Firebox cleanout and inspection

[hareball]

With warmer temps this was a good time o clean out and get a look. Being i'm legally blind photos are sometimes the best way for me to get a better look. Other than 3 cracked bricks does anyone see anything I should be concerned with? Thank you for looking
-Bob

 

[pen]

Looks like a pretty typical grandma bear stove to me!

One reason some people still swear by the is because there really is nothing there to fail other than the bricks unless the stove is severely abused.

pen

 

[hareball]

Thank you Pen! I will look into a few bricks to replace those that are broken. I wonder if these bricks are any less useful after 30+ years?
Your comment about not much to go wrong rings true in my Fathers ears. He almost always can find a way to improve something but the stove remains the same as it was when brought home.
Mr. Fisher was apparently not joking when he said these stoves should last 100 years

-Bob

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Bob, your stove looks to be in good condition. Replacing the firebrick is no big problem and not expensive to do either.

Happy heating. Get some wood in that thing and enjoy it.

 

[hareball]

Thank you Dennis!!

I have the starter wood in place with newspaper ready to be lit! Just waiting for the temps to drop. We are in the upper 40's today!!

-Bob

 

[pen]

It's amazing to see how so many of these stoves are different. For example, some grandma bears came w/ the baffle, mine didn't. I see yours also came w/ firebrick that go above the regular side bricks. Mine didn't have that either. Some even had firebrick that went at that height along the back.

I wonder what Bob's actual design was? Or if it changed? Or if it was just a matter of what each shop felt like doing.

pen

 

[hareball]

I wondered about the lack of a second level of firebrick along the back. I thought maybe my father removed them when he mounted a radiator on the back of the stove but then noticed the bracket and the lack of slots to hold a second level.

After reading the book I came to the conclusion that Bob knew his steel and how to work with it but might have lacked the knowledge of efficiency. These old stoves seem to be nothing more than a firebox and like you said there is not much to go wrong.

My theory is based on the fact he built an A-frame home with a fireplace and not a woodstove from the get-go.

-Bob