Found Another Stove. Looking For Expert Opinions

[Swamp]

OK guys. Since I am officially a wood stove fanatic and I can't stop looking at them! I thought I was set on a Pleasant Hearth 2,200. I found it on sale at Lowe's for $450 + tax. Like I said I can't help myself and I found this one.
The owner states it is a 2000 Woodstock Soapstone Fireview. It was used on weekends and sat without a fire for around 6 years. It was replaced with a pellet stove because his wife had troubles getting it lit etc. It will include about 8' of single wall with a thermostat and about 15' of double wall insulated with the weather cap. He claims the cat in the picture is the original and to me it looks pretty good. He's asking $700. Sure seems like a perfect fit for our cabin. Anybody with experience with this stove please give me your opinions and experiences. I am quite enamored with the looks of the stove and the performance listed on the net.
Thanks,
Swamp

 

[beatlefan]

Wow, I've never owned one, but for that price I'd have to go for it. That's a beautiful stove. And it comes with pipe too!

 

[jetsam]

There are 66 reviews here. People look pretty happy with it.

 

[Swamp]

Thanks jetsam for the link. I had read quite a few of the reviews before I posted. There were some that were really helpful especially ones where the poster bought the stove used and the stove is an older model. I just wanted to be sure that I wasn't seeing a bunch of beaming reviews and not seeing some negatives also. Looks like a super good stove. Seems like some baby sitting on start up is need, but I haven't had a stove that didn't require that.
Swamp

 

[Rearscreen]

Don't buy it! (Now tell me, ...where is it located?)

 

[Swamp]

Rearscreen, it's in his basement Seriously these stoves are very heavy according to the literature, like 460lbs. Any idea what one would weigh with the door, top cover and firebrick removed. I'm going to also remove the cat and pack it well for transport. We need to dolly it up the stairs and anybody who knows about stairs and heavy objects knows it ain't easy and you need whoever is doing it to know ahead of time what needs to done. Standing in a stairwell with a quarter ton hanging there is no place to be trying to figure out what to do next. Good thing I have a lot of rigging experience I will be making a fairly long trip for the stove and am praying that the stove is as good as it looks. The owner is super nice and I had a fairly long conversation on the phone with him as he walked around the stove.
Looking forward to hearing more opinions.
Thanks
Swamp

 

[Rearscreen]

I moved my Progress 700 lb in, out, then in again in the space of less than a year all by myself. Just me. If you have rigging experience you can do it. Granted, the final move took pretty much all day. I used a wooden rail system with the surface coated with butchers wax, block and tackle, and come alongs when I encountered stairs. I also bolted 2 pieces of wood there the stove legs would normally be bolted to (insetting the hole to bury the bolt head) this gave me a surface wide enough and flat enough to work with. For the Fireview, I'm sure a good refridge dolly will be fine. Plywood wood floor surfaces to avoid wheel gouging....oh and those invaluable Home Depot orange ratchet straps!

 

[Dakotas Dad]

I built an "H" frame from 2x4's, and laid it atop our stove, with a couple towels under it, then used ratchet straps under the stove to attach the H frame, 2 guys could then lift and move the stove. It's over 550 lbs. Really was pretty easy to move actually.

 

[mellow]

Excellent price with the included piping.

Since you were previously looking at a top vent will you have room to install a rear vent? Guessing you will go to a tee and then up like this keystone:

 

[Jags]

I wasn't seeing a bunch of beaming reviews and not seeing some negatives also.

For the record - with the exception of blatant bashing (requiring intervention) the stove reviews are real world - good and bad. The ultimate goal of this site is helping the end user. You, me and all the others that are trying to burn stuff to make heat. They are not scrutinized to only contain the "good stuff".

 

[3650]

Wow what a bargain. I saw one for $275 a few years ago but of course it was gone when I called. Post up some pics soon.

 

[huauqui]

Great stove for the money unless something is really amiss. New cats can be had for a good price and Woodstock stocks a full range of parts for this stove. I think it could need to be completely rebuilt and still be a good deal at that price. Woodstock has some of the most reasonable replacement parts costs around.

Take the two bolts off the bracket for the cat and you can lift it out to inspect (put them back in for transport.) Woodstock is now selling a steel cat replacement that includes the metal frame so the two pieces of cast iron that go on the top and bottom and form a box for the ceramic cat would no longer be needed. While you have the cat out look at the shield under it (combuster scoop) and the spark shield (wire mesh kind of thing) check them for damage and warping.

Make sure all the controls on the back function well. (With the top up, or off, you can move the bypass handle up and down and watch it operate the bypass you can also do this looking in through the 6 inch chimney adapter from the back. While the bypass is open inspect the bypass for warping as well. Check the air control for ease of movement as while you are there. You should be able to hear it move and you can look from under the back and see it move as well.) The bypass handle is the one with the black knob the air control is right next to it on the back and is cast iron.

When you lift the lid on the top there should be a metal shield attached to it about 6x10 inches or so that protects the soapstone on the lid from the heat of the cat. If it is not there double check the stones on the lid for damage.

Look in through the side load door and check for damaged to the soap stones and signs of over-firing on the top of the firebox look at all the seams around the inside of the firebox as well. This stove can be fully disassembled and resealed easily so don't let that scare you. It may just give you some room to negotiate on the price.

The door will lift off as will the top and that will save you about 75 pounds when moving it. I put one in my basement using a furniture dolly and some boards between the dolly and the bottom cast iron edges of the stove to help spread the load out and off the soapstone bottom. (you may want to take the heat shield off the bottom before doing this but I found it wasn't in the way.) I also wrapped it in a furniture blanket before putting it on the dolly and when putting the strap around it I did not cinch it down to tight just enough to keep it from wiggling around.

They are great little heaters once you figure them out. Do some reading here about settings and startup and you will soon be warm and happy.

Let us know what you decide

huauqui

 

[Woody Stover]

Like huauqui said, look at the bypass frame for warpage. This stove probably has the older cast combustor scoop; If it's warped, I wouldn't be scared off by that, they can be exposed to a lot of heat pretty easily. Just upgrade to the stainless scoop and cat. Look at the seams inside the firebox. If there are light-colored lines next to the seams, that could indicate slight air leaks there. These are pretty easy to fix, and I'd be happy to offer suggestions on how to do it, if you find it is needed to run the stove at very low output. The Fv is a great heater, easy to run, and will run on short stack heights. The manual tells you to run it up to 250 stove top before closing the bypass but after running it for a while, and using a flue meter or cat probe, I found I could close the bypass and have the cat glowing quickly at lower stove top temps, especially with the steel cat in there. I absolutely love the way these Woodstock cat stoves are built, nice and beefy, and I like the looks. The Fireview is a classic. A soapstone stove will take a little longer than a steel stove to start tossing big heat from a cold start, but not enough to be concerned about. In an open floor plan you will start feeling the radiant heat in not too long a time. If the stove is in decent shape, I would jump on it; That's less than 1/4 the price of a new one and as mentioned, Woodstock parts are not expensive.

 

[Swamp]

First off let my throw a great big thanks to all who added input and the many, many helpful hints!! After a couple of conversations with the owner I felt confident enough of the stoves condition to make the trip. Some of you might think I am nuts or darn close, but you just don't find many stoves of this quality or condition near me so I made the 700 mile round trip this morning. I'm extremely happy to say it is everything I expected and more. All of the seams look perfect, heat shield in the cover is perfect, all of the controls work smoothly, soapstone is crack free, combustor scoop and spark shield look perfect. I did see that new cat they offer and even though this one looks good I'll probably order one to have on hand along with extra firebrick. The cabin is a long way from anywhere and I'd hate to need and not have.
I removed the lid, door, fire brick, heat shield and cat before we moved it. I used a 4x6" block on the furniture dolly and lifted the stove up, slid the dolly under and then strapped it to the dolly. We went out the basement door and had a couple of concrete steps to get up and over, then 20 yards up a fairly steep hill. Thank goodness there was just a touch of snow. When we got it to the truck, the owner brought up his skid steer, picked it up and the we slid it off onto a 1/2" sheet of plywood with a rubber backed rug on it. We slid it into the truck and that was that. All tolled it took less than 10 minutes to get it loaded. I also got the 8' of single wall, clean out T, and 5 sections of insulated double wall pipe, braces and vent cap. With all of that pipe plus his help loading I didn't even try to negotiate. I handed him the cash and away we went.
The only thing that makes me sad is that we can't get into the cabin until Spring. We are redoing the roof in metal this Spring and I don't believe I will be using the old stove position, but even if I do the rear discharge would still give me way more clearance than what is required. I won't get to heat with the stove until late Spring or maybe even next Fall depending on the progress with the roof because I don't want the stove in there while the construction is going on.
Thanks Again guys! I'll be around a lot for more tips and hints.
Swamp

 

[huauqui]

Glad to hear it went well. Don't forget pics or it didn't happen [emoji851]

 

[Woody Stover]

Wow, sounds like it's in great shape! Glad it went well getting the stove home. You did well just giving him the asking price, that's a deal.
If you get the new cat, and the old one still works, you'll have a backup in stock. Not that they will go bad all at once, but still nice to have one in reserve.
I look forward to hearing about the install, and subsequent firing, even if it takes a while. Keep us posted!

 

[Woody Stover]

Is that the metallic brown? The stone looks really deep blue in the pics....just gorgeous!

 

[Swamp]

It's a little late and I'm kind of burned out from the drive. I'm from the boonies so driving down through Milwaukee and Chicago kind of frazzles my brain. I still have the stove in the truck so I'll get some more pictures in the morning before I grab the tractor/loader to unload it.
Thanks
Swamp

 

[jetsam]

For the record - with the exception of blatant bashing (requiring intervention) the stove reviews are real world - good and bad. The ultimate goal of this site is helping the end user. You, me and all the others that are trying to burn stuff to make heat. They are not scrutinized to only contain the "good stuff".

The proof of the pudding is in the crust.

 

[Woody Stover]

It's a little late and I'm kind of burned out from the drive. I'm from the boonies so driving down through Milwaukee and Chicago kind of frazzles my brain. I still have the stove in the truck so I'll get some more pictures in the morning before I grab the tractor/loader to unload it

Yeah, I grew up and have family around the Miltown area, I know those drives well.

Jags said: ↑
For the record - with the exception of blatant bashing (requiring intervention) the stove reviews are real world - good and bad.

You don't find no bad reviews on the Fireview.

 

[Swamp]

• Well, I promised a pic so here it is still in the back of my truck. The stone is definitely gray, but it seems to pull in some blue or it has some blue undertones. The metal is a khaki sand color I guess. I have stared at it quite a bit trying to decide what color. I'm going to be checking out their website in a minute to see of I can determine what color and see if I can get the paint from them. I noticed there is just a touch of rust showing on the back lower edge of one leg.

And Here's a pic of where it's going. It's killing me not to have it burning right now, but at least I have it.
Swamp

 

[huauqui]

Absolutely beautiful cabin and that stove has some seriously nice color to it. I think you will love it.

 

[Woody Stover]

Agreed, both stove and cabin are pretty. And it looks like a pretty day there...I thought you were in WI?
Is there a chimney...I see something there but I can't tell.

 

[Swamp]

There is no chimney on the cabin. just the old roof flange with a short stack and a solid cover over it. The previous owner never used the cabin. He pulled his motor home onto the lot and used that. He had given away pretty much everything that was needed to use the cabin. The gas refer, the propane gen to run the well pump, the wood stove and pretty much anything else you can think of. We have now purchased all of the necessary items and can't wait to get the roof done so we can get it all in place. I do live in Wisconsin, about an hour North of Green Bay. The stove was down in Niles. Mi. North Of South Bend, In.
The cabin pic was taken in the beginning of October when we first went to look at the cabin when it came up for sale. Some people ask why we would buy a place 13 miles off the grid even if it has 2200 feet of lake frontage. I tell them if you can't look at the pics and see why you will never understand no matter what I say. Can you say absolute silence? I get giddy every time I think about being there.
Here is a pic on the day we closed

 

[mellow]

Now you got the stove and piping, next will be throwing some solar panels on that roof