Just brought home my new Progress Hybrid

[Tenn Dave]

I could not believe how my stove got moved. Two professional mover guys (one little and one not so little) literally carried the Progress from the garage, up a railroad-tie staircase, up 4 steps into the house, and finally to the hearth without stopping. My back hurt just watching.

I seem to remember they were using some kind of body harness strung under the stove and attached at their waists to distribute the load while they carried it.

It took 4 big Tennessee farm boys to move mine, and 2 of them walked funny for a week after the maneuver.

 

[weatherguy]

I could not believe how my stove got moved. Two professional mover guys (one little and one not so little) literally carried the Progress from the garage, up a railroad-tie staircase, up 4 steps into the house, and finally to the hearth without stopping. My back hurt just watching.

I seem to remember they were using some kind of body harness strung under the stove and attached at their waists to distribute the load while they carried it.

What did you do , hire a moving company? I think I'm going to have to do something like that with my bad back and hip implant and my brothers back aint what it used to be, no use getting crippled moving a stove to save a few bucks.

 

[rideau]

Wolf,

Welcome to the Progress Hybrid family. May you enjoy it for many years in good health and much warmth. It is a wonderful stove, and quite beautiful as well.

Looking forward to photos of your install, which I hope has gone seamlessly, and your reports on your burning experiences.

 

[Wolf]

All I have to say is WOW that thing is HEAVY!

Quick overview of how I installed it:
-I used a pulley on the truck so I can lower the stove down a ramp onto the ground while two of my friends helped guide it down. (This was actually very easy and I thought this was going to be the hard part)
-We then used a dolly to roll it over to the garage door which was very easy
-Then we used an appliance hand truck and used the same ramp to get the stove up through the garage door (2 steps high). Two of us pulling and one guy pushing. It was extremely heavy even with two of us holding the hand truck (This is because the stove is packaged so that it is sitting high on top of the pallet for easy installation of the legs and this caused most of the weight being up near the handles). We needed to take multiple breaks.
-The hard part was maneuvering this thing around the inside of the house trying to make turns and not destroy my floor (I did put some dents in my hardwood floor and the wife is angry , but I looked up a way to get them out and I should be able to do it with a wet rag and an iron...I hope!) I did put down wood to roll on, but the hand truck came off and made a long dent.
-Once we got it into the stove room it wasn't too bad and we assembled it on the hearth pad fairly easily.

If I ever want to move this stove again I am definitely going to hire some guys to move it. My opinion for anyone who is planning on getting this stove and installing it themselves. I recommend using a dolly and put plywood on the floor. We moved it easily on the dolly, but couldn't get it up the ramp so we switched to the hand truck.

So we finally finished assembling it last night at around 10pm and I did a small kindling break in fire and that burned out after about 15-20 mins. Then I waited about 15 mins and lit another kindling fire with 2 very small splits and let that burn out. This morning I lit a my third and final break in fire and it had kindling and 2 medium splits and the stove got up to 350 degrees and stayed there for a little while before coming down slowly in temp. So now when I get home from work she should be ready for a nice hot fire! I can say the heat I feel radiating off this stove at 300 degrees feels equivalent to my Mansfield at 400. I can only imagine what this stove will feel like at 550-600. I can't wait!

 

[Wolf]

I could not believe how my stove got moved. Two professional mover guys (one little and one not so little) literally carried the Progress from the garage, up a railroad-tie staircase, up 4 steps into the house, and finally to the hearth without stopping. My back hurt just watching.

I seem to remember they were using some kind of body harness strung under the stove and attached at their waists to distribute the load while they carried it.

That is really impressive.

 

[Wolf]

Wolf,

Welcome to the Progress Hybrid family. May you enjoy it for many years in good health and much warmth. It is a wonderful stove, and quite beautiful as well.

Looking forward to photos of your install, which I hope has gone seamlessly, and your reports on your burning experiences.

Thanks Rideau. I really love the look of this stove and it is built to last. Very stout build.

 

[jzinckgra]

just a general question regarding stone stove; do they creak and make noise upon heating up/cooling down like a steel/cast stove?

 

[Wolf]

just a general question regarding stone stove; do they creak and make noise upon heating up/cooling down like a steel/cast stove?

I am sure there are others who have more knowledge on this and can chime in. But based on my little experience with the two stoves I have had my first stove which was the Hearthstone Mansfield didn't make any noise or pinging at all. However, the PH has a steel layer on the inside and I heard creaking and pinging sounds as it warmed up. It wasn't very loud though.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Nothing to be concerned about Wolf. Congratulations on the new stove. Would love to see some pictures now you are burning in it.

For others, when it comes time to move, I am a big fan of furniture dollies or piano dollies for moving. When we moved the Fireview in (a bit lighter than the Progress but still 500 lbs), this is what we used and there were 3 of us. Actually 2 good men and myself who only guided the movement.

 

[Boiler74]

I installed mine alone..... But the tractor with pallet forks and a pallet jack in the house REALLY helped!

You'll love the stove. My total energy bill with two "polar vortex's" was $140 this month. Enjoy!

 

[Brick (ware)House]

I hope you didn't get one of the "smokey" ones!

 

[BrowningBAR]

This should be interesting. Wolf was having problems getting the Mansfield up to temp. I recommended that he learned to use the Mansfield first and learn how to get the temps up to 500+ degree consistently before purchasing a new stove since he had nothing to go on to gauge if he needed a larger stove or not.

Right now Wolf has traded in one stove for another with nearly the same usable firebox.

I hope it works out for you. A bit risky, though.

 

[Wolf]

This should be interesting. Wolf was having problems getting the Mansfield up to temp. I recommended that he learned to use the Mansfield first and learn how to get the temps up to 500+ degree consistently before purchasing a new stove since he had nothing to go on to gauge if he needed a larger stove or not.

Right now Wolf has traded in one stove for another with nearly the same usable firebox.

I hope it works out for you. A bit risky, though.

I understand it was a risky move, but I knew something needed to change. I tried using everything I could to get the Mansfield up to temp (Damper, biobricks, checked gasket), but it only happened a couple times and it was very finicky and I wasn't getting the burn times either. I was reloading about every 5-6 hours. My draft may have still been too strong even with the damper and I didn't want to run two dampers.

I started that thread because I wasn't sure if getting the new stove would be worth it. You guys said to give my Mansfield a chance and so I gave an honest try to get it to meet my heating needs, but it just couldn't keep up with my 2600sq/ft house. I finally went and saw a PH in action at another PH owners house and that is what pushed me over the edge to purchase a new stove.

 

[Wolf]

I hope you didn't get one of the "smokey" ones!

Luckily I did not!

 

[Wolf]

Okay so here are the final pics of the install.

This stove is a BEAST! I brought it up to 515 last night very easily on just a few splits and it really puts out some heat. I love how the intake is so sensitive and easily adjustable. I have a lot of playing around to do this weekend...even though its supposed to be almost 50 degrees out

 

[Wolf]

Here is a question for other PH owners. How can you tell if the cat is lighting off? My top center stone never went above 350 but the cast iron near the top flue exit (I have a top exit flue) was 515. I checked the cat this morning and it seems to just be resting freely in the slot, but it doesn't rest flush with the gasket behind it so I think the exhaust may be going around it a little bit. Then they stuck an extra piece of gasket in the gap between the top of the cat and the slot so the cat couldn't rattle. Does anybody else have this?

 

[ksc]

Okay so here are the final pics of the install.

This stove is a BEAST! I brought it up to 515 last night very easily on just a few splits and it really puts out some heat. I love how the intake is so sensitive and easily adjustable. I have a lot of playing around to do this weekend...even though its supposed to be almost 50 degrees out

You might want to check your clearances, especially the door side. Is that carpet around the pad?

 

[ksc]

Here is a question for other PH owners. How can you tell if the cat is lighting off? My top center stone never went above 350 but the cast iron near the top flue exit (I have a top exit flue) was 515. I checked the cat this morning and it seems to just be resting freely in the slot, but it doesn't rest flush with the gasket behind it so I think the exhaust may be going around it a little bit. Then they stuck an extra piece of gasket in the gap between the top of the cat and the slot so the cat couldn't rattle. Does anybody else have this?

I have the "newer" PH. Your cat sounds good. Did you push it tight against the back gasket? I think it "sticks out" about 3/4 to an 1" or so.

 

[Wolf]

Yes I have hearthpad extension there now its just not in the pic. Yes that is carpet around the hearthpad, but there is no carpet underneath the hearthpad. Will that be an issue?

 

[logger]

Man, after the winter we've had in the northeast, I too might be looking at the PH. My Oslo's been a beast for years and the only source of heat in our 2000 sq ft cabin, but after a few weeks of dipping below zero here and there, the house is noticeably cooler. Time to make a decision

 

[Wolf]

I did push it tight against the back gasket, but it just feels like its not flush on the backside of it. So your saying that my cat did light off with the top center stone at 350?

 

[shoot-straight]

having just installed a new stove last week, i know the feeling. good luck with your new toy.

 

[Wolf]

Man, after the winter we've had in the northeast, I too might be looking at the PH. My Oslo's been a beast for years and the only source of heat in our 2000 sq ft cabin, but after a few weeks of dipping below zero here and there, the house is noticeably cooler. Time to make a decision

To be honest, I didn't know what I was really missing out on until I went and saw this stove in action. Helped me make up my mind pretty easily

 

[Wolf]

having just installed a new stove last week, i know the feeling. good luck with your new toy.

Thanks! You too.

 

[ksc]

Yes I have hearthpad extension there now its just not in the pic. Yes that is carpet around the hearthpad, but there is no carpet underneath the hearthpad. Will that be an issue?

From your last pic. it looks like your clearance from the door to the carpet is a little close. If you have an extension then you might be good. Just check them. I had my first few fires in the PH with the front legs resting on the wood floor.....