Needing help fitting boot onto wood insert

[Bigun]

I've bought and restored a 1984 Forrester insert and have bought a flex liner insert with a 6" boot. Me and my father in law went to install the insert and slip the boot on and found that the insert was a VERY good fit, in fact so good of a fit that we found ourselves questioning how we were going to install the boot. It adds an extra 4" of height that we don't have, and we are trying to fish the boot around the stove and not having much luck. Did I just buy a stove too big? Or is there some trick I'm missing?

 

[BrotherBart]

You could pull the insert, attach the boot to the liner and then somebody goes up top to pull the liner up while you shove the insert in. But how you are going to attach the boot to the top of the insert is a whole nother issue.

 

[Bigun]

You could pull the insert, attach the boot to the liner and then somebody goes up top to pull the liner up while you shove the insert in. But how you are going to attach the boot to the top of the insert is a whole nother issue.

We had that thought. So doing this is just a matter of figuring it out. Is there any need for applying a bead of high temp silicone around the seam of the boot?

 

[BrotherBart]

Silicone vaporizes at 800 degrees. All you will do is smell up the joint the first time the insert gets hot.

 

[Bigun]

So, the only challenge would be to find a way to put in the bolts when the insert goes it. What about leveling? Do I use wood shims or what exactly?

 

[mellow]

Are you talking about a rectangle to round cast iron boot? If so you might need to get creative, one hold the boot at an upwards angle while the other picks the insert up and pushes it in at an angle then drop the insert down once you have the boot on top, hopefully you have enough room to reach in on the sides and bolt it down to the top of the stove.

Depending on how much you need it leveled you can use cement board or firebrick, need something non-combustible.

 

[legrandice]

I read this quickly and thought "who wants to put a boot in their insert?" I guess it must be some new fuel source.