Nervous about upcoming woodstove delivery

[AinNC]

After finally deciding which stove to buy we finally ordered a Fajardo,which is supposed to be delivered Friday between 10-4 by S&L Carriers,I did some research on them and read some customer reviews,a lot of which were not exactly
very encouraging.We are supposed to inspect the stove before signing the delivery slip.
We live at the end of a culdesac (sp.?) on a gravel road and our driveway is long and steep toward the end so I have no doubt that the driver will not be able to make it up here,told that to the delivery company and it looks like my husband will have to meet the driver somewhere with our pick up truck,since I will not be able to be here Friday my husband will have to take the day off work since they could not narrow down the delivery time. Even if all of this works out I am worried about getting the stove down from our truck and into the house.
I would really like to hear how everyone else dealt with their stove delivery adventures.
Thanks!

 

[bholler]

Well first off does the truck delivering the stove have a lift gate? Second i am not familiar with your stove how heavy is it?

 

[AinNC]

Well first off does the truck delivering the stove have a lift gate? Second i am not familiar with your stove how heavy is it?

Yes it does have lift gate,I asked.
From what I recall it weighs a little over 300lbs.
When we moved our Vermont Castings stove into the house we used a dolly,but that
was out of a big moving truck and not a pick-up.

 

[prezes13]

I think the driver should be able to leave the stove in your driveway. For a comparasion I moved my stove (550lbs) with a help of three buddies out of a trailer to my living room, I live in a raised ranch so we had to go up one floor. You guys should be fine.

 

[begreen]

Myself, my son and two helpers got our heavy stove off the pickup by dropping the tailgate. Then I put a couple stout 2x8's against the truck to form a ramp. I blocked the middle of the ramps up for support. Then the 4 of us quickly slid the stove still on its palette down the ramp. The actual unloading took about 10 seconds once the prep was done.

 

[brad wilton]

Nice looking stove,give us review after burning season .good luck

 

[Poindexter]

Save your back. Hire teenagers.

 

[SteveKG]

I unloaded and moved into the house two wood stoves in the past five yr. One weighed maybe 700 lb. and one maybe 450, don't really recall how much exactly.

I picked mine up at the truck terminal because the trucks would never have made it to my house [one lane, dirt road and steep in places]. I had the place load the stoves [still crated] into my pickup, then at home, I tore off the sides of the crate, still on the truck, leaving the stove on the pallets that made up the base [bottom] of the crate in each case. Removed any removable piece or part of the stoves. That saved me 200 lb. in one case, probably 80 lb. in the other. Then I was able to scoot the stoves, still on the pallets that were the base of the crates, off the truck and down a couple of 2 x 10 boards. Then a $20 dolly [wood frame on four wheels] from Lowe's got the smaller stove into the house. I put down strips of plywood on the floor to make sure the dolly wheels did not mar the surface. The larger stove I rolled along on several short lengths of 3" steel pipe, ditto on the plywood to protect the flooring.

Once at the spot where I wanted the stoves installed, I used a long [five-foot] pry bar to lift each corner of the pallets and was able to block up the stoves with scrap wood pieces and remove the pallet. It took me an entire day to do this, each time, but it worked and no damage to me or the stoves. The secret is very, very slow work and stop to assess the next step when necessary.

 

[Oldman47]

If you can get your truck tailgate close to the house entry you may be able to avoid any uphill/downhill moves with your dolly. I used a hand cart like you might use to move a refrigerator after removing everything I could from my stove and was able to move it in place by myself. In my case the stove weighed about 250 pounds once emptied and with the door off. The door by itself probably weighed close to 50 pounds and all of the firebrick added up to that much again.

 

[AinNC]

Thanks so much for all the great tips,will keep all of them in mind tomorrow!!
I'll report on how it went and later on,on its performance!

 

[Bigg_Redd]

So. . . you're worried about the driving acumen of a professional delivery driver who is delivering a stove you now have your doubts about?

 

[AinNC]

So. . . you're worried about the driving acumen of a professional delivery driver who is delivering a stove you now have your doubts about?

I don't recall saying that I had doubts about the stove.

 

[kennyp2339]

My buddy and I took his new NC30 off the back of his truck, carried it up 6 steps and into the living room in two shots. Granted we are both pretty strong. I unloaded and brought in my brand new BK princess from my trailer to my basement last fall. It's not that bad if you make a plan and call for help if you need it.

 

[begreen]

Assume you need help in advance and have some cold beer ready for when the job is done.

 

[quotejso]

A pickup is high up how did u guys hold the ramps in place I was worried with the ramps on my little trailer.

 

[Oldman47]

You don't hold up the ramps. Any elevated surface becomes a make-shift loading dock and you off load more or less level. If you live in the country and there is a nearby ditch you have your loading dock. It is why I suggested getting close to the place where you will be moving the stove into the house. Most house entries are close to the height of a pickup bed.

 

[quotejso]

You don't hold up the ramps. Any elevated surface becomes a make-shift loading dock and you off load more or less level. If you live in the country and there is a nearby ditch you have your loading dock. It is why I suggested getting close to the place where you will be moving the stove into the house. Most house entries are close to the height of a pickup bed.

Yea I backed my trailer up to the front door strapped the crate to the hand truck and wheeled her in down the biggest 2 by whatever I had laying around.

 

[blacktail]

Back your pickup up to where your driveway starts to get steep. Whatever ramps you use won't be at such a steep angle.

 

[Warm_in_NH]

+1 to ramps put of tje back of the truck with some help.
I was able to "slide" mine down two 2 x 6 boards by myself. In hind sight, I think I got really lucky, but it's done now.

Keep your fingers crossed for a good driver, could make the whole situation a non issue, you never know.

 

[maple1]

We can't see the situation with your yard - but I almost think I would rather deal with the stove from where the liftgate would leave it than from the bed of a pickup.

300 lbs. isn't really huge - I might think about getting them to set it down on a piece of stout plywood that is a bit bigger than the stove, then sliding the plywood up to where it is going (you should be able to pull it by ropes tied thru holes in the plywood or something like that) and maybe even right across a threshold & into the house - or ideally, pulling it with a ride-on lawnmower or something like that. That would also depend on where it has to go once it gets to the house - if up some steps that might change the approach.

Late to this party, it might already be landed by now.

 

[AinNC]

Thanks once again for all the help!!
It made it to the house in one piece,the driver called my husband and asked if he could meet him at a nearby gas station,after getting here my husband had to run back to work and for the moment the stove is still sitting on our truck getting some fresh air,then tonight he'll roll it inside with the dolly.
As usual I was the only one that was worried about getting it here etc. ;-)

 

[quotejso]

View attachment 160949 Thanks once again for all the help!!
It made it to the house in one piece,the driver called my husband and asked if he could meet him at a nearby gas station,after getting here my husband had to run back to work and for the moment the stove is still sitting on our truck getting some fresh air,then tonight he'll roll it inside with the dolly.
As usual I was the only one that was worried about getting it here etc. ;-)

Cool looking stove tall and slender.Is it rear vent

 

[AinNC]

Cool looking stove tall and slender.Is it rear vent

Thanks! This one is top vent like our current Vermont Castings stove.

 

[Squirrel]

It's even sitting on it's own kindling.

 

[AinNC]

It's even sitting on it's own kindling.

LOL that's true!