Round Oak Stove Users Chime in help a newby!

I have a Round Oak D18 I think it is. It is a cylinder or parlor stove. I was looking for tips on using them. I have never had a Round Oak before. I like it very much so far. It seems put out a lot of heat. I like the double door system. It allows me to put in some larger chunks of wood. I like having the door up where an older guy like me doesn't have to bend way over to load it Man that is great I also like having the ash reservour clean out on the bottom. Since I burn wood, I leave the top draft open that is by the stove pipe collar. I read that that tiny 3 hole draft helps burn the gasses. I think this stove burns a little more wood than I would like???? But it has been a long time since I used a wood stove...and I don't have much experience with very many wood stoves. So Round Oak users, give me some tips on using this stove. I have attached a photo of it. Since taking the photo, I have put another wall protector on the back...my insurance wanted me too. Thanks
Mike

Great stove. How I would love to stand by that beauty with a cold one.

Take your time and carefully learn the ins-and-outs. Don't be temped to load her to-the-gills on the first cold night. Sit with her and make sure she knows who is boss.

MnDave

Thanks guys. Begreen, I wondered the same thing, but the insurance company did not require it. I am going to install the heat sheilding above and behind the chimney metal pipe. Any suggestions? I plan to use some 1 inch square metal tubing cut in short lenghts for the spacers. What guage of metal? The stove boards behind the stove are store bought with some insulating material.
I had a Fisher Mama Bear wood stove too. I switched and put it in now. I am not sure I like it as well. I had put some cement blocks under the legs of it to raise it up some so it would be easier to load and look in. But I am not sure that it is any more efficient than the Round Oak and it won't take as much wood as the Round Oak for night fires, and I miss the ash grate and ash collector. Also can't load as big of pieces of wood in the Fisher. So I will probably be going to switch back to the Round Oak. I was thinking about putting a 1/4 inch plate of steel in the Round Oak to deflect the smoke a bit so that it may burn up more gasses. I do think that the Round Oak design of having a small adjustable vent right below where the stove pipe hooks up helps to get a little more O2 in there to burn better too.

P.S. I have since added a second stove board behind the wood stove as my insurance company wanted that.

Thanks Coaly.

Hi guys,
Thanks for the help. I got the shield put up on the back wall and ceiling to shield the chimney. I feel safer now. I really love this round oak stove. It puts out a lot of heat, will hold a fire as good as the fisher did over night and it is a lot easier to start and manage than the Fisher. Thanks for your help. Now if I could put a baffle plate towards the top to increase the efficiency a little bit.., I think it was just as efficient as my unbaffled Fisher Mama Bear stove was.