Should I rehab my Woodstock Classic?

[Nick Mystic]

When my wife and I moved bought our current home about ten years ago it came with an older Woodstock Classic in the lower level of the house.

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As you can see the air control consists of the small sliding grate on the side door at the bottom. The cat engagement is controlled by a rod that exits the back of the stove. You push or pull on the rod to slide the cat over the round opening seen in the photo. The previous owner told me he never used the cat and just left it in the position you see in the picture. Once I looked over the stove, which was completely new to me (I had never even heard of soapstone woodstoves back then!), I soon figured out why he didn't use the cat. The top plate was warped from overfiring and the rod was binding.

I took the cat assembly apart, straightened out the rod, cleaned the cat, and got the mechanism working again. Even with the warped top plate I can operate the cat with no problems. This past season, after ten more years of burning, I finally had to replace the cat.



It came with a gasket, but since there is nothing in the design to hold it in place it soon came loose once the tape burned off, so I just removed it since it was apparent it wasn't serving any purpose and would soon be flopping down into the opening causing a problem. The new cat works great and the stove burns so clean that I haven't had to clean my clay tile flue a single time in the past decade. Absolutely no ash or creosote build up!

The only part of the stove that is still damaged is the top plate inside the stove that creates a chamber between the inside of the firebox and the plate the cat assembly is mounted on.



As you can see in the photo the back section has eroded away. This allows flames to more easily reach the top plate where the cat is located and probably contributed to the warping of that plate. My question is: would it make any sense to go to the effort and expense of replacing this plate? As I said earlier, the cat moving mechanism works fine and the cat is obviously working fine based on the way the stove burns and how clean my flue stays. If you do think that eroded plate should be replaced, can anyone tell me how difficult a job it would be to remove and replace and give me an idea of the cost, assuming I do it myself?

 

[rideau]

Call Woodstock and ask them to look at this post. They will do so, and then give you an idea of the cost and difficulty of repairing the stove. Also, whether there are concerns about burning with the stove the way it is. They sell parts at incredibly reasonable prices. Woodstock is a well run company, and you will enjoy your interaction with them.

 

[TheBean]

Ahhh, the old Belly Baffle. That baffle is no longer available, but we do have a newer version that should fit your stove. You would need to change out the cat as well because the newer baffle uses a rectangular cat. The complete kit costs $270 plus shipping. All gaskets and hardware are included as well as illustrated instructions. The conversion is pretty easy to do. That being said I think I would be inclined to run it as it is as long as it is burning clean and safely. Give a call to discuss the conversion if you like (800) 866-4344. Hope this helps!

 

[Nick Mystic]

Thanks for the input Bean. Since I just replaced the cat this past winter and the stove burns fine I think I'll just continue as is for the time being. If you recognize my name you might know that we just bought a new Jotul F600 (I'm sitting next to it in my avatar) this past February. That stove is located in our living room on the upper level of the house where we spend most of our time. I mostly burn the Classic when we get some unusually cold weather, high temperatures staying below freezing and lows in the teens or lower, to help supplement the heat to the upstairs stove. I'll also fire it up when I plan to watch some sports on the big screen TV downstairs and my wife wants to view something else on the living room TV. If the Classic was our main heater I'd be more inclined to max out its performance, but since it does okay for how we use it I'll just monitor things going forward. It's good to know I can probably rehab it without too much expense if I decide to go that route in the future.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Good luck on that old stove Nick. For sure if you ever need to change stoves, you have one ready and waiting with low cost to upgrade it.

 

[alforit]

Great pics Nick !

 

[firecracker_77]

I would probably spend the money they are suggesting. That seems like pretty cheap insurance if you are going to use it all. That and some Rutland stove polish on the cast iron and you will have a beautiful stove for many years to come. I love my Woodstock gas stove. Best stove for the money for my application.

 

[charly]

First I want to say how nice it is to see such an old stove still doing it's job.... and second,, wow , how reasonable to update your stove and yet update parts will retrofit your stove.. That in my eye's is a very thoughtful company... Plus,, what other stove company employee posts on here to help out? I'm impressed by it all... Thanks for the picks of your old classic

 

[Todd]

I'd love to find an old classic like that and refurb it. I wonder if its possible to turn that stove from a Classic to the older Fireview 201 model with the front glass? I think the 201 was basically a Classic with glass.

 

[rideau]

Probably, Todd. You know who can answer that question....

I wonder if one will be able to upgrade the present Fireview to the upgraded version I hear they are developing..I bet it has a much bigger window.

 

[charly]

Boy I love that old school cat assembly picture! Back to well built basics!

 

[begreen]

First I want to say how nice it is to see such an old stove still doing it's job.... and second,, wow , how reasonable to update your stove and yet update parts will retrofit your stove.. That in my eye's is a very thoughtful company... Plus,, what other stove company employee posts on here to help out? I'm impressed by it all... Thanks for the picks of your old classic

FyreBug (Osburn), Mike (Englander), Chris (Blaze King) are a few regulars that often help hearth.com members. Their support and knowledge is much appreciated.

 

[charly]

FyreBug (Osburn), Mike (Englander), Chris (Blaze King) are a few regulars that often help hearth.com members. Their support and knowledge is much appreciated.

Wow, never realized there were others on here .. that's good to know and also great that they are helping as well... thanks for the update...

 

[begreen]

Although Tom Oyen is not a PE employee, at times it seems like he knows more about their stoves than they do. His insight and advice are always appreciated. We also have some great installers here that have helped out folks countless times. Good folks here!

 

[charly]

Although Tom Oyen is not a PE employee, at times it seems like he knows more about their stoves than they do. His insight and advice are always appreciated. We also have some great installers here that have helped out folks countless times. Good folks here!

Definitely a lot of very knowledgeable people on here... I've learned a lot and will always be learning.. I appreciate having such a forum..

 

[Nick Mystic]

After making my initial post here on rehabbing the old Classic it got me thinking that I could do a little "do it yourself" rehabbing to at least restore the eroded Belly Baffle to its original configuration. While out hiking with the dogs this morning I got thinking about it and thought I might be able to use a flattened out section of stove pipe fastened to the underside of the belly baffle to fill in the burnt out opening. Then I remembered that I had a perfect size piece of 6" x 6" cast iron that I cut out of my damper door assembly when I installed my SS liner for my new Jotul stove upstairs. When I got home I brought the slab of cast downstairs and sure enough it was a good fit. I was able to sit the piece on top of the belly baffle and slide it out so that it covered the hole and lined up with the original back edge of the baffle. I then drilled a couple of holes through the patch piece and the belly baffle to secure the piece of cast so it wouldn't shift and possibly block the opening up to the smoke chamber. Here are a couple of photos, but it's a bit hard to see due to the close quarters.



















The second photo is a bit blurred, but it shows how the patch lines up pretty close to the original back edge of the belly baffle. The next photo shows what it looks like from above and how I bolted it in place.





I'll be curious to see if I notice any change in the burning characteristics next season when I fire up the stove again. At the very least it should provide some added life to my cat since flames sometimes made it up through the cat hole opening with my start up fires due to the hole in the belly baffle. I had to delay sliding the cat into place until the flames burned down enough that they would't reach the cat. Now I should be able to fire up the cat sooner. I keep a thermometer on top of the stove over the cat and usually slide it into place when the stove hits around 300 - 350 F.

 

[dafattkidd]

I'd love to find an old classic like that and refurb it. I wonder if its possible to turn that stove from a Classic to the older Fireview 201 model with the front glass? I think the 201 was basically a Classic with glass.

That would be cool. Great stove to have had come with your house. Bonus!

 

[Todd]

Probably, Todd. You know who can answer that question....

I wonder if one will be able to upgrade the present Fireview to the upgraded version I hear they are developing..I bet it has a much bigger window.

I was told a couple years ago that the Fireview was suppose to get an upgrade but it ended up turning into the PH. I'd like to see the Fireview turned into a 2 cu ft PH.

 

[Highbeam]

I have heard small talk about trouble with flames hitting the cat element but it happens all the time on my BK. Not sure what the risk is but I sure haven't lost any sleep over it.

Myself, I wouldn't spend much money on the classic. It has no window.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I was told a couple years ago that the Fireview was suppose to get an upgrade but it ended up turning into the PH. I'd like to see the Fireview turned into a 2 cu ft PH.

Todd, that has a little bit of truth to it and there was talk about a larger glass in the Fireview but why not just upgrade the Fireview. I don't think we'll see this happening for quite some time though.

 

[Woody Stover]

I was told a couple years ago that the Fireview was suppose to get an upgrade but it ended up turning into the PH. I'd like to see the Fireview turned into a 2 cu ft PH.

Todd, that has a little bit of truth to it and there was talk about a larger glass in the Fireview but why not just upgrade the Fireview. I don't think we'll see this happening for quite some time though.

As far as the glass, they could square it off and that would help, but the beveled corners prevent the glass from being any wider.
In the Fv, they've got a good stove at a good price for what you get. I'm guessing that a major re-design like an upgrade to hybrid would have to increase the price of the stove. If you get more heat with less wood, as is claimed, maybe it would be worth the extra money. For sure, it would be nice to have the features of the PH in a smaller stove. But the 205 is unique, and is a classic. Great stove!

 

[Highbeam]

Meh, I would hope that they keep the fireview's combustion system intact. The "hybrid" is a downgrade in many ways from the dang good cat system they have now. In a fireview sized stove, burntimes would be unacceptably low.