Morso 2b Standard or Vogelzang

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1longshot

New Member
Hearth Supporter
Feb 4, 2008
4
Elko, Nevada
Hellow everyone and thank you for having me on your forum. I have a few questions to ask and a bit of information for any who would be willing to chime in about a stove purchase I would like to make. Soon I will moving to an area where I will be heating using wood fire. The domicile will be a 5th wheel trailor with a 10'x12' attached stick built add on. My partner already has this set up and is using a 35 gallon barrel stove installed in the addition with shielding to protect from fire. With a couple of say 18x5x5 mahagany splits or logs or maybe one log with these approx dimensions combined he gets a good burn until early morning say 5 to six hours.

This new "home" is what I will be living in 4 days a week. I really like the way the wood stove heats my buddy's place through the night, however I don't like the barrel stove idea so much. Other things I forgot to mention were; the stove sits on the dry dirt with no grasses or flamable materials around. The stove pipe does two 90deg turns to exaust gasses. The primary wood for burning that is available is mountain mahagany, pinion pine, and cedar.

The stoves I have been considering are the stove of ill repute, Vogelzang, and the Morso 2b standard. I really like the Morso, and I do not need it untill next winter so I would have time to save up for it. The questions I have about this stove are: Is this stove ideal for an all night burn with the proper wood? Can I use it to heat very cold mountain stream water in a stainless pot without cracking the cast iron stove top? Can I cook on the radiant heat model?

The only thing that would detur me from getting the morso would be the possiblity of theft. Leavin my trailor in the middle of nowhere on private property 3 days a week poses some risk. The Vogelzang wouldn't be as tempting to steal I think.

Sorry for the large amount of questions but I have found asking all I can before an expensive purchase saves much more money in the long run. Any answers would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Robert
 
You'll need to be more specific as to which Voglezang model you're looking at. The box stove is the notorious model. Before deciding, you might want to look at the inexpensive, Drolet, Englanders and Centurys also. You could get an Englander or Century on sale right now at Home Depot or Lowes for a serious discount.
 
^what the man said.
and dont buy a voglezang. your better off putting wood in stainless steel pasta bowl and lighting it.
morso makes a good quality stove.
if you could touch both, you'd be amazed at the difference.
 
I was talking of the box stove that V. makes with the double cook top front load. Either size. I really need the ability to cook and heat water on the stove I get. Please let me know what you think of the use of the morso, not just your opinions of it's quality. I know it is a good brand. I know it is built better. The questions I was wondering was would it burn long enough to sleep seven hours of sleep, as stated in it information or is it just a constant feeding stove that will keep me up all night?

Would I actually be better off getting an air tight plate steel stove? I don't know if I can get it as hot as my friends barrel stove, and I don't mean overfireing either. I am not trying to be rude by being curt about this, only trying to get information. Please ask any specific questions that might help me make my decision. thanks for your responses.

Robert
 
The Morso will do a better job. This is a little like comparing a small BMW to a go-kart though. The Morso is in an entirely different class. The VG box stove is not known for it's precision fit. It will leak enough air making it harder to control and will likely go through it's burn faster. However, both have smaller fireboxes and are very unlikely to provide a 7 hr burn.

Yes, you can cook on the top of a plate steel stove. It may be a better choice for price, value and longer burn time.

Can you provide information about the cabin that is trying to be heated? What size? Layout? Is it insulated at all? What altitude is it located at?
 
I think you can make 7 hours in the Morso - then again, are you burning very soft woods out there? If so, you might have to step up in firebox size. Either way, you are talking a relatively low heat output over that time frame. I think the Morso is about one cubic foot? (I have to look), so use the calculator at:
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/articles/burn_time_calculator

A "long" stove like the morso will usually burn longer than one of the same cubic size where the wood burns all at the same time.
 
A nice cast iron stove, the Jotul F 602 CB, might work. It has the cooktop feature that you're looking for. Retails around $800. Also visit www.transoceanltd.com and check out their old-style sheepherder cook stove. This may be too many btu's for you. Good luck
 
If you have a harbor Freight store near you, do yourself a favor and go look @ the "V" box stove. I was there a few months ago and they had one on display, whew...what a scary piece that is!! I think if you looked at one, it would make your mind up really quick to go w/ the Morso.
 
For a cabin, I would go with a cheap Englander 13-NC, Century or Drolet. Less theft anxiety and fast heat. If cast iron, maybe the Jotul 118? But I would not expect any of these stoves to be giving off "meaningful heat", i.e: over 400 degrees, for much more than 3-4 hrs. If the cabin is not up to temp (and this could be from ?0 degrees?) then the first day is going to be spent shivering, getting the mass of the cabin up to temp, and stoking a lot of fuel into the stove as fast as it will burn it.
 
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