Hearthstone Heritage questions

It's my second season with the Heritage. Last year went fine, generally, after filling the house with smoke the first two fires... but that's another story. I have a couple of questions: first, the manual says to always build a "break in" fire the first fire of the season, and whenever the stove hasn't been used in "some time." Has anyone ever had a problem along these lines? Ever heard of a stone cracking, or whatever disaster this procedure is intended to prevent? and just how long is "some time?" Not a big deal, of course, but if I could avoid these warm, smoky, creosote producing fires, I would.
Secondly, how do you move this stove out from the wall for cleaning? I've been using a 2X8 as a lever to lift under the sides to get some sliders under the feet, but the person related to me by marriage who shares the house with me says I'm going to crack something. Is she right? again?

Thanks to all for a tremendous resource for all us newbies.

Ah, the moisture. That makes sense. Thanks. Oh, and yes the darn thing is heavy -- you gotta have a loooong 2x8.

Thanks for the advice. You got it, Highbeam. We bricked over an existing fireplace, and I need to move the stove out to clean a short piece of pipe that goes into the thimble. We put in a clean out on the outside, but I can't really get to that piece of pipe from there. I thought about moving the stove out permanently, so I could get the pipe off without moving the stove, but my wife says aesthetically, it's no good. It's better to look good than to feel good, if you know what I'm saying.
Seems to me that piece of cast is designed to carry the weight of the stone, so if I'm gentlle with it, I should be ok.

great ideas -- I think I'll try them both. I think that adjustable pipe will fit, and I'd like to get that pipe out, since it'll probably have to be replaced at some point anyway. If i can remove the baffle and get a straight shot at the thimble from the front of the stove, I can clean everything without moving anything. If I'm not mistaken, you're supposed to take that baffle out to do a proper cleaning, anyway, aren't you?
Thanks!

Got it. Looks like I'm removing the baffle and leaving the stove where it is. That makes me very happy.

By the way, just out of curiosity, how would you move the stove if you couldn't avoid it?

Ok, remind me to call you guys "sir" and not give you any trouble. There is no way I'm going to lift one end of my stove, and I can't slide it unless I get some of those big furniture mover sliders under the feet. That was going to be my plan -- a big 2X8 or even 2X10, to cover as much of the span of the cast piece as possible, a 4x4 for a fulcrum, and then just lift it enough for my wife to slip the sliders under the feet. I guess if I had a tile hearth, or something smooth, I could slide it, but our hearth is natural stone, and pretty uneven at that. Looks nice, but inconvenient in this case.

I'm glad to say I don't plan to move my 500 pounder any time soon. Highbeam, it's actually brown, not black. The photo is a little dark. We picked the brown because it goes better with the other stuff we have. At least that's what my wife says.