Hearthstone Clydesdale install with pics...thanks

Thanks to everyone who posts on this forum with helpful advice. I am a newbie and have learned a lot in a few short weeks. Mostly what I've learned is I have a lot more to learn!

Some before and after pics of our install. So far have had the 3 burn in fires and two decent size fires up to 600 degrees for a short time due to warmer outdoor temps. You can all thank me and my buddy who also just installed a free standing stove for these warm temps! Never thought I would be ready for winter...but I think this year will be different.

Thanks. No we hired the entire project out. They did a great job.

I took the warming rack off the top and mounted mag thermo to the top just to the left of the draft bolt. The thermo actually touches the bolt. This was the warmest spot on the unit based on IR gun readings.

I agree it is probably your wood. This was very frustrating for me starting out. Thought I had seasoned wood but learned from this forum...not by today's standards. One test I learned to find out if it is your wood is to buy some packaged wood at a local store and burn it. Make sure the package says kiln dried. This wood is very dry and should heat up nicely, however not very long in the big Clydesdale. If your temps get up around 500 - 600 that should indicate your wood is the issue. As I said I had the same problem. Again from comments on this forum, if you have wet wood you have to mix in dry stuff to get through the season. I have been using one bio brick in the center and placing my unseasoned wood around it. The bio brick seems to get the temps up which dries out the wood. You might also research "tunnel of love" on the forum to see some suggestions on how to place your wood in the fire box. This seemed to really help. Also, go to YouTube and search for Hearthstone Clydesdale. There is a video which shows how to build a fire in the Clydesdale using the Tunnel of Love. Several guys on the forum indicated this was the way they build their fires and I do now as well. My cruising temp for the Clydesdale is between 500 and 550 however I too am new to this and have not done really large fires yet. Still too warm outside. One other suggestion I learned from the friend, you really have to leave the stove door cracked for sometime. This seemed really dangerous to me and I stay in the room while doing this but it helps significantly. With my unseasoned wood I sometimes have to leave the door cracked for 30 minutes to get her to really take off. Hope this helps.

I have to be honest I did not do it. We hired it out. I have never done anything like this before and knew it would be a show piece in that room. Last thing I wanted to do was screw it up. But from what others have told me and watching them do it, it looked pretty easy. Because the brick was not painted and had a somewhat rough texture, they just attached the rock directly to the brick. We used Owens Corning Cultured Stone. We even had them hide a few Petoskey stones in for fun with the kids!