The BMF has landed!!!

[scotsman]

Terry, we were told you had to cancel but kept watching that airport across the road just in case you found time at the last minute. Had a beer waiting for you too. Maybe next year you could fly out because we sort of expect a repeat next year with maybe a few more new things. Definitely get hold of Ron on those legs. It should not be too late to do some changing on them but getting crushed during shipment can do in some really super strong stuff too so I wouldn't worry too much. Good luck on plowing that snow too. WE haven't pushed too much of it around just yet and hope to have a light snow season. I'm betting on it but we've not had much ice for many years now so hope we don't get much of that again. I'll take 2 feet of snow over 1/2" of ice any day.

Hey, Dennis! I WAS trying to figure out how to show up until the very last minute, but with Katie about to deploy any day, it just was too much conflict. Of course, as it turned out, she didn't finally deploy until 30 October and I could have come, but at the time it looked like it was gonna happen any moment, especially when she was replacing an MP who got shot up so bad they had to bring him home, along with nine others who had to come back. When THAT word came down, it sealed the deal on me not coming, because they were in such a hurry to get her over there.

I hope they do have other events like that one. I'll for sure make the next one, well, I'm planning to anyway!

Ron's already said he was sending a replacement to be here Wednesday.

The storm track at the moment looks like we'll get only a couple of inches of snow--mostly rain, but if it goes 10-15 miles more south, we could get a foot of snow, so it remains to be seen. And 10-4 on the snow vs. ice. I'm with you there. Down here people go all stupid when it ices . . . and they always pay for it. Never understood that, but it's a regular thing. I try to stay home when there's even talk of ice. Just doesn't pay to go out.

Y'all stay warm up there. Wish I could see your place. Looks like a great spot and a great house from what I've seen. Be good now, y'hear?

 

[scotsman]

Hi Terry:

I think you are the third case of a broken leg on the Progress. They will have to support it better with timber under the frame and not rely on the legs while in transit. I agree, seems strange only one bolt holds those legs on.

I'm sure they will send one out ASAP - I'm going to double check my stove's legs, it's still in the crate in my garage, waiting for the movers. It's much too heavy for me.

I guess your wood is now 101 years old, so it should be plenty dry by now!

Keep us posted.

Tony

Hey, Tony! Interesting information that (about the third broken leg). How did you find that out? It would seem that someone would have caught that leg issue in the design phase. Seems to me that that was especially iffy for cast. Maybe they should make the legs out of steel. Wonder what problems that might create from differential heating between cast and steel? Looks like something should be done there. Maybe make the legs out of cast, but make 'em bolt in three or four places along each side and make 'em extend the entire length of each side. That way you'd only have two legs, but they would be way more substantial AND they could be made to look really nice--all decorative and everything. That would also help with the height issue to accomodate the ash pan. The current legs look a bit spindly for the stove--again, just my opinion.

Yep, the wood continues to dry nicely. Should be down to about -4% moisture by now. If I don't hurry up and get it burned, it's gonna fossilize and won't burn at all! Either that or I'm gonna go out one day and find nothing but wood dust! The last burn in the FV, the wood was SO dry that I just THOUGHT about lighting the load and it immediately burst into flame all by itself! Now THAT'S dry!! LOL!

 

[fire_man]

Hi Terry:

I think you are the third case of a broken leg on the Progress. They will have to support it better with timber under the frame and not rely on the legs while in transit. I agree, seems strange only one bolt holds those legs on.

I'm sure they will send one out ASAP - I'm going to double check my stove's legs, it's still in the crate in my garage, waiting for the movers. It's much too heavy for me.

I guess your wood is now 101 years old, so it should be plenty dry by now!

Keep us posted.

Tony

Hey, Tony! Interesting information that (about the third broken leg). How did you find that out? It would seem that someone would have caught that leg issue in the design phase. Seems to me that that was especially iffy for cast. Maybe they should make the legs out of steel. Wonder what problems that might create from differential heating between cast and steel? Looks like something should be done there. Maybe make the legs out of cast, but make 'em bolt in three or four places along each side and make 'em extend the entire length of each side. That way you'd only have two legs, but they would be way more substantial AND they could be made to look really nice--all decorative and everything. That would also help with the height issue to accomodate the ash pan. The current legs look a bit spindly for the stove--again, just my opinion.

Yep, the wood continues to dry nicely. Should be down to about -4% moisture by now. If I don't hurry up and get it burned, it's gonna fossilize and won't burn at all! Either that or I'm gonna go out one day and find nothing but wood dust! The last burn in the FV, the wood was SO dry that I just THOUGHT about lighting the load and it immediately burst into flame all by itself! Now THAT'S dry!! LOL!

Terry:

WS told me they had a couple cases of busted legs, and now they are starting to ship legs separately. Sounds like it might be hard to assemble all four legs on that stove, but maybe the way its crated you just bolt them on before completely removing stove from crate.

 

[scotsman]

Hi Terry:

I think you are the third case of a broken leg on the Progress. They will have to support it better with timber under the frame and not rely on the legs while in transit. I agree, seems strange only one bolt holds those legs on.

I'm sure they will send one out ASAP - I'm going to double check my stove's legs, it's still in the crate in my garage, waiting for the movers. It's much too heavy for me.

I guess your wood is now 101 years old, so it should be plenty dry by now!

Keep us posted.

Tony

Hey, Tony! Interesting information that (about the third broken leg). How did you find that out? It would seem that someone would have caught that leg issue in the design phase. Seems to me that that was especially iffy for cast. Maybe they should make the legs out of steel. Wonder what problems that might create from differential heating between cast and steel? Looks like something should be done there. Maybe make the legs out of cast, but make 'em bolt in three or four places along each side and make 'em extend the entire length of each side. That way you'd only have two legs, but they would be way more substantial AND they could be made to look really nice--all decorative and everything. That would also help with the height issue to accomodate the ash pan. The current legs look a bit spindly for the stove--again, just my opinion.

Yep, the wood continues to dry nicely. Should be down to about -4% moisture by now. If I don't hurry up and get it burned, it's gonna fossilize and won't burn at all! Either that or I'm gonna go out one day and find nothing but wood dust! The last burn in the FV, the wood was SO dry that I just THOUGHT about lighting the load and it immediately burst into flame all by itself! Now THAT'S dry!! LOL!

Terry:

WS told me they had a couple cases of busted legs, and now they are starting to ship legs separately. Sounds like it might be hard to assemble all four legs on that stove, but maybe the way its crated you just bolt them on before completely removing stove from crate.

That might work. But it might be tough puttin' 'em on at home. I guess we'll see. Maybe the stove won't have to be tipped very much to get 'em on. I'd be scared to go more than about 20 degrees off vertical, with that kind of weight. BUT, shipping 'em separately makes a lot of sense.

 

[gpcollen1]

It sounds just like a shipping issue with the stove and not really a 'design' issue. All the larger stoves i have seen have that same simple leg design...that seems to work perfectly...

 

[ddddddden]

IIRC, the Fireview's legs are attached by a single bolt without problems. It's no BMF, but it's not a lightweight either. +1 for the issue most likely being shipping/packaging. Good luck with it. . .looking forward to your review.

 

[BrotherBart]

I have never seen any wood stove that had more than one bolt holding the legs. All the bolt is doing is holding the leg in place. The stove weight on top of it does the rest.

 

[scotsman]

I have never seen any wood stove that had more than one bolt holding the legs. All the bolt is doing is holding the leg in place. The stove weight on top of it does the rest.

I didn't see the single connecting bolt as the primary issue. It was its location in a cast iron item and the configuration of the item that seemed to be working against it. I'll try to get some photos to illustrate.

 

[BrotherBart]

The big Englanders come without the legs attached. I used a floor jack to hold the stove up one corner at a time to put'em on. On two different stoves.

 

[pen]

The big Englanders come without the legs attached. I used a floor jack to hold the stove up one corner at a time to put'em on. On two different stoves.

Exactly, I wouldn't try tipping this beast too much (as you mentioned). I'd be more apt to get a floor jack under it and lift the whole thing (while 2 people helped to balance) while it is changed out.

pen

 

[scotsman]

The big Englanders come without the legs attached. I used a floor jack to hold the stove up one corner at a time to put'em on. On two different stoves.

Exactly, I wouldn't try tipping this beast too much (as you mentioned). I'd be more apt to get a floor jack under it and lift the whole thing (while 2 people helped to balance) while it is changed out.

pen

After taking this stove off of my trailer (a 22" height) and transporting it 104 feet to its location with one other stout fellow, there is no plan to tip anything! (He and I also moved the crated FV off of my trailer and the same distance.) After moving the BMF, he told me if I needed to move any more stoves, especially if they were any heavier, to consider him unavailable. I told him I understood, but this was it . . . . . . . . unless Woodstock decided to build another stove! He just stood there an stared at me for a moment, until he realized I was not serious, especially since we were standing there huffing and puffing like we were gonna die! Our wives didn't think we could do it, and frankly neither did I, but we did, safely with nothing sprained, strained, torn or herniated!! We're not sure they were positively or negatively impressed.

 

[scotsman]

Aw-right, y'all. I was trying to post some photos but they are all 2000+ KB. How do I get 'em down to the right size? I've looked around on the page here, but nothing looks like it will do it. Can y'give me a hint?

 

[GordonShumway]

Not sure what OS you use on comp, but microsoft paint has a resize option, i believe. Otherwise there are numerous free programs to resize images online.

 

[Flatbedford]

Free and easy. Been using it for years.
http://pixresizer.en.softonic.com/

 

[pen]

Here is a bunch of info on getting pics ready for the net.

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewannounce/27_2/

pen

 

[scotsman]

Okay, maybe THIS will work. Here are photos of the leg that broke.

Well, I'll be darned. It DID work! I'm more surprised than anyone!

 

[BrotherBart]

OK. I am on the same page of the hymnal with ya now cuz. That is mighty thin cast for a stove leg.

 

[scotsman]

OK. I am on the same page of the hymnal with ya now cuz. That is mighty thin cast for a stove leg.

Seems to me the whole top mounting plane just isn't substantial enough for what it's being asked to do. Especially for cast. And you can see, it broke right in line with the outside corner pieces. Maybe I'm missing something, but it looks like that whole piece should be solid with only access holes.

 

[BrotherBart]

With the position of that hole in that tab they are gonna have a bunch of busted legs happen at install time.

 

[scotsman]

With the position of that hole in that tab they are gonna have a bunch of busted legs happen at install time.

Sure looks like a good possibility or maybe during shipment, like this 'un!

 

[scotsman]

With the position of that hole in that tab they are gonna have a bunch of busted legs happen at install time.

After more cogitation, I'm planning to put in a larger washer under the bolt head to spread the strain of the bolt over a larger area. As it is there is a lock washer which is the same size as the bolt head, which, IMO, increases the lateral force into the hole predisposing it to break. I've got some heavy half-dollar size (or maybe a little larger) washers which should eliminate that. I'll replace 'em all because however much the location might heat up will increase the stress. Thoughts/Reactions? Am I missing something that will cause that to be a problem?

 

[Flatbedford]

Forget the washer. Make a rectangular piece of steel to spread it out over the whole flat surface of the leg.

Good thing I can't afford to upgrade to the PH now. By the time I have the money, they will have worked all the bugs out of it.

 

[scotsman]

Forget the washer. Make a rectangular piece of steel to spread it out over the whole flat surface of the leg.

Good thing I can't afford to upgrade to the PH now. By the time I have the money, they will have worked all the bugs out of it.

Do you mean put the steel in the same place I'd put the washer? Hummm! I thought the bolt might be too short for that application, but maybe not or maybe I could find a longer bolt. I was also cocerned about the differential heating of the steel right against the cast, but maybe that isn't a problem. I also thought the washer might conform to the contours of the underside of the leg/bolt tab and be more effective, but maybe not. Also concerned about too much torque into cast threading on the frame, but it may not be anchored into cast--it's pretty hard to see with it upright and I'm not planning to put that thing on its side! Kinda feel like I need to do something, just not sure what.

 

[Jags]

Easy on the washer stuff. That casting is not a machine finish - meaning that you can inadvertently create a pressure point while trying to spread the load. Stick with the original bolt, but make darn sure that there is no side pressure put on those legs - EVER.

Vertically - that one leg could hold up your pickup truck (assuming here ;-) ). Horizontally, it could snap pretty easy. The casting looks to be of a very high quality (you can tell by the grain of the cast), but it also appears to be a bit thin, as BroB pointed out.

If you DO decide to use a washer - don't go extra thick, rigid type. Go with a standard thickness of washer that may allow a little bending if need be.

Just one dudes opinion.

 

[Flatbedford]

Maybe Jags knows better than me.