Moving an Alderlea T5 advice

[NHbeechfired]

i've ordered a woodstock stove but i wont get it delivered until January. I'm going to take a look at a used Alderlea T5 which would take the place of the wood stock until we actually receive it and then it will get shifted out to my shop and take the place of an old stove in the shop to complete our upgrade to modern, efficient epa stoves.
I've found that if i buy this stove i may find myself seriously under manned in terms of getting it into the truck to get it home. I may potentially be just me my wife and the seller as everyone i've attempted to get to ride down with me is busy doing other things. I was thinking that i could use an engine hoist to lift the stove and get it into the truck. Has anyone had any experience doing this? Is there enough clearance to get lifting straps by the ash pan without damaging it? any other suggestions on moving this stove without enough manpower to simply manhandle it into the back of the truck??

 

[begreen]

It's a heavy stove. Moving it will be much easier if it is bolted to a small palette or even a thick plywood sheet. Then it can be covered with a blanket. Then it can be ratchet-strapped to a commercial appliance dolly that you can rent. With wheels on it, the stove is much easier to move around. We did this with our T6. That took 3 people to unload. We slid it off the truck, down 2 thick 2x10 planks. Then strapped it to the dolly and rolled it down to the house.

 

[begreen]

If you are on a community Facebook page or NextDoor, maybe put out an ad for a couple strong backs from the HS football team to assist? If you are renting the appliance dolly, rent a pair of ramps too.

Treat the stove well, you may end up wanting to keep it.

 

[Rob_Red]

Not a direct answer but this may be helpful, I moved my stove around my house by my self with scrap carpet and furniture slider pucks available at Home Depot. I managed to get it off and then back up on my hearth pad. Just go slow and be carful not to get hurt or damage anything

 

[MongoMongoson]

I pick up my All Nighter with an engine crane. I just did it again last night, as a matter of fact.

I considered lifting my Summit that way, and had a plan to do it if I decided to. In the end I didn't need to.

I'd take the door off and take the baffle out. Stick a strap or loop of rope through the flue collar from the top, and put a chunk of 2x4 (maybe 10-12" long) through the strap eye or through the loop of rope/chain. You should be able to lift the stove safely that way by the strap/rope/chain, but make sure that the 2x4 is in contact with the 3/8" plate top and not the flame shield (if that one has a flame shield). Mine has a stainless flame shield in the middle towards the front, but I'd still be able to use this method safely. I'm sure it will lift crooked (or very crooked), since the exhaust is in the back of the top plate, but that should still be OK. Just set it down slowly, and have someone direct it onto the feet as you set it down to make sure it doesn't end up on its face.

And of course, whenever you are lifting anything you remind people around you to not put fingers, toes, heads or anything else under the thing you are lifting.

 

[MongoMongoson]

Not a direct answer but this may be helpful, I moved my stove around my house by my self with scrap carpet and furniture slider pucks available at Home Depot. I managed to get it off and then back up on my hearth pad. Just go slow and be carful not to get hurt or damage anything

I used that method when I moved my Big Moe into a rental house by myself. I rolled the stove through the door (DO NOT RECOMMEND) onto a rug, and slid the rug around the house on the hardwood floors. Worked great.

 

[MongoMongoson]

Another thought occurred to me. Use a trailer if you have one. If you don't have a trailer, you can probably rent a small utility trailer for less than $50. That's worth saving your back.

I have someone coming to look at my All Nighter. He has a pickup. I told him I'd rather deliver the stove for him with my trailer than help him get it in the back of his truck.

Two-three people should be able to get a T5 on a small U-Haul open-top utility trailer.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

When I got my T5, I drove it to the final location on a uhaull trailer.

I then removed all extra weight that I could, door, bricks, baffle, trivits, etc. Strapped to a dolly, 2 guys were able to move it off the trailer, over and up 4 steps, through a door and place it.

 

[Rob_Red]

I like the trailer idea, then furniture dolly’s and ramps could be used

 

[NHbeechfired]

Thanks all, I just sent a text to my brother in law to see if I might borrow his trailer. Getting the stove here is the big problem, I have a couple different overhead electric chain hoists in my shop adjacent to the house. I can just back in and lift it off the truck/trailer and then move it with the tractor & forks right into the house and set it right on a dolly.

im thinking if I have three moves, T5 into the house, T5 out of the house and into the shop, Fireview into the house Wouldn’t it make sense to buy an appliance dolly? The only one I see for sale locally is at harbor freight , it’s rated for 600 pounds and is 99 clams. Does anyone have any experience with this dolly. I’ve found that cheap Chinese crap from harbor freight is not much different than the cheap chinese crap from the big box stores so I’m willing to gamble unless somebody‘s had a bad experience.

 

[begreen]

I have a Milwaukee 600# appliance dolly that has stood up well. It cost less when I bought it at ACE hdwre on sale. For $70 it's a good investment if you move heavy stuff around a lot.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Milwaukee-800-lb-2-Wheel-Red-Steel-Heavy-Duty-Hand-Truck/50042444

 

[NHbeechfired]

Be green, I have a small hand truck similar to that but I never really cared for it, it’s too short and the candles curve at a awkward angle. If you have had success moving heavy stoves with that one I’ll go take a look at that one.

 

[Woody5506]

I'd consider renting a small box truck with lift gate. For the price of a day rental, you could really save yourself some doctor's bills from a blown out back.

Take as much out of the stove to cut pounds as you can. Fire brick alone makes up something like 40 or 50 lbs in that stove if my memory serves me correctly. As someone else said, drop the baffle too. Not a ton of weight there but every little bit will make a difference. I got my T5 into place with 3 guys total and it was a bit less of a struggle than I anticipated.

 

[NHbeechfired]

My Brother in law's trailer is a landscape trailer so there's a long gate that folds down and acts as a ramp, he's also offered to ride down and assist so things are looking up manpower wise. I'm thinking that if i can get some wheels under this it shouldn't be too bad to roll it up the ramp.
How big a deal is it to get the fire brick out of one of these, from the photos ive seen and one time looking at one in a stove shop it looks like the bottom bricks just lift out and the sides i have no idea how they would come out. what about the baffle, how does that come out and what tools would i need to bring with me get it out? It seems i read the gaskets for the baffle are easily damaged, how difficult is it to get a replacement?

 

[Woody5506]

My Brother in law's trailer is a landscape trailer so there's a long gate that folds down and acts as a ramp, he's also offered to ride down and assist so things are looking up manpower wise. I'm thinking that if i can get some wheels under this it shouldn't be too bad to roll it up the ramp.
How big a deal is it to get the fire brick out of one of these, from the photos ive seen and one time looking at one in a stove shop it looks like the bottom bricks just lift out and the sides i have no idea how they would come out. what about the baffle, how does that come out and what tools would i need to bring with me get it out? It seems i read the gaskets for the baffle are easily damaged, how difficult is it to get a replacement?

Never taken the brick out of mine since it was installed, but I'm pretty sure they easily just lift out from the floor and sides. No tools necessary for baffle removal just note the locking pin in the back center of the stove that locks the baffle in place. There's a couple threads on here from guys who made homemade baffle gaskets for these stoves which are likely 10x better than what PE uses. Not the hardest gasket to source but if you don't have a PE dealer then you'll have to buy online for likely a rip off price, as in more of a rip off than they already are.

 

[EbS-P]

I was surprised how easy it was to move a 300# stove by my self. (I had help placing cribbing). Get a new 4 wheel dolly for inside use on nice floors. Get some cribbing 2x4 or 4x4 tip up crib tip the other side crib slide in dolly. Strap it to dolly. Come along to pull on to trailer. Reverse to unload down the ramp. Plywood to roll it on Across rough driveway. Closer to the ground the safer it is. I was all set up to load an F400 in to my mini van like this but didn’t get the chance

Just some thoughts
Evan.

 

[moresnow]

If you decide to remove the bricks be sure to take good pics of the layout beforehand. Just sayin

 

[EatenByLimestone]

My Brother in law's trailer is a landscape trailer so there's a long gate that folds down and acts as a ramp, he's also offered to ride down and assist so things are looking up manpower wise. I'm thinking that if i can get some wheels under this it shouldn't be too bad to roll it up the ramp.
How big a deal is it to get the fire brick out of one of these, from the photos ive seen and one time looking at one in a stove shop it looks like the bottom bricks just lift out and the sides i have no idea how they would come out. what about the baffle, how does that come out and what tools would i need to bring with me get it out? It seems i read the gaskets for the baffle are easily damaged, how difficult is it to get a replacement?

Ask your dealer for the gasket.

I've only had my bricks out once. I don't remember any drama so I can't imagine it was too hard taking them out or putting them back in.

 

[NHbeechfired]

Well I got the stove home and there were no incidents, I made a pallet, we manhandled it onto the pallet that was on a dolly and shoved it onto the trailer.

The stove is in pretty solid shape but I need to replace the door glass, the seller met me half way on the cost of that . I’m seeing aftermarket glass online for $151.00 . Im going to look into the cost of OEM glass does anyone have a good source for glass or opinions on the merits of OEM glass versus aftermarket glass? Take a look at the photo, I know it’s an air leak but is it unsafe to run like this ?

I’m also wondering about the insulation on top of the baffle and the support at the front of the baffle. one piece of the insulation was on top of the baffle going left to right at the rear and was essentially blocking the flue collar. There’s another piece that is shoved way down on the side of the baffle running front to back which seemed more correct to me. Can someone enlighten me on the correct position of the insulating pieces? The piece of angle steel that supports the front of the baffle is able to slide in the front to back direction ; is this ok and what position is correct? It seems to block secondary air holes when shoved all the way against the baffle but the angle support has holes so it may just need to be fine tuned to align the holes, again any input is great.

 

[NHbeechfired]

I think I’ve answered one of my own questions. I believe the guy I bought the stove from had somehow decided the boost manifold needed to be placed under the baffle as a support. There are three pins just inside the front door at the bottom of the fire box that are around a half inch hole; I believe the angle piece that was under the baffle is supposed to sit above the hole supported by the pins. I’m gonna add a couple pictures of what I‘m talking about. One picture of the piece in question, one picture of how the baffle area looks with it removed from what I believe was the incorrect location and the last with it in what I believe is the correct location. Can any one more experienced with this stove confirm this is correct?

 

[MongoMongoson]

The holes in the piece of angle should point into the firebox, not up at the glass. They direct boost air at the base of the fire.

 

[NHbeechfired]

The holes in the piece of angle should point into the firebox, not up at the glass. They direct boost air at the base of the fire.

Thank you mongo!

 

[begreen]

Be green, I have a small hand truck similar to that but I never really cared for it, it’s too short and the candles curve at a awkward angle. If you have had success moving heavy stoves with that one I’ll go take a look at that one.

Just catching up. I missed this. A commercial one with big, air-filled tires is an entirely different animal.

Thanks Mongo, that is exactly correct for the boost manifold position.

The side blankets are L-shaped and nestle alongside the baffle for its full length. Our insulation blanket has a stainless cover, but some later models just had it fit on top of the baffle. It's orientation should match the baffle's.

 

[NHbeechfired]

Thanks BG I’ve been deep into the search function reading lots of old threads on the T5/6 stoves. I’m wondering how long the boost manifold was mis installed and how that came to pass. I’m waiting for a new door glass to arrive from these guys https://www.woodstove-fireplaceglass.com/alderlea-t5.html. And Im also going to see if my local dealer has an OEM door gasket available; as a fall back I’ve ordered the black Rutland door gasket I saw recommended in one of the threads I was reading. I’ve done a thorough cleaning but I’ve not pulled the baffle, should I pull that out to clean and check the gasket on the secondary inlet connection?

 

[begreen]

From what I can see, the door gasket doesn't look too bad. Has it come unglued in spots? If so that can be quickly fixed with some RTV in those areas. Then do the dollar bill test. The Alderlea doesn't use a knife edge seal like the Super and Summit do, so the gasket density is important. The dollar bill should show some resistance to pulling out, but not enough to tear the bill.

If you have a new baffle gasket then sure, remove it and get the insulation blanket set properly and make sure the flame shield is in place. It will be heavier than it looks. Lift it off the supply tube in the rear, slide forward, then tilt up on the left side and lower it down at an angle to the floor of the stove.