I bought a house and they left an old fisher

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logan_13

New Member
Feb 28, 2019
3
Northeast Indiana
[Hearth.com] I bought a house and they left an old fisher I don’t know anything about wood stoves. Can someone tell me what this thing is worth as is? It’s rusty but looks like it’d work fine if refurbished. Thanks!
 
Look on eBay for those feet and be prepared for sticker shock!
Does it have a screen for the front?
And yes, unless there's cracks or other damage it's perfectly usable.
A coat of paint and maybe some new firebrick and it will look like knew.
There's lots of info on this site on restoring these stoves. I refinished several last year and are always looking for one to work on.
 
Look on eBay for those feet and be prepared for sticker shock!
Does it have a screen for the front?
And yes, unless there's cracks or other damage it's perfectly usable.
A coat of paint and maybe some new firebrick and it will look like knew.
There's lots of info on this site on restoring these stoves. I refinished several last year and are always looking for one to work on.
I don’t see a screen for the front, no cracks that I see. You Interested in it?
 
How much is this worth refurbished? Company in town will sand blast it and paint it for 300, 100 for sandblast 200 to paint it
It really depends on the local market. In general I would say they are not worth more than 500 even restored. But 250 to 300 is a much more reasonable value.
 
Remove surface rust with a wire wheel on a grinder. Some people soak them with WD-40 or PB-Blaster then wire wheel. If you had to buy a cheap Harbor Freight grinder and a few wire wheels that would cost you maybe $60.
Paint is Stove-Bright paint, satin black #1990 (broken link removed to http://forrestpaint.com/stove-bright/high-temp-stove-bright-aerosols/high-temp-aerosol-paint/) you'll need 3 cans at $13 each. So for $100 bucks you could finish the outside.
Firebrick (splits) are about $1.25 at the building supply house so depending on how many you need to replace.
I've been getting $500 for a nicely refinished stove. I'd add $150 for a screen.
If you were within an hour drive (and you're not) I'd give you $100 as is.

If I were you I'd clean it up, check the chimney and hook it up. If for nothing else use it as a back up heat source. You could sell the feet on ebay and pay for the materials.
 
I don't know how much research you've done on your stove. It's a Grandma Bear model. The stove body is made of 1/4" plate steel, the top is 5/16" plate steel. The doors are cast iron.

The only 2 brands of paint I would use is Stove Bright and Rutland stove paint. If you look at Craigslist and eBay for Fisher stoves and those bear feet you will see prices all over the place. That doesn't mean those high priced stoves and feet are selling at those high asking prices. I've bought five Fisher stoves for $200-$300, and all of them were in great shape compared to yours (meaning less rust).

You could probably get $500 for your stove if you refurbish it (not including the feet). That means remove all the rust, replace the firebricks that are cracked or broken, and paint it with 3-4 coats of the correct stove paint. The lowest asking price I've seen for the bear feet was around $150, last month on CL.

I personally won't buy a refurbished stove because I'm too picky about how I want my stoves refurbished (all rust removed, correct paint, replace ALL firebricks). I heat my poorly insulated 2-story house with a Fisher Mama Bear in northern NY. It's my only heat source, and after 7 long hard winters, I finally need to touch up the Rutland stove paint on my stove.

You have several options to consider, to include keeping it for backup heat if you lose power. You can cook on it, and it doesn't need electricity to heat your house.