Question About the Cumberland Gap

[Simonkenton]

We went down to the wood stove store in Asheville NC the other day to look at the Isle Royale. We were choosing between the Isle Royale and the Oslo.
I liked the Isle Royale. However, the fiancee got to looking at the Cumberland Gap. We both like the looks of this stove, we like the double doors, reminds us of our old VC Resolute.

I have read very good reviews on this stove on this good web site, and, firebox size is almost the same as the Oslo.
However I did not scrutinize the Cumberland Gap at the store as I was primarily looking at the Isle Royale.
Does the CG have the same air controls as the Isle Royale, that is, a plunger type control for ignition, and a back and forth lever for main burning air control?

Does the CG have the same lever for flipping that plate down when going to full burn mode? If so is that plate made of that fiberboard stuff and have any of y'all had problems with the fiberboard?

What size logs are y'all using in your Cumberland Gap stoves? The spec sheet says 20 inch.

I have only been on this forum for a week but y'all are taking me to school on these new stoves and I am learning a lot on this good forum.

 

[pfettig77]

There are two controls, just like you described (plunger type and back and forth lever). There is no lever for flipping the plate down. I assume that's for top loading? The CG only has front and side loading. I like to use shorter logs - like 15" because it gives me more options for arranging the logs. It does burn 20" logs but only sideways. It does have fiberboard on top above the secondary burn tubes - it ain't as pretty as when I first got it but it's still mostly intact.

really like my stove. We've heated for 9 winters with it. One thing that I like is that we can come back to the stove 14+ hours after loading it and there are still hot coals for the next load. Can't keep the glass very clean though.

 

[Jags]

Yes - the lever on the Isle Royale is to flip the tubes/baffle out of the way for top loading. By design it is only used as an exhaust redirect for reload and should be flipped back into place as soon as the top plate is closed.