found another stove like mine on the Craigslist

[jlove1974]

It's funny to me that I have this same exact stove, but I paid $800 less because the lister didn't put pics.
http://charlotte.craigslist.org/for/2116728119.html

There must have been a local dealer in Huntersville NC in the 80s because that's where I picked up my insert from also.

This person thinks it's cast iron, but only the doors are cast (the nice oak tree motif). The rest of the stove is plate steel 1/4" thick.
It has firebricks lining the bottom and sides 1 "soldier" high all around, a back baffle and front draft feed air. I would imagine
it's somewhere in the 65% efficiency range based on my burn times but I modded mine with more efficient insulation on the back.
I dub thee 'Smoak Ridge' . It has forced air from side to back over top with twin-fans. Approximately a 4cf firebox.
Approximately 600lbs without doors. Probably 750lbs with the doors.Manufactured sometime between 1981-1983

 

[begreen]

Yes, they are asking about $700 too much for the old stove.

 

[jlove1974]

Actually, it depends on your point of view I guess. If old means bad, and cheaper construction and slightly more efficient stoves mean good.

The way I see it:
Not everyone can afford a $3000 epa stove. Even with the $1500 tax credit-slash-bailout gov't cheese.
Many people I know where just like I was: burning in an open fireplace before this...and my heating bill probably went up because of it.
Mythbusters proved that an open fireplace draws heat out of the home for the most part. I was debating either plugging the chimney and using
electric heat pumps, or glass doors on the masonry chimney.

Old doesn't mean bad when you are still moving up the efficiency scale. I burn mostly seasoned wood, and I estimate my stove puts out about 50K btu/hr with nearly no visible smoke when burning. max log length is somewhere around 2ft (24") at the top, above the firebricks.
This furnace is built better than half the high-dollar inserts I looked at. The fans aren't "computer fans".
They are HVAC standard squirrel cage fans - easily replaceable when necessary.

I can also retrofit it with the pipes to do a secondary burn pretty easily due to the already existing baffle inside the firebox. I have seen it done here, and it works well from what I understand.

 

[begreen]

I'm not knocking the quality of the old stove, just the price. The insert probably didn't cost $950 new. The market for an old insert like this puts them generally in the $200-$300 range, peak season. Off season, maybe half that. We gave ours away. A decent, mid-sized insert can be had for $1,000 to $1,500 before any credit. A 3.2 cf can be found for under $2K. They will burn much less wood and a magnitude cleaner.

You deserve kudos for burning good wood cleanly and for the willingness to invest in bringing the stove up to more modern cleaner burning standards. Unfortunately, many folks are the complete opposite in burning habits and the way they run these old smokers.

 

[jlove1974]

haha thanks. I am looking to upgrade eventually but I have a few other priorities right now. Mainly insulation and new fiber cement siding.

Some of the guys I know burn wood green as soon as it comes off the split, and tell me how good it will burn.
I laugh and just say nothing, or something like "it sure will - about 212 degrees for as long as the water boils out of it" LOL.

What I should do is talk of these guys into buying a new Lopi or Quadrafire, and when they can't get it to burn that "good ol green oak", trading them the Smoak Ridge even for it

 

[wkpoor]

I agree on 80's eara stoves being generally worth about 150-250 regarless of what they are. And thats coming from a guy who still heats with an 80's Nashua. I'm wondering if the new stoves are like the new chainsaws I didn't want to believe in 4 yrs ago. My 45cc Husky 346 would cut circles around that old Homelite dinosaur and thats coming from a die hard Homelite guy who sawed with one for 25yrs. I finally went to a GTG one spring day and got the eye opener of a life time. Haven't even fired up a Homelite since. Moral is just maybe the new stoves are like the new chainsaws.

 

[jlove1974]

I can tell you that around here (the south) a woodburning insert is worth nearly it's weight in gold starting in October. They move very fast on Craigslist, esp with energy prices going up.
Instead of giving them away you might just want to ship em down here to me and I'll pay you $50 a piece + freight

About the saw analogy, I am confused. There haven't been many innovations in the two-stroke world in about ten years. Chain speed vs torque is still a toss-up IMO.

I haven't experienced a saw with a 20" bar that costs less than $400 that cuts better than my Homey SXL . Embarrassed quite a few Huskys and Stihls in real-world woodcutting though.
Sorry but when I go to a sub-12 lb saw it'll be a Dolkita. It's all about the bang for the buck for me.

 

[wkpoor]

I have dabbled in chainsaw racing just a little. I mentioned Husky but its not my first brands in saws. I do happen to have a real good running Power Ported 346 that will do reliable timed cuts in 11" cherry at 4 secs per cut. Trust me, I ran a SXL for 25yrs and the new saws will blow away the read ported saws. Your saw might turn 10K at best and way slower in the cut. My saw will turn 16K in free air and probably stay well above 10K in the cut. And I'm comparing big CC deltas. If we were to compare cc to cc like in the Solo it would be like racing a peddle bike against a motorcycle. A new 346NE in stock form would cut way faster than a Homelite at half the weight. Oh yeh then there is whole vib thing. I thought that was a bunch of crap too. Now I couldn't stand to run one of those old Homies for more than a few minutes. I took a SXL to my first GTG and didn't complete the first timed cut. It was so embarrassing I just stopped and put it back in the van and watched the rest of the day.

 

[wkpoor]

About the saw analogy, I am confused. There haven't been many innovations in the two-stroke world in about ten years. Chain speed vs torque is still a toss-up IMO.

I haven't experienced a saw with a 20" bar that costs less than $400 that cuts better than my Homey SXL . Embarrassed quite a few Huskys and Stihls in real-world woodcutting though.
Sorry but when I go to a sub-12 lb saw it'll be a Dolkita. It's all about the bang for the buck for me.

If you are out cutting Stihls and Huskys then you've been around box store saws not pro saws. The new pro saw would clean your clock. And if you think 2 stroke technolgy has been ata stand still you need to get on arboristsite and start reading. They have been steadily increasing hp like crazy. 40% gain from a 50cc saw is common now. Then there is the BB kits offered in a couple different brands. Check it out.

 

[jlove1974]

1. it outcuts farm bosses and ranchers, sure they are sold in a BB store
2. pro saws cost what?
3. if I was racing, it would be with a Dol-kita as I have already stated

Some of you guys miss the point. This whole post was about affordability. I race 2-stroke dirtbikes in the woods.
There are some guys that swear by KTM, and I run right by them on my 1997 technology KDX 200

 

[wkpoor]

1. it outcuts farm bosses and ranchers, sure they are sold in a BB store
2. pro saws cost what?
3. if I was racing, it would be with a Dol-kita as I have already stated

My guess is it wouldn't out cut those mentioned by enough to justify the weight difference. The Dolmar 5100 or 5105 (or Makita equivilant) is a pro quality saw that won't break the bank. Real good power to weight ratio and smooth in the hands. The Solo 681 or Dolmar 7900 are in the 80cc size, much lighter and will screem past even an old Hommie 2100 even in there stock forms. Run either saw woodported and you won't believe the power they have. Ever run a saw that won't slow down no matter how hard you pull on it. Yeh ! thats the power I'm talkin about.