What model do I have?

[kohlby]

I've been to many websites and can't figure out what model I have. I'm guessing a Grandma, but even that doesn't seem to quite match up. The opening is 17" though inside is about 23". It's 29" at it's tallest point, and 22" x 24" for length and width. I'm planning on selling it locally and knowing what type it is would help me look for comparable stoves to figure out the cost.

 

[coaly]

Model III
Grandma Has 5 bricks across back with door opening 17 wide X 10 1/2 high. Grandpa has 6 bricks across back with door opening of 22 wide X 11 high.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/fisher-grandma-and-grandpa-bear-details-fireplace-series.69448/
Remove the grate. You burn on an inch of ash directly on the bottom. Use of a grate in a stove shortens burn time and is not a part of the original stove.

Page at bottom should give specs of this model. This older style box was available with the optional Cathedral doors as found on yours.

 

[coaly]

Here's the owners manual cover from 1979 showing your old style box at the rear with the old style doors, or the new optional arched style. The flat top doors were dropped the following year.



Notice the manual shows the legs are tapered at bottom which was called for on the prints, but the Georgia fabricator never tapered their legs, so that's probably where yours is from. If you look on the bottom, you may find a couple initials written with weld. The one under box is the box builder, and if initialed under ash fender, that is the finisher. (Or welder who cut vent where needed and hung doors when sold)
Confusion on size can be many factors. The boxes made after 1980 didn't have angle iron down the corners and were bent. This fabricator (Fisher Stoves S.E.) also made them after 1980 in the old style as a cheaper alternative when shields weren't required on hearth installations. Many had legs cut down to fit under fireplace mantels, or were made to order with different heights. The width given in manual should be width of top plate.
The III Manual in the sticky section is for the bent corner design which yours is not. The exact manual for yours is not uploaded (I only have a few pages, but am looking for one) So you would have to use the first manual printed for non UL stoves that includes all 5 models in one manual.

You should make sure the legs are at least 6 inches under stove in case they were cut down for figuring floor protection.
Front leg length (angle iron corner) should be 25 and rear should be 31 inches according to original drawing.

 

[kohlby]

Thank you for responding. I'll have to check on the leg length - I'm now wondering if the leg length was cut down to make it line up better with the chimney hole. When we sell it, does it matter if the legs are shorter? We had it on a hearth and it came with the house we bought so we don't know the history of it. If it matters that the legs are shorter, what would need to be done about it?

I should have removed the grate before taking the picture. We bought that when we were having trouble lighting it to make it a little easier. (We are far from experienced stove users, using it twice last year during an ice storm and that's it in the 9 years we have lived in this house).

 

[coaly]

The floor protection given in manuals is for 6 inch and over in height. On a non-combustible hearth or cement floor, it doesn't matter. On a combustible floor with floor protection, it should be raised on bricks to the normal height to prevent heat under the stove radiating downward through floor protector.

Grates are for raising the fire in a fireplace to allow more air around the wood to prevent smoke and smoldering on the bottom. In a stove, you want to slow the burn in a ash bed and be able to rake the glowing coals forward to reload on. Unlike a fireplace, in a stove you have oxygen directed to the fire caused by the chimney. What you didn't understand is the chimney is the most important thing. The flue should be the same size as stove outlet, and insulated to stay hot inside. The rising exhaust is lighter than outside air and as it rises it makes a low pressure area in the stove, so atmospheric air pressure pushes into the stove making it go. So you need to preheat the chimney flue to get oxygen into the fire. The right kind of draft is what makes the stove work. Originally the stove came with a screen for open door burning. When kindling the fire this helps get it going quickly by giving it as much air as possible. Just send the new owners here. I see a few websites with all sorts of conflicting information. You found the original place with brochures, manuals and some of the original builders right here. Depending on the initials on your stove, CamFan on this site could be the builder.

 

[kohlby]

Thank you! Yes, I also have the screen, but I didn't include it in those pictures.