New Progress Hybrid Install

[NectarNook]

So this is an edited version of my blog. You'll see why if you visit the original here.


Got your wood ready? We do! I stacked two more rows today.



Uncrated and unboxed… my first peek at this charming young stove.


The 749 pound stove was in my trailer. One lone man showed up to install it. No special tools to move it. So how did two of us get that behemoth into the house?





In pieces, that’s how. We took it apart piece by gorgeous piece, carefully setting all of them inside the house. Then we screwed two 2×12′s into the trailer bed to make a ramp up to the house. After a bit of make-do strengthening of the make-do ramp, we heaved the main body up into the house a few inches at a time. When we finally made it to the top, we were both sweating and leaning on the wall to catch our breath. That’s one heavy stove!



Putting it back together.



Catalyst in place.



Cast iron cooktop. It sits underneath a layer of soapstone that props up to act as a back splash during cooking. It’s so pretty… will I have the heart to cook on it?



The cooktop with soap stone in place.



Even the inside is pretty! This is before he got the floor in.



Floor in and door on.



Bottom heat shield is on.



Done!


I wasn’t able to take a picture of the shiny new cap on the chimney, nor was I able to get one of the finished piping inside. Thanks to the time change, it now gets dark at 5pm here. Rawr. And I won’t have any lights or electrical outlets in the house until after next week.

I hope you enjoyed looking at pictures of my undressed Progress Hybrid wood stove by Woodstock. It’s a hot little number that is really difficult to find pictures of online. Which is sad because all the little cast iron details and the marbled soap stone are mesmerizing. More pictures to come once I light this lady up for the first time. Maybe even a video if I’m feeling generous…

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And for anyone who is curious about the hearth build, I have a few pictures of how I built it here. This is after I royally screwed up with my first try at building a hearth. I fixed all of the issues, and the new hearth is sturdy and has a beauty to match the stove that sits on it. Yeah, I know. I still have to do something to the walls behind the stove. I'll get to that eventually. I have proper clearances and heat shielding, so it's not at the top of my priorities right now.

 

[STIHLY DAN]

That is a good looking stove. Very detail oriented. What does it say on the inside of the door?

 

[BurningBrutus]

wow, very nice, beautiful stove

 

[BrotherBart]

Looking great. Stove and hearth both. Can't wait to see some fire in that beauty.

 

[firefighterjake]

Good looking stove . . . most of the Woodstock stoves are a bit too ornate for my tastes . . . I really love the look of the PH though.

I too am curious . . . is there writing on the inside of the firebox?

 

[Boiler74]

Holy taken apart batman! That was a lot of work! I got mine into place alone, but luckily I have a tractor with forks and a pallet jack. A couple pieces of carpet, a bottle jack, and those carpet slides can do wonders too!

Have fun with this beauty. It will throw the heat out, that's for sure!

 

[NectarNook]

Yeah, we had to take it apart. There was no other way to do it. But it all went back together quite nicely. I guess I failed to mention that this is a house that is still under construction. We have no stairs on the exterior yet, so to get it in I had to make a ramp from my trailer and we wiggled and jiggled each piece up the ramp until it was all in. I'm so jealous of anyone who has a fork lift!

There is writing on the inside of the door. Good eye. It's mostly cautionary tales about creosote and safety. All the way on the opposite of the inside it says "Progress Hybrid", too.

This thing is so pretty... I almost don't want to put a fire in it. But I will. Maybe not tomorrow but definitely on Wednesday.

 

[Oldhippie]

Congrats! It's a fine stove... and will last you a lifetime.

 

[begreen]

Getting there. How are you achieving such close clearances for the stove?

 

[NectarNook]

Getting there. How are you achieving such close clearances for the stove?

There is a rear heat shield that makes it so that I only need an 8" clearance on the back. The pipe is double walled, so I can have a 6" clearing on that. There is an ash lip and bottom heat shield that reduces my front clearance to 8". The non-loading side is 24", and the loading side is 16". I actually have a few extra on each side just because it looked better that way.

The clearances are just to a "combustible surface" like wood. If I wanted to, I could put rocks right up to the stove and still be okay on clearances. It's only combustibles they're worried about.

I'm thinking I'll probably extend these tiles up the walls. Maybe add in some black glass tile mosaics for interest. I really like the contrast of the black with the marbled grey.

 

[begreen]

That sounds good. I looked for double-wall clearances in the installation manual but didn't find them. Maybe I was in too much of a hurry.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Yeah, we had to take it apart. There was no other way to do it. But it all went back together quite nicely. I guess I failed to mention that this is a house that is still under construction. We have no stairs on the exterior yet, so to get it in I had to make a ramp from my trailer and we wiggled and jiggled each piece up the ramp until it was all in. I'm so jealous of anyone who has a fork lift!

There is writing on the inside of the door. Good eye. It's mostly cautionary tales about creosote and safety. All the way on the opposite of the inside it says "Progress Hybrid", too.

This thing is so pretty... I almost don't want to put a fire in it. But I will. Maybe not tomorrow but definitely on Wednesday.

It is a beauty. Hopefully you know well about the burn-in on the stove? Just in case, here is a good one:

1. First fire. Up to 6 pieces of kindling (1" x 1" maximum). Light the fire (super cedar works great), leave the draft full open and just let it burn out.

2. Second fire. (Stove should cool some but should not have to be cold before second fire.) Same amount of kindling. No more than 2 small or medium splits. Light the fire and let it burn. After splits get burning good, close draft to about 50%. Let the fire go until it is out.

On the second burn you may or may not get hot enough to engage the cat but you should on the third burn. (200 degree stove top and 400 flue (measured on single wall flue pipe.)

3. Third fire. Stove should cool down some but no need to wait for total cold stove. Just luke warm. Same amount of kindling. This time 3-4 splits and light the fire. Stove top should reach 350-400. If the temperature goes higher, no worries. Again turn the draft down to 50% as on your second fire but after you feel the fire is good and established, turn the draft down to at least 25%. Let the fire burn itself out.

At this point you should be good to go with hotter fires. I'd suggest aiming for 500-550. The stove should be ready for big time burning now.