Go Woodstock Soapstone

[edthedawg]

I'll see if I can do some recruiting. I'll also do a search as to how other people handled the move off of the truck and then again into the house. Fortunately we only have to climb 5 stairs to the porch and then onto the first floor. Maybe we'll back the truck to the front stairs so that we don't have to go down, then up again as much.

Wish my husky could help pull.

When we had the Heritage installed, my friend brought over his powered stair-climbing forklift / handtruck. (broken link removed) kinda describes them. His had the large wheel attachment. I seriously didn't hardly have to do a thing - this machine was able to get the stove (on it's pallet) out of his truck, up my dirt and gravel driveway, up my wooden front steps, up another step into the house, snake thru another doorway to the central family room, and gently drop the pallet in front of the hearth. We unbolted from the pallet there, and protected the hearth with thick rubber mats while lifting the stove up and sliding it back into place. We stuck a couple magazines under the loadbearing wheels during the final "lowering" in front of the hearth, to protect the hardwood floor. At that point, the load shifts forward pretty hard and the wheels are small enough to dig into the floor if you're not careful. It was kinda surreal to see this hand truck machine standing free in the driveway with the woodstove perched on it, several feet up in the air.

These are likely rentable and darn good at what they do. Good luck w/ the Fireview!

 

[jdinspector]

Well, my fireview is installed. My neighbor brought his teenage son over and the three of us put in the new and took out the old. My neighbor thought I was exaggerating when I said that it weighs about 500 lbs. He confessed that he believed me when we were done. For others who are planning on installing their own 500 pounder, we struggled with this thing (it actually crushed my garbage can dolly). We're 3 pretty big guys (all about 6'2" to 6'-3" and 210 to 240 lbs. and in pretty good shape) This was about all we could handle. I wouldn't try a Hearthstone Equinox (700 lbs?) with three people.

Well, the break in fire is tomorrow and then it cools back down here in Chicago for the weekend. They're even predicting snow on the north side on Sunday. I'm actually looking forward to it this one time. Then I'm ready for 70 degree temps.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Good for you JD.

Now be careful in doing the break in fires. Here's what we did and it worked just fine:

1. First fire with just a few pieces of kindling. Light it, let it burn until it goes out. Let the stove cool.

2. Second fire with kindling and a couple of really small splits. Light the fire and let it burn (you might have to turn the draft down during this burn) until it goes out. Let the stove cool.

3. Third fire with kindling and 3 good splits. Same process as 1 & 2 except for sure you will have to turn the draft down during the burn.

4. Now you are all set for a normal burn.

5. Enjoy!

 

[Todd]

Where are the pictures?

 

[jdinspector]

Where are the pictures?

Pix attached. Also two follow up questions...

I have done my break in fires and am running the stove to heat the house today (wow, that thing stunk up the house for 24 hours!) I've already noticed that I'll be using less wood when I am up and running next year. I've only had to load it twice in the past 20 hours, vs. 4-5 times with the old stove. However, I see that the flue temps are significantly lower than when I was burning my Vermont Castings non-cat. I guess this makes sense, as the catalytic is taking out even more heat. However, the flue thermometer is at about 200 F, which is below the line that says "creosote". I know these things aren't that accurate and are only guidelines, however, this temperature is about 200-300 degrees less than what it had been with my old stove. So, my question is this- is the 200 degree temp too low? Should I burn the stove a little hotter?

Also, When I load 3-4 logs into the stove, I have to set them all down on the floor since I can't load all at the same time. Setting them down leaves a bunch of crud on the floor that I have to sweep up. Any suggestions on what I can put down to protect the floor and keep the crud from building up? A car floor mat? Would a floor mat melt? I've never had this problem, as my old stove was a top loader and the logs went straight from the log pile outside into the stove. (Top loading was sooooo convenient)

By the way, when I took out the old stove, the flue was clean. Less than a gallon milk jug of soot in the entire length of the flue/chimney (about 20 feet). That was after burning about 5 cords through the old stove this winter. So, I'm convinced that it was burning hot enough!

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Wasn't as heavy as we thought- took off the door and firebrick, and strapped 2x4's under the lip of the top edge. I grabbed one end of the 2 2x4's, Vic grabbed the other, picked it up and moved it.

Brute force and sheer stupidity overcome all obstacles

 

[Vic99]

AP neglected to mentioned that he is HUGE from splitting all manner of wood. That certainly helps. Who would have thought that Bob Ross was so ripped that he needed a back up beeper.

He's right, though, not as bad as we figured. Three of us moved it off of the pick up and up 5 stairs. Then AP and I for 15 feet to the hearth.

Ron at Woodstock was very accommodating. I choose stones for the build from e-mailed photos and it came out beautifully. My wife was very impressed.

Last night I burned my first break in to 250 F, which is what Woodstock recommended. This morning's break in peaked at 440 (they recommended 400) with the cat. Not a good smell, but we'll live. I'll post a more complete update after a few more burns.

So far so good.

 

[Todd]

Where are the pictures?

Pix attached. Also two follow up questions...

I have done my break in fires and am running the stove to heat the house today (wow, that thing stunk up the house for 24 hours!) I've already noticed that I'll be using less wood when I am up and running next year. I've only had to load it twice in the past 20 hours, vs. 4-5 times with the old stove. However, I see that the flue temps are significantly lower than when I was burning my Vermont Castings non-cat. I guess this makes sense, as the catalytic is taking out even more heat. However, the flue thermometer is at about 200 F, which is below the line that says "creosote". I know these things aren't that accurate and are only guidelines, however, this temperature is about 200-300 degrees less than what it had been with my old stove. So, my question is this- is the 200 degree temp too low? Should I burn the stove a little hotter?

Also, When I load 3-4 logs into the stove, I have to set them all down on the floor since I can't load all at the same time. Setting them down leaves a bunch of crud on the floor that I have to sweep up. Any suggestions on what I can put down to protect the floor and keep the crud from building up? A car floor mat? Would a floor mat melt? I've never had this problem, as my old stove was a top loader and the logs went straight from the log pile outside into the stove. (Top loading was sooooo convenient)

By the way, when I took out the old stove, the flue was clean. Less than a gallon milk jug of soot in the entire length of the flue/chimney (about 20 feet). That was after burning about 5 cords through the old stove this winter. So, I'm convinced that it was burning hot enough!

Looking good,
I won't worry about the creosote cut off on the thermometer with this stove as long as you burn and lite of the cat properly. Those pipe temps sound about right if that is single wall pipe. I usually have a 300 pipe temps with a 600 stove top and 200 with a 400. The internal temps are roughly double the outside temps on my setup. Non cats typicaly burn a little hotter than cats.

As far as the crud left behind while loading, I use a cordless hand held vacuume. Or you might want to look into a hearth rug.

 

[Todd]

AP neglected to mentioned that he is HUGE from splitting all manner of wood. That certainly helps. Who would have thought that Bob Ross was so ripped that he needed a back up beeper.

He's right, though, not as bad as we figured. Three of us moved it off of the pick up and up 5 stairs. Then AP and I for 15 feet to the hearth.

Ron at Woodstock was very accommodating. I choose stones for the build from e-mailed photos and it came out beautifully. My wife was very impressed.

Last night I burned my first break in to 250 F, which is what Woodstock recommended. This morning's break in peaked at 440 (they recommended 400) with the cat. Not a good smell, but we'll live. I'll post a more complete update after a few more burns.

So far so good.

Good to hear you are all set up and burning already. I thought maybe you were waiting til after your remodeling project. It will be interesting to hear the comparison of this stove to your last.

When I installed my stove I used a dolly and built a ramp to go up my 8" hearth. Once up there it was just a matter of disassembling the crate and sliding it into place. Did it all myself with the wife supervising of course.

 

[rickw]

As far as the mess goes, you really go out to the woodpile every time you reload? I have a rack that I keep 3 days of wood in right next to the stove. Sure its a mess, but you were expecting...?

Actually, I use a plastic tote to lug in the wood (every 3 days). I guess I could directly into the stove from it. Maybe make a sturdy wood box, the totes don't hold up very well. Anyway, congrats on a great stove and a sweet looking install.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

The flue temperature isn't so bad. Ours runs 200 at times and we haven't cleaned the chimney for 2 years. It's still clean.

On the mess. We keep a hand vacuum by the stove. Other ideas are boot mats or maybe a large pan that is used with paint rollers. It could be painted to look better or even with some self stick paper with designs. A car mat might work but might be a bit small too. We used to have a fairly good sized plastic container that had 3" or 4" sides. That kept the mess all in the tub.

 

[jdinspector]

As far as the mess goes, you really go out to the woodpile every time you reload? I have a rack that I keep 3 days of wood in right next to the stove. Sure its a mess, but you were expecting...?

Actually, I use a plastic tote to lug in the wood (every 3 days). I guess I could directly into the stove from it. Maybe make a sturdy wood box, the totes don't hold up very well. Anyway, congrats on a great stove and a sweet looking install.

No, I don't go all of the way out to the wood shed (pile). I go out to my covered back porch (about 10 steps) to get new wood. I stack a week's worth on the porch and just grab pieces as needed. I prefer not to store any inside. As for the suggestions on a hearth rug or wood box, thanks. I think I'll keep my eyes open for something appropriate. As I wrote in my earlier post, I was spoiled with top loading. It really is easy, but the side loading isn't so bad. Especially in light of the fact that I'll only be loading every 6 hours or so!

Thanks for the info on flue temps. This thing was running at a cruise yesterday (450 F stove top temp. with outside temps at 30F) and the flue temps never got over 250. Amazing how much heat the catalytic takes out of the combustion gases. As I said in my earlier post, I thing I'm going to see some serious reduction on my wood consumption. I would have gone throught 20 or more good sized logs yesterday, but only burned about 9 or 10 in total to keep similar inside house temps. Unfortuneately, for the remainder of this year, I'm burning some poorly seasoned wood. (25-30% moisture inside splits), so am unable to really get a good feel for how easy it is to run the temps up quickly. I ran through all of my dry wood and am dipping into wood split only in September and Oct. 2008. I have all of 2009/10 wood done and am working on 2010/11 wood now. I've also noticed that the stove easily goes all night on a full load and still has 250 or 300 stove top temps along with good sized coals after an 8 hour burn. I would have gotten heat with the old stove, but not 250 or 300. Pretty impressive.

I'll wait until I'm part way into next years heating season to post a review on this site. But, so far, this thing looks like a winner.

Thanks all for your good advice.