Replaced Hearthstone Mansfield with Pacific Energy Summit Classic

Hi Everyone,

I recently switched my Mansfield for a PE Summit Classic and I wanted to report back. The only complaint I have is that I didn't do it sooner. From day one I was disappointed with the soapstone performance. I thought I could learn to love it, but that wasn't the case. I heat primarily with wood so I figured I might as well be happy and swap out the Mansfield. I have to say the last straw for me was when I saw two stones on my $3000 mansfield were cracked. Superficial...yes, but I expect more for the money. I know now this is normal for soapstone, and I should have researched that prior to purchasing.

I wanted a workhorse stove that I could burn 24/7 with limited maintenance and up keep. After quite a bit of research I settled on the Summit. With the all steel welded firebox the only up keep I can see in the furture is fire bricks and a door gasket. I hope I never have to buy another stove. I have been able to burn this stove at 500-600 effortlessly with the primary on low. I could rarely get the mansfield to 600 even burning wide open. I now have the knock you out on the couch heat I've been looking for.

The coal bed is similar to the mansfield, but the summit seems to burn down easier when I crank up the primary. 10 hours after a fill up the stove is in the 250 to 300 range. That jumps right up to 450 20 minutes after its refueled. I attached a few pics of the stove. The first one I was trying to catch the secondaires in action, but the pic came out a little blurly.

Thanks to everyone that replied to my posts when I was going back and forth about the Mansfield.

Hi everone thanks for all the replies. I didn't think that the temp on the trivet would be all that different than the surface temp, but it's a very good point. I am burning the colas (coals) down now. When I fire it back up I'll get a reading from the surface and the trivet. I can't imagine I'm overfiring it. I'm burning with the primary mostly closed. I did instal a pipe damper so I would have a little more control if needed.

As far as my experience with the Mansfield it doesn't seem to be typical. I have the stove for sale on CL in VT. There has been a lot of interest in the last few days and I actually have to snap a few more pics for a guy. I'm asking $1400 and I think thats a pretty good price. I've seen them here for $1600 to $2000 used around here. What does everyone else think (non potential purchasers of course).

NH_ I would be having a brewski if I didn't have to work tonight. The plate attached to the stove is marked manufactured in DEC 2006. The curse of the Mansfield continues for me. I went out to clean it up and take some more pics and I notice 2 more cracked stones for a total of 4. 3 of the 4 are cracked where the treaded rod runs through the cast iron angle on the corners. Clearly this is where the stones are weakest. It gets better though I also dropped the ash grate on the garage floor and broke that in half. So $1400 is gone.

Shari- I have the same set up I used for the Mansfield hooked up for the Summit. An 8 inch to a 6 inch reducer. I really didn't have to do much to swap the 2.

3 of the 4 cracked stone are on the corners where the threaded rod goes through the cast iron angle on the sides the portion of those stones aren't even in the firebox. This must have happened when I moved it out. Shawneyboy I wish you were closer with cash in hand . If anyone is interested I'll let it go for $900. Any less and I'll keep it for a rebuild