Fisher vs. Equinox

[Haymaker55]

I've used a two door fisher all my life. My current stove is a two door top discharge no plate. I ordered an equinox last week. Just want to know if anybody has ever made this change. Wondered how they compared.

 

[BrotherBart]

Ever seen daylight and dark?

Never owned a Fisher. But a lot of steel stoves. For a couple of hours you will be cursing that big rock. And for the next 14 you will be kissing it's backside.

 

[pen]

I'm w/ BB. Went from a grandma bear fisher (double door) to the englander I'm running now. I went from about 6 cords of wood a winter down to 4.5, and the house stays warmer. The only thing I'll give the fisher is if we were gone for an extended period of time, it could get the house back up to temp faster. However, for 99% of the time, I'd come home to a 60 degree house in the winter and a fisher stove that was done burning by 1:30 in the afternoon and had to start a new fire. Now I come home to a 65 degree house and just load on top of the hot coals and go.

I still have a fisher at my cabin and won't be changing that out anytime soon. For that big cinderblock building, I want to chew through wood to heat that beast up when I walk in 1/2 in the bag mid February. But for my home, if I were to own another fisher it'd be in the back yard serving a new purpose.

pen

 

[coaly]

Ouch, pen. All Fisher's are not alike. It's a shame you never tried a Mama or Papa Bear to compare to the double door wood eater. That Grandma was made for a viewable fire, it wasn't an efficient heater like the larger Papa with a choked down 6 inch vent. That 6 inch pipe out the back with intake air being pulled the entire log length is like night and day compared to a double door. Much faster ignition when you want it, and the distance to the rear of the box from the inlets gets oxygen depleted air in the back, so there are far more coals to bring forward for the next wood charge. I was amazed how much wood was still in the Mama in the morning, and it's still throwing heat unlike the double door with a few coals and a cooled down house. Plus, the Mama holds wood the length of a Grandpa, (24) yet is comparable in size to your old Grandma that only holds 20 inch. No doubt about all the advantages to a long narrow firebox. My first experience with the difference was with a Early American type locomotive (4-4-0) designed for wood burning. Long narrow firebox, a couple feet deep. Newer locomotives with a large square firebox for coal are great for covering the grates with coal, but burning wood they have all the characteristics of a double door stove. Not what you want to burn wood in. Notice all the competitors like Frontier and Timberline went to the 2 door design and didn't do as well as the deep, narrow single door All-Nighter?

Haymaker;
I've burned a double door Fisher all my life WITH a factory baffle.
I prefer the way the single door deep, narrow firebox works, but add the baffle to those as well. (reduce smoke and direct the heat to stove top)
In hindsight, you should have invested $20 into a baffle plate long ago.
At least you can get what you paid for the Fisher when it was new.
Wonder what the Equinox will be worth in 30 years??

It's my dead horse and I'll beat it if I want to :coolsmirk:

 

[BrowningBAR]

I've used a two door fisher all my life. My current stove is a two door top discharge no plate. I ordered an equinox last week. Just want to know if anybody has ever made this change. Wondered how they compared.

Here's to hoping you have a big, mountainous stack of dry wood.

 

[pen]

Ouch, pen. All Fisher's are not alike. It's a shame you never tried a Mama or Papa Bear to compare to the double door wood eater. It's my dead horse and I'll beat it if I want to :coolsmirk:

Beat away.

Grew up with a papa at my cabin and a mama at my grandmother's house. Didn't live at the grandparents house 24/7 but did spend a lot of weekends running it. My grandmother is still kicking and runs her stove for about 3 weeks a winter yet. The papa is still in service at my cabin.

Both are fine stoves, but I wouldn't put one back in my house after making the switch.

pen

 

[coaly]

OK, glad you had the entire Fisher experience. Thought maybe you were judging all of them from the double door. Obviously I'm not impressed with them.