A different stove moving question

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Pellet_Pete

Feeling the Heat
Jan 22, 2014
319
Franklin County, MA
I've got a line on a very nice blue/black enamel Jotul F3 via craigslist. Most likely I'll have to move it myself, alone, so I want to see if my plan passes the hearth.com sanity test. According to Jotul, the stove is 265 lbs - not a monster but not exactly a featherlight either. Here's how I imagine it working...

1. Remove the ash lip
2. Block up with 2x10 pieces between the hand truck and the ash pan,
3. Furniture pad over glass, ratchet strap it all together, tilt, and I'm on my way.
4. A pair of 2x10 ramps anchored to the tie-downs in my Toyota Matrix, and I should be able to ease it on up. I'll bring a come-along just in case, or maybe the seller will spot me with a bit of elbow grease.

But, importantly, is the ash pan strong enough to hold the weight of the stove, if properly blocked?

Plan B would be to get a 2x4 under the front legs, but that would involve some lifting...or a car jack? If jacking, where's the best contact point? I don't really have a good idea of what 265 lbs would feel like, but I'm guessing I could budge the thing without herniating a disc. Worst case, the top comes off as well, from what I've read.

Thanks for your input!
 
If it weighs about 265 with all parts intact, how much does it weigh with all fire brick removed and the door and ash lip removed? I would remove the ash pan also so that nothing gets knocked out of alignment. I'm not sure I understand the 2x10s between the hand truck and the stove. A load always feels lighter if it is closer to the hand truck wheels, unless you need a spacer to prevent damage. A place I see a potential issue is if you cannot remove the legs. That is a place I can see a use for a piece of 2x10 but i would use a mere 2x6. Slip it under a pair of legs so that the hand truck can lift the stove by slipping under that 2x6.
I am thinking this way over all.
Remove all weight that can be easily removed, tilt the stove away from the hand truck and slip a 2x6 under a pair of legs, get the hand truck under that 2x6, tilt the stove back so that the weight of the stove is on the hand truck and strap it in place. Roll up your anchored 2x10s and tie the whole thing in place on the truck. Now pick up all the stuff you removed and load it to ride safely.
 
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Not a Jotul but my stove weighs about 300#, it was not that hard to move. I took the door and blower off, ( fire bricks are the lightweight ones, not worth removing). Put a 2x4 under the rear legs and strapped it to a standard pneumatic tire
hand truck. I used some ramps to load/unload it from the truck and up the stairs in to the house.
32365-38f7fe45540d43843b29c4e281002009.jpg
 
I've got a line on a very nice blue/black enamel Jotul F3 via craigslist. Most likely I'll have to move it myself, alone, so I want to see if my plan passes the hearth.com sanity test. According to Jotul, the stove is 265 lbs - not a monster but not exactly a featherlight either. Here's how I imagine it working...

1. Remove the ash lip
2. Block up with 2x10 pieces between the hand truck and the ash pan,
3. Furniture pad over glass, ratchet strap it all together, tilt, and I'm on my way.
4. A pair of 2x10 ramps anchored to the tie-downs in my Toyota Matrix, and I should be able to ease it on up. I'll bring a come-along just in case, or maybe the seller will spot me with a bit of elbow grease.

But, importantly, is the ash pan strong enough to hold the weight of the stove, if properly blocked?

Plan B would be to get a 2x4 under the front legs, but that would involve some lifting...or a car jack? If jacking, where's the best contact point? I don't really have a good idea of what 265 lbs would feel like, but I'm guessing I could budge the thing without herniating a disc. Worst case, the top comes off as well, from what I've read.

Thanks for your input!
Enlist a couple of male friends to help and you won't need to mess with any of this. The guys who brought my substantially heavier Heritage up the steps and into the house used nothing more than a hand truck. You definitely need at least one other person, even if only as backup. You can hurt yourself mishandling something this heavy when it's something you've never done before, and it ain't worth the risk to your back or your toes. A couple of pizzas and a case of beer is pretty much all you need to enlist help from friends or just the guy down the street.
 
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My 30NC weighs 465# according to Englander so probably still a good 375+ with the firebrick and door removed and my wife and I were able to easily lift it off my truck and then I moved it in with a standard hand truck.
 
My Heritage is 530, as I just looked up. Two guys and a hand truck. My previous stove, a Tribute, is listed at 313, and two guys brought it out of its home next door and into mine without even a hand truck. 265 should be a piece of cake.
 
My F12's weigh roughly double your F3, and I moved one of them on a handtruck almost exactly as you describe, but did not bother trying to remove the ash lip. It's about 3/4" solid cast iron... it ain't going nowhere.

As to how you're going to handle it, I could handle the F12 myself on a handtruck, with one other person at the ready to help me stand it up and set it back down. With that little F3, you'll be more than fine. I'm in good shape for someone with a desk job, but no he-man.

In both cases, I found it easiest to have a 2x6 under the front legs, on top of handtruck footplate. Then wrap stove in blanket, and strap to cart. I also inserted another 2x6 between front of stove and cart, close to the lid, so it wouldn't be teetering on ash lip when I tipped back on cart.
 
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Excellent - thanks for all the replies. I guess 2x6 under the legs is the way to go. I'm sure I've moved furniture at least as heavy, with help, so I'll see if I can make some friends before I have to go get it :p. Hopefully it pans out & I'll have an install thread for everyone this year!
 
I moved the 700 lb progress hybrid, and a 500ish lbs h300 with a piano dolly, 2 sections of 2x4 and 2 rathet straps. Worked very well. Just tilted the stove to get it on the piano dolly. Only needed the 2x4 for the h300 because its legs were too narrow for the dolly. A stout hand truck would definitely work too.

The one thing i found invaluable was using heavy duty furniture sliders to move the stove around once it was on the ground.
 
I was In Bellingham yesterday. Beer and pizza would've bought me and my truck for an hour....
Who knew?!?
Lol - I'm in Franklin County, not the town of Franklin - worlds apart. And the stove is actually in central NH.;lol
 
Moving straps work awesome. My wife and I moved my 400lbs zc fireplace all the way through the house with it. Got on Amazon for about $35. Have used it a few times to move furniture and have no regrets.

Here are the ones I got

 
I moved our F3CB by myself using a piece of plywood under the legs and ratchet strapping it to a good appliance dolly with some padding protection between the stove and the dolly. It was pretty easy work once the stove had wheels attached.
 
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Looks good. I have used shoulder straps for this and that but never a set designed to carry a heavy load.
 
I moved our F3CB by myself using a piece of plywood under the legs and ratchet strapping it to a good appliance dolly with some padding protection between the stove and the dolly. It was pretty easy work once the stove had wheels attached.
Well, this is pretty much how it went for me this evening too! Had the seller & his neighor help lift and place it on the plywood, strapped it onto the hand truck, and wheeled it right up the ramp into my hatchback. Strapped it down real good in the car, and away we went. Three steps up into my house, and my wife helped me hop it to the hearth. Next up - chimney liner, mantel shield & a type 2 hearth pad. Almost there!
image.jpg
 
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Looks like that stove is just made for that hearth, Pete! Hope you will love your F3 as much as I love mine.
 
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