Fisher Mama Bear Wood Stove?

[joop]

stop over thinking,at 1400 fisher is a no go you can get them up here for 250 to 300 canadian.buy a new drolet and enjoy the heat

 

[bholler]

I was going to see if he would negotiate on the price. It would have been a lot better if he would have been asking $1,000 because one could have probably negotiated it to $700-$800 and that would have been fine with me so solve my issue this year. So my chimney from the thimble up is approximately 17'.

I noticed there looks like there is a lot of vertical space in these wood stoves. I would probably not stuff it full at night unless I absolutely knew it wasn't going to over fire the stove. That is what I believe happened to the one I am looking to get rid of now. If we were around at the same time and on a similar schedule he would always stuff it completely full of wood before going to bed.

This is not a deal breaker for me at the moment. I have never seen the stove we have now with the glass insert. I cannot remember if it cracked or got stained with creosote really bad or what. That is one of the flaws of this stove too. As the door get getting more and more loose and at least one of the mechanisms that helps hold it into place is broken. So it has too many issues to try and solve.

I cannot remember if I posted this but I got an estimate from a highly recommended guy in my area. He was very knowledgeable but I just didn't like his plan. He wants to do heavy modification to the crown, chimney flue and the crock/thimble. I understand getting the crown addressed but the rest of the stuff is neither in my budget nor what I want. He wants to put in a round liner and fill around it with insulation. That leaves about 3/8" or so between two sides of that round liner for insulation.

So with all the modifications I just spoke about, installing a Regency 3500 and the liner he quoted me $9,700. So I am not going that route.

Is that 9700 for the stove liner and work? If so that is honestly really cheap.

 

[Hexa Fox]

Is that 9700 for the stove liner and work? If so that is honestly really cheap.

Didn't we agree that 6" round pipe and pour in insulation was going to be a no go for me anyway?

 

[bholler]

Didn't we agree that 6" round pipe and pour in insulation was going to be a no go for me anyway?

Yes and I also don't know what he is proposing for the other work either. I was just commenting on the price. My price would be much higher for a stove liner and crown

 

[BIGChrisNH]

interesting bholler I had my chimney re-lined with an insulated steel liner. The work included removing the old clay liner and adding a new crown with stainless steel cap on the top. Chimney length is around 30 feet and I got it done for a bit less than $4K. I guess I got a good deal. Worth mentioning that this was probably 4 years ago.

 

[bholler]

interesting bholler I had my chimney re-lined with an insulated steel liner. The work included removing the old clay liner and adding a new crown with stainless steel cap on the top. Chimney length is around 30 feet and I got it done for a bit less than $4K. I guess I got a good deal. Worth mentioning that this was probably 4 years ago.

Yeah add a stove in there and add for the increased price in the last 4 years and you end up over 10k for that job today

 

[BIGChrisNH]

Oh stove too I thought I was missing something there.

 

[Itslay90]

Look at this everyone smh, he should just give it away

 

[begreen]

Look at this everyone smh, he should just give it away

View attachment 316119 View attachment 316120 View attachment 316121

Actually, that is not a bad price for the big boy. Fishers get higher prices if not trashed. A little wire brushing and steel wool then paint and it would look pretty good. Add some firebrick and door gaskets and it's ready to burn.

 

[Itslay90]

Actually, that is not a bad price for the big boy. A little wire brushing and steel wool then paint and it would look pretty good.

Yeah true, but to do all that work, just to waste wood. Not efficient. And it looks like the side bricks needs to be replace as well

 

[begreen]

I wouldn't buy it except to fix up for resale. Restored, a Grandpa Bear with ball feet can be worth quite a bit. At least this spot thinks so.

Grandpa Bear Fisher Wood Stove With Ball Feet Rear Chimney

GRANDMA BEAR FISHER WOOD STOVE completely refurbished. New high-temperature refractory brick. Ready to heat your home or workspace. Manual included.

www.wainfleetradingpost.com

This is probably more realistic
(broken link removed to https://www.ebay.com/itm/145290979111?hash=item21d4046727:g:3iEAAOSwjvJlE2wP)

 

[Itslay90]

I wouldn't buy it except to fix up for resale. Restored, a Grandpa Bear with ball feet can be worth quite a bit. At least this spot thinks so.

Grandpa Bear Fisher Wood Stove With Ball Feet Rear Chimney

GRANDMA BEAR FISHER WOOD STOVE completely refurbished. New high-temperature refractory brick. Ready to heat your home or workspace. Manual included.

www.wainfleetradingpost.com

This is probably more realistic
(broken link removed to https://www.ebay.com/itm/145290979111?hash=item21d4046727:g:3iEAAOSwjvJlE2wP)

Yeah that first one, is beautiful!! But I can’t see myself spending 4,000 for a non epa stove. my timberline was just like the second one. I sold that one for $250

 

[BIGChrisNH]

It does look like a POS but as begreen says, you can buy that for $400, maybe $350 if he'll budge on price, but some effort into it and sell for double that and maybe more at this time of year. New brick, a wire brushing and stove paint will make that thing look sharp. I don't want to run one, but I keep thinking I should start a stove flipping business I just never get around to it.

 

[weee123]

Wire wheel on a grinder and some stove black clean out the inside replace bricks as needed and it’ll look like a brand new stove. I got the insert in my barn for $300 and in 30 minutes it looked brand new.

People like the older stoves, not for the efficiency, but for the simplicity and ease of use. Look at all of the posts with people getting brand new stoves and having problems with controlling them. I still personal wouldn’t heat my house with one, but for an out building heater like a garage that isn’t used all the time it’s perfect.

 

[Hexa Fox]

Home Depot has a listing for three Drolet stoves. My house is around 1,500 square feet. So this may be the route that I got right now. The question now is which one I should take a closer look at.

Search Results for drolet wood stove at The Home Depot

Get free shipping on qualified Drolet Wood Stoves products or Buy Online Pick Up in Store today in the Heating, Venting & Cooling Department.

www.homedepot.com

EDIT:
I also found this Englander and to my surprise even this website seems to offer free shipping. This would seem to easily be the "better deal". My biggest issue may be this stove being rated to heat a 2,200 square foot home while mine is right around 1,400. I guess I should be able to offset this by just not stuffing the stove full. Again though when I am home in the Winter I am in the same room as the stove.

(broken link removed to https://factorypure.com/products/englands-stove-works-englander-32-nc-wood-stove-new?variant=42213050679485&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&campaignid=18874975188&adgroupid=147182707390&creative=377905834536&matchtype=&network=g&device=c&keyword=&gclid=Cj0KCQjwhL6pBhDjARIsAGx8D5_W9PjSxatb1F0CUqbavxfwKdl0q8woL4Cu26tDnPj1Vev2c5N8GVsaAha7EALw_wcB)

 

[bigealta]

$1,000 for that! Are they any good?

 

[Hexa Fox]

$1,000 for that! Are they any good?

This community sent me in that direction. I tend to do a lot of research. The major drawback of the Englander is that they are "simpler" stoves and steel. Drolet's are also steel as well as are most modern stoves from what I can tell. I am literally brand new to these two stove manufacturers though. Most of the feedback I have received is to go with one of these brand new ones over the Fisher stove. The more expensive Drolet also comes with a blower too. Just not sure I need or want a stove that big.

 

[BIGChrisNH]

I own an Englander 30NC which is the predecessor to the stove you link to above, the 32NC. I have been heating with mine for 6 years now. The stove puts out a ton of heat with it's 3.5 cubic foot firebox. The door is cast iron with a large ceramic glass viewing window. It's a tube stove with ceramic board insulation on top of the tubes, and the secondary burn technology means it burns clean if you're using dry wood and you can figure out your chimney set up. Mine runs on a 30 foot chimney with a 6" insulated liner. Only one knob to operate the air control, very simple. I heat my 2,200 square foot house with this stove in the basement (insulated basement) effectively unless temps are in the low teens or single digits for extended periods. For me, I burn 5 cords of wood per year to heat from October through March. It's a good heater. Things to note:
- This is an inexpensive stove, the bolts for the tubes inside the stove are cheap. Replace them with high quality hardware if you ever want to remove them without the bolts snapping off. You will need to do this at some point to replace the ceramic insulation boards.
- My stove has developed small cracks at the top left and right corners of the door opening. The cracks are still inside the area where the gasket meets the stove box so it still functions fine. I have tried to never over fire the stove but it has happened on occasion.
- The blower in my opinion is not necessary on any stove, it doesn't really do much to move the air, so I wouldn't personally worry about a blower or not. Once the stove is running it will pull cooler air towards and push hot air away. The stairway going to the basement has an air flow that will practically blow out a match when the stove is running on a full load.
- You will need dry wood for this stove to run effectively. Everything I burn in this stove is usually 3 years old, cut, split and stacked under cover for that entire time, then moved to a woodshed.
Finally, after owning this stove for years, if I could I would spend more money on something higher quality. It's an effective budget heater but it's a budget stove and you can tell. Dead simple to operate though. In my case there was a deal too good to pass up at the time, I believe it was $600 for the stove itself and $99 shipping, so $699 delivered. I thought at that time and still do that the price was too good to pass up. However, if you have a larger budget I would go for something a little higher end. I have no experience with Drolet but many here on the forums seem to like them. Oh and one more thing, my stove in installed in the basement as I said with plenty of clearance on both sides to combustibles but I did install the side heat shields after the fact because the wood wainscoting on either wall (48" away) was getting so hot you could barely put your hand to it around 170 degrees with an infrared thermometer. With the heat shields it does not get much above 145 even with all 3 tubes rocking good secondaries. Hope this is helpful.

 

[Hexa Fox]

I own an Englander 30NC which is the predecessor to the stove you link to above, the 32NC. I have been heating with mine for 6 years now. The stove puts out a ton of heat with it's 3.5 cubic foot firebox. The door is cast iron with a large ceramic glass viewing window. It's a tube stove with ceramic board insulation on top of the tubes, and the secondary burn technology means it burns clean if you're using dry wood and you can figure out your chimney set up. Mine runs on a 30 foot chimney with a 6" insulated liner. Only one knob to operate the air control, very simple. I heat my 2,200 square foot house with this stove in the basement (insulated basement) effectively unless temps are in the low teens or single digits for extended periods. For me, I burn 5 cords of wood per year to heat from October through March. It's a good heater. Things to note:
- This is an inexpensive stove, the bolts for the tubes inside the stove are cheap. Replace them with high quality hardware if you ever want to remove them without the bolts snapping off. You will need to do this at some point to replace the ceramic insulation boards.
- My stove has developed small cracks at the top left and right corners of the door opening. The cracks are still inside the area where the gasket meets the stove box so it still functions fine. I have tried to never over fire the stove but it has happened on occasion.
- The blower in my opinion is not necessary on any stove, it doesn't really do much to move the air, so I wouldn't personally worry about a blower or not. Once the stove is running it will pull cooler air towards and push hot air away. The stairway going to the basement has an air flow that will practically blow out a match when the stove is running on a full load.
- You will need dry wood for this stove to run effectively. Everything I burn in this stove is usually 3 years old, cut, split and stacked under cover for that entire time, then moved to a woodshed.
Finally, after owning this stove for years, if I could I would spend more money on something higher quality. It's an effective budget heater but it's a budget stove and you can tell. Dead simple to operate though. In my case there was a deal too good to pass up at the time, I believe it was $600 for the stove itself and $99 shipping, so $699 delivered. I thought at that time and still do that the price was too good to pass up. However, if you have a larger budget I would go for something a little higher end. I have no experience with Drolet but many here on the forums seem to like them. Oh and one more thing, my stove in installed in the basement as I said with plenty of clearance on both sides to combustibles but I did install the side heat shields after the fact because the wood wainscoting on either wall (48" away) was getting so hot you could barely put your hand to it around 170 degrees with an infrared thermometer. With the heat shields it does not get much above 145 even with all 3 tubes rocking good secondaries. Hope this is helpful.

Thank you for your feedback. I may just go with the Drolet. I have a Home Depot credit card and can get a discount and financing. I want to go with the larger stove but I definitely do not want too much heat. Like I said, I spend a lot of time in the same open room with the stove. So it is important for me that this room is comfortable.

 

[Hexa Fox]

I also found the following stove on the same site. Is there a big difference? I seem to only see the 32-NC recommended. There are several "efficiency" ratings listed that all hover right around 75%. Does this mean that these still qualify for the tax credit? Something I just noticed is out of all the 'value' stoves I have been looking at the England's are the only ones that have a door that opens on the right. I'm not sure if I want to base my entire decision off this but it would probably be more convenient for me since my wood rack is to the right of the stove.

One other consideration I have is draft, because both of the England stoves I recently linked are 5-6" taller than my current one.

England's Stove Works Englander 15-W08 Wood Stove with Blower New

England's Stove Works Englander 15-W08 Wood Stove with Blower New. Authorized Dealer. Brand new. Free shipping. 5 year limited warranty. Manufacturer direct.

factorypure.com

 

[weee123]

The 32nc replaced the 30nc and from comparison uses thicker steel in areas compared to the 30. I personally own and use the 32 to heat my 1584sqft home.

 

[Hexa Fox]

I wouldn't buy it except to fix up for resale. Restored, a Grandpa Bear with ball feet can be worth quite a bit. At least this spot thinks so.

Grandpa Bear Fisher Wood Stove With Ball Feet Rear Chimney

GRANDMA BEAR FISHER WOOD STOVE completely refurbished. New high-temperature refractory brick. Ready to heat your home or workspace. Manual included.

www.wainfleetradingpost.com

This is probably more realistic
(broken link removed to https://www.ebay.com/itm/145290979111?hash=item21d4046727:g:3iEAAOSwjvJlE2wP)

I don't know how but I missed this. So the refurbished Mama Bear that I originally linked is pretty reasonable by some standards? I was doing research on the secondary air stoves, specifically the Englander 32-NC and even see some horror stories with that. I can imagine there are horror stories with any stove but it makes me want to lean towards just getting a old cast iron stove and being done with it.

I see one of the biggest complaints of Fisher stoves seems to be that they "eat wood". I'm not sure exactly what this means but I have probably been wasting a lot of fuel in the old wood stove I have now seeing as air is getting in through multiple areas. So the Mama Bear stove might be a welcome upgrade for me personally. Especially since I have not measured my draft or anything yet. I know my home has problems with sealing and the like that is going to almost definitely affect my draft in one way or another. The cast iron stoves seem to be better regarded than steel ones for retaining heat as well.

 

[bholler]

I don't know how but I missed this. So the refurbished Mama Bear that I originally linked is pretty reasonable by some standards? I was doing research on the secondary air stoves, specifically the Englander 32-NC and even see some horror stories with that. I can imagine there are horror stories with any stove but it makes me want to lean towards just getting a old cast iron stove and being done with it.

I see one of the biggest complaints of Fisher stoves seems to be that they "eat wood". I'm not sure exactly what this means but I have probably been wasting a lot of fuel in the old wood stove I have now seeing as air is getting in through multiple areas. So the Mama Bear stove might be a welcome upgrade for me personally. Especially since I have not measured my draft or anything yet. I know my home has problems with sealing and the like that is going to almost definitely affect my draft in one way or another. The cast iron stoves seem to be better regarded than steel ones for retaining heat as well.

Fishers are not cast iron they are steel. And they are going to be about the same as your current stove in terms of efficiency. Yes modern stoves are going to be more picky about being set up properly. And especially the cheap entry level ones aren't going to last as long as the basic steel boxes of the 70s and 80s

 

[Hexa Fox]

Fishers are not cast iron they are steel. And they are going to be about the same as your current stove in terms of efficiency. Yes modern stoves are going to be more picky about being set up properly. And especially the cheap entry level ones aren't going to last as long as the basic steel boxes of the 70s and 80s

So about the only thing I can do right now would be to install two 45's to the thimble to delete the 90. Then I can certainly see about installing a liner. So would you say that the Englander 32-NC is going to be picky as in it is going to require a liner to function properly?

 

[bholler]

So about the only thing I can do right now would be to install two 45's to the thimble to delete the 90. Then I can certainly see about installing a liner. So would you say that the Englander 32-NC is going to be picky as in it is going to require a liner to function properly?

It needs proper draft. That may mean a liner. May mean a damper to reduce draft etc. I don't know I'm not there doing the install