Mansfield has landed - now just gotta unload!

[mikeathens]

Got the new Mansfield home last night, and it's now sitting in the garage in the back of the truck. I know Begreen just went through this - what do people think about the possibility of 4 guys lifting this thing out and into the house? I'll be able to back up to the sliding glass door, where we will have to remove the Mansfield from the back of my truck and get the Heritage into its new owners' truck. Just wondering if we need to go the "slide down the ramp" route. Lifting would definitely be the way I want to go if it's feasible.

Oh...bonus - Hearthstone is running a $200 off promotion April and May this year (Yes, I got a new Mansfield for $2000).

 

[STOVEGUY11]

Well the heritage is light at 475 , while the Mansfield weighs 550lbs. I would try to find someone with a handtruck with straps if you could. Then ramp them on and off the trucks.

 

[moondoggy]

congrats man, you must be psych'd. that is a beautiful stove....

550 lbs? glad i'm not your buddy/neighbor

 

[Carl]

You have your work set out for you to get that into the house. I just bought a quadrafire yosemite which weights just
under 400 lbs and paid the dealer 50 bucks to deliver it to my hearth. The best 50 bucks I spent in a while. <grin>

A great stove you got and it should bring you many years of dependable heat.

 

[begreen]

We slid the T6 down ramps off the dropped pickup gate. Then I rachet strapped it to my heavy duty handtruck. All went smoothly except the tires kept deflating after a minute or two. Good thing I had a handy portable compressor standing by.

 

[mikeathens]

This is the worst part. This is my LAST stove. At least for this year...

 

[mikeathens]

We slid the T6 down ramps off the dropped pickup gate. Then I rachet strapped it to my heavy duty handtruck. All went smoothly except the tires kept deflating after a minute or two. Good thing I had a handy portable compressor standing by.

Hey...how was the T6 crated? What I'm afraid of is damaging the stove. I have the HD hand truck and ratchet straps - I had thought of this - I just don't want to damage the finish/handles/doors/etc. by either leaning it against the cart or from having those straps as tight as they need to be.

The Mansfield is in the factory flimsey crate nailed to a pallet. take off the flimsy crap and slide the cart under th pallet? cardboard/blankets for padding?

 

[Highbeam]

2000$ for a mansfield? Good job!

The funny thing about the hand truck was that you could slip it under the pallet but trying to tip it back far enough to go "over center" on the truck wheels was very difficult. Once there it was just a matter of pulling it and not letting the hand truck tip over sideways. You can't just rapidly bail out and set the stove back down since it will crash with great speed.

I unloaded and moved my heritage across a lumpy pasture and into my house with 2 men. The stove installer did it again with two men. If you have four guys and don't get cocky then the mansfield is very possible.

Good luck.

 

[STOVEGUY11]

Take the stove off the pallat. Then get the hand truck under the side without the air control. Use a blacket to cover the stove so you dont scratch it when you run the straps around it. I dont even use blankets when there not enamel. Of course the hand truck we are using is desinged for higher weights, and stoves generally sit quite center on the truck, plus they have straps built into the truck as well.

 

[mikeathens]

Isn't it a bad idea to lift from under the ash pan? I was under the impression that lifting under the ash pan could crack or bend things? Would this apply to the Heritage, too?

 

[STOVEGUY11]

If you look under each stove, you should see that there is enough room to fit your hands under there to lift by each of the legs. I would be careful with the heritage, the older models had problems with the ash pan doors where they didnt close the greatest. The latch assemblies would give out, and the doors would sag.

 

[Rich L]

Yo,do not lift from under the ash pan.Hearthstone says the ash pan of the Mansfield can not take the weight.They did say that the new Equinox can be lifted from under the ash tray since the tray is cast iron.I have two soapstone stoves the Woodstock Classic and the Hearthstone's Mansfield.Two heavy chums so I invested in a Escalera hand truck which will climb stairs and has a winch that will lift 1200lbs.When I ever move these men are comming with me.Hearthstone shared that the ash pan can be unscrewed then you can put your strapped hand truck under it and bull it.Four good men can move and lift it a little at a time keeping good balance and moving as one.

 

[Highbeam]

I would be careful with the heritage, the older models had problems with the ash pan doors where they didnt close the greatest. The latch assemblies would give out, and the doors would sag.

I am not surprised that your stoves had these problems after you lifted them by the ash pan. Geez. Leave it on the pallet. My installers left in on the pallet all the way until they slid it onto the hearth. I would have sent them home if they tried lifting it by the cast iron ash pan.

 

[Reggie Dunlap]

I've latched onto a few big stoves, here is what I would do. First, you will crush the ash pan if you use a hand truck with nothing underneath. I would leave the stove bolted to the pallet and put a piece of plywood under the pallet. I would then roll the whole thing using 1" PVC rollers. Four guys can lift it, but it's awkward going through doorways.

 

[RedRanger]

I`m a little nervous about unloading my 390 pounder? Gonna strap it to a fridge dolley and lower it over the tailgate. One guy on the top and one on the bottom. Wondering though if maybe should remove the tailgate first?

Getting these new toys is awesome!! Getting them into place is another matter,not so much fun.

 

[billb3]

I'd want to slide it using cardboard and carpet pieces.
I got a fridge out of my truck, up the stairs, into the kitchen and the old side-by-side out by myself that way.

Cardboard and carpet pieces can be rather slippery.

Stove and compact size would be more work but I bet just 2 guys could do it as long as there were not too many full flights of stairs.


Plywood turns stairs into ramps.

 

[mikeathens]

I would be careful with the heritage, the older models had problems with the ash pan doors where they didnt close the greatest. The latch assemblies would give out, and the doors would sag.

I am not surprised that your stoves had these problems after you lifted them by the ash pan. Geez. Leave it on the pallet. My installers left in on the pallet all the way until they slid it onto the hearth. I would have sent them home if they tried lifting it by the cast iron ash pan.

Highbeam....I'm with you, man. I don't know that I would risk a dolly under the ashpan under any circumstances. I was thinking a piece of 3/4" plywood, and THEN the dolly under that - or at least a strip of 1X6 oak under the back legs. I got the crate off this afternoon, and now she's just bolted to the pallet. I was able to lift it up on one end myself about 12". Maybe we can do a trial run while still in the truck with 4 guys. Otherwise, i'm sure the dolly will come into play. I guess we'll have to figure it out as we go along. Ramps, dolly, ratchet straps, carpet, and brute force...

 

[begreen]

We slid the T6 down ramps off the dropped pickup gate. Then I rachet strapped it to my heavy duty handtruck. All went smoothly except the tires kept deflating after a minute or two. Good thing I had a handy portable compressor standing by.

Hey...how was the T6 crated? What I'm afraid of is damaging the stove. I have the HD hand truck and ratchet straps - I had thought of this - I just don't want to damage the finish/handles/doors/etc. by either leaning it against the cart or from having those straps as tight as they need to be.

The Mansfield is in the factory flimsey crate nailed to a pallet. take off the flimsy crap and slide the cart under th pallet? cardboard/blankets for padding?

Not crated, the stove was a floor model. Tom kindly bolted it to a palette through the legs. I brought a regular shipping blanket to wrap it and protect it from chaffing by the nylon ratchet straps. You can see it in the outside picture where the stove is being loaded into the truck.

When strapping to my hand truck I put an 8x8x12 filler block between the hand truck and the stove to keep the stove plumb on the hand truck.

 

[loneeagle15]

My installer wheeled our Mansfield into the house with a hand truck just the two of them they left it on the pallet from the back of the truck to to hearth

 

[STOVEGUY11]

I didnt mean unload from the ashpan. You put the legs onto the hand truck, not the ashpan. The legs just fit onto the hand truck. The hand truck has built in straps. If its a heavier model, we run a second strap around the stove and attach to the top and bottom of the handtruck. Done 100's like this and never once has a ash pan broken. But everyone has there own method.

 

[mikeathens]

Thanks for clarifying, Sotveguy...My handcart is rated at 600 or 700#, but the bottom isn't as wide as the legs on the mansfiled, so it would definitely be under the ashpan. I have a short section of 6X6 laying around, so I think leaving the stove on the crate and placing the 6x6 between the cart and back of the stove will work as needed. Thanks for the advice!!

 

[Flame]

My installer wheeled our Mansfield into the house with a hand truck just the two of them they left it on the pallet from the back of the truck to to hearth

My Mansfied was brought in the same way as jd's. They had one of those stair climber Dolley's/cart (heavy duty). If you have steps then that could be a real pain. Be careful. My thoughts are after spending a couple of grand whats another 100-200 bucks to bring her home safely. But I guess like landing a big fish, it's all part of the fun in the long run. If you had to you could most likely rent a real heavy duty stair climber cart/dolly. Good luck to you and welcome aboard. I truly love my Mansfied. We haven't even turned on our TV since. I come home, recharge the fire and the wife and I eat, drink and talk in font of the light show. Be sure and send some pics ! We love those :- )

 

[mikeathens]

Well, the hand cart wasn't even used. Four big burly muscular guys (well, at least three of them, plus me) did a trial and we were able to lift the stove out of the truck bed and through the sliding door. It wasn't that bad. We only had to move it about 15' from the truck to its final resting place. Then, we lifted the Heritage the same way. Only a hint of soreness in my hands!

Now, just gotta get that hearth extended, and I;ll be in business! By the way, I'm a bit pissed that Hearthstone charges so much for those rear heatshields - Complete JUNK. The thing doesn't even fit right. I'm going to have to drill holes in the brackets to get it to fit.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Hey fellas, here's a little hint. Use a piano dolly. Makes things much, much easier. We didn't even strap it onto the dolly.

Our stove weighs 485 lbs but we left it crated, so it was over 500 lbs. I unloaded this thing from a trailer and onto the dolly all by myself. Getting into the house took two guys. We put it onto the hearth, which is 16" high by uncrating the stove, putting two 2 x 4's under the stove and picked it right up onto the hearth (actually 3 guys for this step but we could have done it with two). No problems whatsoever.

 

[Hogwildz]

Quit being such a tease, and show us pictures already!