I will need to move my new Oslo about 30 ft across wood floors and slate tile. How do installers move a 450lb stove considering there are some turn to make so I don't think a pallet truck would work?
Thanks.
Thanks.
How do installers move stove?
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Hard wood and slate floors make it easy. Here's how my sweep moved it from the garage into the family. room. He used a thick movers blanket folded in half to give it nice padding and slid it across the floor. Make sure you sweep the floor good because you don't want anything like sand or a pebble under the blanket.
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If not a mover's blanket, make sure what you use is thick enough - double check when you start that the legs aren't pressing enough to mark the floor. Been there, done that.
My installer had a really cool track based dolly.
It had an electric motor on it, with a winch and the base moved up and down, and worked just like a two-wheeler, but it was on electric tracks or could free-wheel. It also had a second set of wheels so when they leaned it back it could free stand at an angle.
They used it to climb right up the stairs on it's own with the tracks.
Then, when they went to place the stove in the fireplace, which is raised about 12", they just positioned the stove in front of the fireplace, raised the base, and rolled it forward and put it in place.
It was the coolest little contraption I've seen in quite a while - must have been custom built just for this purpose.
It had an electric motor on it, with a winch and the base moved up and down, and worked just like a two-wheeler, but it was on electric tracks or could free-wheel. It also had a second set of wheels so when they leaned it back it could free stand at an angle.
They used it to climb right up the stairs on it's own with the tracks.
Then, when they went to place the stove in the fireplace, which is raised about 12", they just positioned the stove in front of the fireplace, raised the base, and rolled it forward and put it in place.
It was the coolest little contraption I've seen in quite a while - must have been custom built just for this purpose.
You would be amazed at how agile a pallet jack is in getting a stove around corners in tight places. I have moved three stoves in and out of this house and up onto my raised hearth by myself with one and it was a piece of cake. One weighted 650 pounds and the other two 450. All through the front door of closed floor plan center hall colonial all the way back to the family room.
We use an appliance hand-truck. The type with wrap-around straps...
One guy steers the hand-truck, the other guides the unit.
When we get it near its final position, we set it on some cardboard scraps & tweak it to get it lined up with the flue.
When it's in its final position we tilt it to remove the cardboard...
One guy steers the hand-truck, the other guides the unit.
When we get it near its final position, we set it on some cardboard scraps & tweak it to get it lined up with the flue.
When it's in its final position we tilt it to remove the cardboard...
While all good options, they have those hand trucks at Lowes that have the extra 2 wheels on the back so you can also tip it back and it will be on 4 wheels - the two main wheels and the other two which enable steering it along. It probably only sits 10 inches off the ground like that so easy to move a stove on and off.
Depending on hearth height and all that, setting the stove down can be very easy. With my 2 stoves, I have either rolled or slid them on to the hearth with 1" PVC or slid it on some scrap laminated wood.
A few items that make it all easier:
- strap to secure stove to hand truck.
- assistant for all things...
- pry bar
- scrap pieces of 2x4 and plywood
- 1" PVC pipe cut into small lengths
Last time out, I raised my Olympic one side at a time and braced it with wood underneath til I got it high enough to attach the legs - and then pried it up one end at a time and removed the wood it was sitting on.
Pretty simple really with some extra muscle, planning and some misc scrap...
Depending on hearth height and all that, setting the stove down can be very easy. With my 2 stoves, I have either rolled or slid them on to the hearth with 1" PVC or slid it on some scrap laminated wood.
A few items that make it all easier:
- strap to secure stove to hand truck.
- assistant for all things...
- pry bar
- scrap pieces of 2x4 and plywood
- 1" PVC pipe cut into small lengths
Last time out, I raised my Olympic one side at a time and braced it with wood underneath til I got it high enough to attach the legs - and then pried it up one end at a time and removed the wood it was sitting on.
Pretty simple really with some extra muscle, planning and some misc scrap...
For a 450lb stove its easier and faster to just lift it and carry it in , and drop it in place . I don't like to move it across HW flooring or tile .
Moving a stove on a blanket works OK for a smaller stoves but for the big stuff we make a ply wood path thru the house and roll a refrigerator dolly with straps.
I moved my Equinox with a skid steer and forks and placed it on my back porch, but the 2" lift thru the door and the 25' across the stone floor was a work out.
Ive moved 8 stoves in and out of my house in the last 25 years . I hope this is my last stove . John
Moving a stove on a blanket works OK for a smaller stoves but for the big stuff we make a ply wood path thru the house and roll a refrigerator dolly with straps.
I moved my Equinox with a skid steer and forks and placed it on my back porch, but the 2" lift thru the door and the 25' across the stone floor was a work out.
Ive moved 8 stoves in and out of my house in the last 25 years . I hope this is my last stove . John
I've seen movers use straps with loops on the ends that they could slip their wrists through. Two people with two of those straps sliding the load on a moving blanket can move a lot of weight.
They also have platform dollies with lots of swivel wheel casters to distribute the weight.
They also have platform dollies with lots of swivel wheel casters to distribute the weight.
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Our Castine was just carried to it's spot. I ratchet-strapped the T6 to a heavy duty hand cart. The big boy rolled right in.
I've seen things (in workplaces) that are just teflon-coated things that you
put under something heavy, and it'll just slide across many floors.
A platform jack, like auto mechanics use, can be helpful - if you happen
to have access to one.
put under something heavy, and it'll just slide across many floors.
A platform jack, like auto mechanics use, can be helpful - if you happen
to have access to one.
All great information - As I will have to move the stove for cleaning anyway, maybe I should try and design a wheeled thing now. My biggest worry is my honed slate hearth as I feel the honing process may mean that there are cleavage lines closer to the surface than if if was a natural split. That said, having just laid it, it does look fantastic 
CarbonNeutral said:All great information - As I will have to move the stove for cleaning anyway, maybe I should try and design a wheeled thing now. My biggest worry is my honed slate hearth as I feel the honing process may mean that there are cleavage lines closer to the surface than if if was a natural split. That said, having just laid it, it does look fantastic
I am sure it does look great. Many things with cleavage near the top do! Maybe you could make a dolly for it using small pneumatic wheels? My stove weighs 450 lbs and I am amazed at how easy it is getting one or the other side up. Now the whole thing off the ground is another matter! For my install (in my basement) it is easy to move around by bringing in my floor jack from the garage, lifting a bit, do a little balancing, and move it around. I've also had good luck w/ a furniture mover as others suggested.
pen
The furniture sliders in the link I posted are perfect for moving it out and back in without damaging that slate.
BrotherBart said:
While they work great for slate... those sliders really scratched up some of my wood floors even after cleaning them really well. They pick up dirt along the way and the dirt scratches the finish.
try these with some plywood on top of cardboard on top of the flooring. Cheap and safe.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=38970
most of the pros use a escalera... (broken link removed to http://www.escalerausa.com/moving/woodstove.htm)
MountainStoveGuy said:
Those things are slick. I came across one at a bankruptcy auction and waited all day for them to get around to it. Unfortunately somebody with deep pockets waited too and pistol whipped me with their checkbook.
MountainStoveGuy said:
That's it. That looks exactly like what my installer had. His was all decked out with all the optional stuff too. Cool as heck. ;-)
First time I saw an escalera was just a few weeks ago, our copier guy had one, he could install huge copiers all on his own. Pretty cool device, he said his stripped down model was around 2k, ouch!
We have one of those escalera things. Maybe a different brand but same type of thing. Installers wont use it. Takes too damned long to mess around with it. They just uncrate the stove and carry it into the house themselves.
MountainStoveGuy said:
That's what my installer used. It was cool, it has a separate motor on it that climbs the stairs and one that can lift the stove.
MountainStoveGuy said:
![[Hearth.com] How do installers move stove?](https://www.hearth.com/econtent/images/avatars/uploads/avatar_668.jpg "[Hearth.com] How do installers move stove?"){kind=avatar}
Stay thirsty, my friends.
Burn only well seasoned wood,
use a motorized hand truck to move stoves safely.
And don't play with matches.
Wait. This is a wood burners' forum. Never mind. ;-P
= = = = =
Seriously, nice stove mover!
And I love your avatar!
I did a kitchen range by myself by rolling it on two ft. sections of steel pipe I had lying around. Thin plywood down first to protect the floor, rolled the stove forward very slowly, retrieving the pipe from the back end and repositioning it in front, etc. And the plywood pieces. I initially got the stove up on the pipe with a long pry bar. Turning a corner, just more of the same, scoot it about a bit and reposition the pipe sections as I went. The process let me use what I had around the homestead without trying to find and rent something better. Worked great.
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