a good tax deduction i believe as well. thank you i know it is a multi fuel stove so i can mix with corn to, i could turn it on when i get home and maybe have it warm in about an hour. Also our floors are cold in the house when it gets below 0 out so i could turn on for that case to.

 

[Bioburner]

6039 is not self starting? Couple of others here have done some mods on them and run them hard. Can burn straight corn. Parts like fans and auger can be had thru second parties instead of the inflated US Stoves.

 

[mustangwagz]

Nope, not self starting. All manual on that perspective. 500 bucks aint bad if its all there and fuctioning properly. What board does it have? 3 button for 4? Does it have a bottom draft or not? There were a few different models of this stove made. Its basically the same as the newer 6041 but with a few less options. Good stove i like mine alot. Few other on here who have them also. PERSONALLY, id try to jew em down a little?

bioburner is right, you can get most parts via amazon for WAY cheaper than US stoves. Do a few little tricks to em and they'll roast you outta that small area. im heating a big ole drafty un insulated school house from the early 1800's with mine..so far works great! i run corn and pellets through mine.

 

[Bob E]

Is the guy trying to trade it for a wood or natural gas stove on craigslist?
If you have a nice one with everything to install it that you only paid $500 for he just might be interested, but if you're thinking cash his 6039 will stay in his living room keeping those holes in his wall plugged up for the winter.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Sounds like a good price if it's not beat to hell.

 

[SidecarFlip]

In retrospect, an older one is an 'American Harvest'. The newer ones are 'Chinese Harvest'.......

 

[Bioburner]

Chinese harvesting our old Chevy's.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Chinese harvesting our old Chevy's.

10-4. Called recycling. Buy it cheap, sell it steep.

 

[Owen1508]

In retrospect, an older one is an 'American Harvest'. The newer ones are 'Chinese Harvest'.......

It'd be funny but they are still made in the USA

 

[SidecarFlip]

It'd be funny but they are still made in the USA

How about 'assembled in USA' from parts sourced worldwide with sub assemblies and castings made in China, ie: the door is a Chinese casting, I looked at a new one and it's clearly marked in the casting.... Made in China...

Care to elaborate on that premise?

You see, the Made in and Assembled in have become a blurred image in today's manufacturing enviroment.

Lets distill it to assembled, not made. That in my view, is more to the point. I still like 'Chinese Harvest'. Has a nice oriental ring to it.

 

[Owen1508]

How about 'assembled in USA' from parts sourced worldwide with sub assemblies and castings made in China, ie: the door is a Chinese casting, I looked at a new one and it's clearly marked in the casting.... Made in China...

Care to elaborate on that premise?

You see, the Made in and Assembled in have become a blurred image in today's manufacturing enviroment.

Lets distill it to assembled, not made. That in my view, is more to the point. I still like 'Chinese Harvest'. Has a nice oriental ring to it.

Sure we use Merkle motors and Fasco fans like 80% of all pellet stove makers use including HHT, Englander,, Quad Napolean. The plate steel is tooled here stove welded together here. Privately owned by americans, not a european furniture maker.

 

[rona]

what is everyones view on this? im looking at one local for 500 dollars comes with pipe kit for it. I have a office for my business in the basement im down there maybe 3-4 hours at a time 3-4 days a week also weekends im down there for most of the days. We currently heat our upstairs with a cab 50 and love it. So the fuel would already be there as we store the pellets in the basement. It is not insulated as of yet but we are slowly building that way. would this be a good investment or no? It could be a good tax deduction i believe as well. thank you i know it is a multi fuel stove so i can mix with corn to, i could turn it on when i get home and maybe have it warm in about an hour. Also our floors are cold in the house when it gets below 0 out so i could turn on for that case to.

Truth be known its a starter stove. Buy it cheap and find out you get what you paid for. Lots of people buy them but trade up later. Buying a pellet stove is one of the few things that actually pays for itself and you would be better off spending more and getting a stove with better efficiency. All stoves will burn fuel and make heat but the trick is to buy one that saves most of the heat for the house rather then blowing it out the exh pipe.
Depending on the size of your office you might be better off insulating it and putting a small electric heater in it.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Truth be known its a starter stove. Buy it cheap and find out you get what you paid for. Lots of people buy them but trade up later. Buying a pellet stove is one of the few things that actually pays for itself and you would be better off spending more and getting a stove with better efficiency. All stoves will burn fuel and make heat but the trick is to buy one that saves most of the heat for the house rather then blowing it out the exh pipe.
Depending on the size of your office you might be better off insulating it and putting a small electric heater in it.

Despite the doors and probably the boards being offshore, chinese origion, I have to take issue with a couple of your comments. First off, it's not a starter stove. While it's cheaper than the fancy brass adorned competitoion, it's no less efficient and it's more adjustable and adaptable than the competition. All stoves 'blow' a certain amount of heat out the exhaust pipe, they have to, it's called by products of combustion and quality of fuel plays a bigger role in heat generation.

I'm of the philosophy that 'Chrome don't get ya home' and that applies to fancy trim on a stove as well.

I would like to think (at least) that payback on a 1700 dollar unit is better than payback on a 3000 dollar unit but that may be fuzzy math for some...not for me.

Maybe Owen will post a chart of relative efficiency across a number of models from different manufacturers compared to the USSC 6039. I'm sure he has it available....

I believe you'll be amazed.....

 

[Owen1508]

Most pellet unit run about the same range the 6039 and 6041 are 78% Thermal (heat transfer) Eff. and 95% combustion Eff.

 

[CladMaster]

Most stoves are between 70 - 82% Eff in the thermal transfer and 85 - 95% with combustion Eff.

Do a search on the EPA website for pellet stoves thermal ratings and emissions, it's all there for all too see.

 

[Owen1508]

Again like SCFlip said it's all in the air adjustments. and that unit is highly adjustable. you can regulate the combustion fan to blow anywhere between 1 CFM and 80 CFM.
A lot of it depends on proper install and operation.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Most pellet unit run about the same range the 6039 and 6041 are 78% Thermal (heat transfer) Eff. and 95% combustion Eff.

...Which is why I can't justify spending 3 or 4 grand on a stove to get polished brass trim and/or tile (ceramic) inserts. I'll take a plain black cabinet anyday.

I may poke fun at the stove and make comments about oriental parts but it's still a bargain in the multi-fuel stove world.

Besides, 1500 bucks (the difference between the USSC stove and the competition makes for a sizeable chunk of change).

Mine is 11 years old this year with really no issues other than consumable replacement. Pretty good track record I'd say.

Have I modified mine? Sure have Does it heat well, sure does, Did I other to read the enclosed with manual when I bought it.... sure did

Have I had any issue? Sure have but those issues were of my own doing.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I believe you can trace 90% of the issues on this site back to just a couple things, one, improper venting, two, poor quality fuel and three, not reading the owners manual..... With the last one the leading cause of issues.

People today 'assume' they can throw something together, without reading and understanding an owners manual and have it operate perfectly. That may work with a carr but it don't work with a stove.... then they wind up on here asking why it don't work as advertised.

Makes for a good forum with loads of redundant questions.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Owen... I figure USSC is about reverse marketing. Sell the units at a reasonable price and then gouge the hell out of owners buying replacement parts. Candidly, the replacement parts cost on your website is absurd bordering on insane, but it does make for a nice cottage industry of replacement parts shoppers that are savvy buyers, myself included.

Flea bay is loaded with replacement parts for USSC stoves at 1/3 your prices. Myself, I'll probably run off a couple dozen agitator rods and a couple dozen burn pots and put them on Flea-Bay myself next fall. Parts at reasonable prices seem to be a great business.... and I have the fabrication and welding shop to do it.

 

[mustangwagz]

haha...Dang this got interesting pretty quick. LOL To the Original Poster, Great stove, Highly adjustable...HIGHLY ADJUSTABLE!! Put outs a ton of heat once ya start playing with it. In all honesty, i run mine in auto and get great efficiency outta it depending on the fuel. Size and quality play a HUGE factor on this note. Larger pellets will feed into the pot at a lesser speed, causing it to run cooler, smaller pellets feed better as does corn and the end result it MORE heat into your room. Trust me, i been watching this the past couple days. Fuel and PROPER OPERATION / INSTALLATION are key. Same as a wood burner..sorta...lol

been comparing somersets to dry creek pellets, the MAIN factor in the temp difference is the pellet size. I actually went through a bag of Dry Creeks and busted them up SMALL like somersets...my heat output was identical..when i left them the size they came in the bag, the heat from them was 30 degree's less ON AVERAGE compared to somersets. Call me goofy but thats what i did..lol so when i run DC's, i toss in corn with them. Takes up the space in the auger, burns hotter and bingo, bango...awesome heat constantly irregardless of which brand.

Also, Owen, i have nothing against the USSC at all, yinz make some nice products that work great. Infact, on the EPA comparison chart i found online, the 6039, 6041 was actually amongst the higher rated efficiency stoves. Id have to say thats mainly cuz its SO highly adjustable...ya could prolly burn anything in this stove and get it to do it cleanly..lol However, FLIP is right about price....its insane what parts cost. I mean seriously though...How is the average income, working man supposed to afford a 500 dollar control board if it suddenly up and craps out..I know i cant.... Also, some of the other pieces are insanely priced, in fact just about all of them are. Luckily, anyone who's internet savvy and "parts number cross reference smart" can typically find the major components cheaper. Along with guys like FLIP, making parts is sometimes the way to go. If i can buy a pot agitator for 30 bucks off eBay, vs from USSC for well over 80 bucks...that guy selling them for 30 bucks is gonna sell a crap load more, and in the end, prolly make more profit anyhow due to quantity sales vs. Gouging sales. As i said, its the price factor that scare and stop most ppl and i think that's where yinz may loose some business on both sides.... The Purchase of a new stove, and the upkeep, along with someone making equivalent parts, at a cheaper price who is undermining the USSC prices.

HOWEVER...im not attacking ya owen, PLEASE dont take it that way at all, Just like USSC, im very sure all other brands are the same way. One big benefical thing for us stove is that their initial cost is typically WAY cheaper compared to the fancy brands which is why USSC will get my money before anyone else does. Dont worry, i plan on buying the 8500 as soon as home depot has them available again. lol i already got the "Green flag" from the wife to do so! i wont install it till summer though cuz the 6039 is kicking some serious wood burners butt at the moment by 1/3 of the effort, mess and noise!

 

[SidecarFlip]

You know how I am, I like to be analytical and biased at the same time... all in fun though. I know what I like and after a decade, I can make it work just like I want it too...

BTW, had to do a board reset the other day. My board got a mind of it's own and cranked the PPH all the way up in every heat range. I thought it was running hot and it was. Must have been those Chinese electroincs components, thought I was roasting rice......

I have that spare board if you want it. Won't guarantee it's viable but you can have it if you need it.

Maybe I'll try some rice someday, if, I can get a good price on it. Looks like pellets but white.....

 

[mustangwagz]

Haha, Thanks flip! Ill keep it in mind and i highly appreciate it sir. HOld on to it for now, hate like heck to take a board you may need. I plan on ordering one in a few weeks anyhow to have around incase mine decides to crap out totally.

i wander if rice would burn?...haha

 

[SidecarFlip]

I should, after all, it's a grain just like corn. Maybe thats what the Chinese test the stoves with they export to America.....lol

 

[Bioburner]

Probably using our corn They have a thing about using food for fuel that could get one in serious trouble.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Took a glance at the EPA ratings and the USSC 60 series has the lowest gph discharge of any pellet/multifuel stove, I presume grams per hour (1.5) with a 78 percent overall efficiency rating. Not bad for a cheap (fugly) date....

Vogelzang on the other hand has the highest gph discharge rate, approaching a conventional wood stove.....

Mine is probably spewing lots more than 1.5 gph after I've did some (modifications....lol)