Heaviest built present day wood stove?

[CJW88]

Hi guys. I'm wondering which present day wood stove is built the heaviest or are they all built about the same. By heaviest of course I mean thickest steel. Are there any that use 1/4" or 5/16" steel for the tops or sides or are they all 3/16" like my Englander nc13?

Thanks

 

[Rich L]

The heaviest by weight is the Hearthstone Equinox I think.It's close to 800lbs.However it's a soapstone stove with metal.

 

[CJW88]

Thanks. While I would love a soapstone stove they are way too pricey. I'm just wondering about solid steel stoves.

 

[MAD MARK]

So... are you

Looking for heaviest by weight overall?
Looking for heaviest gauge steel?

 

[CJW88]

Thickest steel.

 

[BrotherBart]

3/16 stove bodies and 1/4" or 5/16" top plates are the most common these days. CAD design has allowed stiffening in needed points and materials cost and competition have driven them that way also.

My Englander 30-NC is a 3/16" stove body with 1/4" top and has run away to the moon and back three times in the thirteen years heating this joint and looks just like the day I bought it.

 

[Ashful]

Interesting question, but to what end? It is going to have no bearing on how the stove performs as a heater. My old stoves were of fantastic quality, with beautiful heavy castings, but they sucked as heating appliances.

Asking for the heaviest stove, as a factor in the purchasing decision, is sort of like choosing your favorite band by who wrote the longest song.

 

[webby3650]

Enerzone stoves from SBI have 3/8” tops for What it’s worth. The hearthstone equinox that was mentioned might be the heaviest stove, also the most inefficient of the bunch. Just because it’s heavy doesn’t mean it’s better, that’s an old farmers tale..

 

[Woody Stover]

The Buck 91 box is 1/4" sides and top. I would assume their other stoves are too, but I'm not sure.

Interesting question, but to what end? It is going to have no bearing on how the stove performs as a heater.

Until your 10 GA. steel rusts through.

 

[webby3650]

Until your 10 GA. steel rusts through.

How many times have you heard of this happening?
I’ve seen it once and it was an extreme situation. King in a small modular home. Pretty much never saw flames in the box.

Blaze King took it back, welded a new back on it, cleaned the whole stove, repainted, new gaskets, upgraded handle and latch, new cat. I mean this was a new stove when they were done with it. They only charged the customer shipping one way. That's it! The stove was approximately 10 years old when this happened.

 

[bholler]

How many times have you heard of this happening?
I’ve seen it once and it was an extreme situation. King in a small modular home. Pretty much never saw flames in the box.

Blaze King took it back, welded a new back on it, cleaned the whole stove, repainted, new gaskets, upgraded handle and latch, new cat. I mean this was a new stove when they were done with it. They only charged the customer shipping one way. That's it! The stove was approximately 10 years old when this happened.

I have never seen it but in a damp basement I am sure it would. I mean we see old fishers and Alaska's rusted through occasionally. That being said under normal conditions with the low firebox temps of BK's I don't see the thinner metal being a problem.

 

[Ashful]

.Until your 10 GA. steel rusts through.

It won’t, it’s protected by 1/4” layer of creosote. [emoji12]

 

[Highbeam]

I have never seen it but in a damp basement I am sure it would. I mean we see old fishers and Alaska's rusted through occasionally. That being said under normal conditions with the low firebox temps of BK's I don't see the thinner metal being a problem.

The one I saw was corrosion from the inside out. In the basement of an Alaskan home. Could have been a modular above but honestly my house is smaller than most double wides so I don’t see why that matters.

The king has additional double wall areas that can hide corrosion on the back.

 

[webby3650]

The one I saw was corrosion from the inside out. In the basement of an Alaskan home. Could have been a modular above but honestly my house is smaller than most double wides so I don’t see why that matters.

The king has additional double wall areas that can hide corrosion on the back.

It’s from smoldering fires all the time, rarely getting the cat active and never any flames. It never had a chance to burn off the buildup.

 

[Highbeam]

It’s from smoldering fires all the time, rarely getting the cat active and never any flames. It never had a chance to burn off the buildup.

That would definitely be harder on a stove than normal running per the manual. I do get some pretty gross accumulations in my firebox even though the cat is always active.

 

[begreen]

Do you run the stove hot once in a while to burn the crud up?

 

[Highbeam]

Do you run the stove hot once in a while to burn the crud up?

Me? If so, I run it "hot" each time I start a new load per the manual. I do not run the stove at full throttle for a full load. It's not like a noncat. In most areas, the interior deposits of the BK occasionally dry up and peel off to bare metal underneath which is probably the goal to do before end of season. I suspect that most BKs spend their lives with the interiors coated in some form of creosote and/or tar.

The inside of my noncats always just accumulated a thin tan/grey soot that is pretty much just fly ash. I blame the intense heat of noncat combustion systems for that.

Do you think I am at risk for corroding out the firebox? I know they don't last forever but the steel always looks good underneath when the creosote sluffs off.

 

[Ashful]

Do you think I am at risk for corroding out the firebox? I know they don't last forever but the steel always looks good underneath when the creosote sluffs off.

Even if you are, and find you have to replace a stove every 15 years, you’re still way ahead of keeping your house at the same temperature for the same hours, with any traditional fuel source.