Talk me out of it? Real steel hybrid.

[4seasons]

Just a suggestion from a guy that used to do large item pickup and delivery. You have the wrong dolly for the job. Try a 2 wheeled hand truck like this:

Using one similar to this I have been able to move a 600 lb gun safe and a 700 lb coin sorting machine by my self. ( I did have to have some help to lean the coin sorter back.) Once it hits the balance point it is amazing how easy you can move very heavy things on level ground. With 2 people inclines and even stairs are not too bad either. How much does that thing weigh anyway?

[DrewInToledo]

Matt, I'm glad you had a laugh! No.. SERIOUSLY! I did too. I was pretty frustrated and pissed at first. Life it too short and you need to enjoy it when you can--whatever the circumstance we need to try to make the best of it. Beer & friends = excellent advice! Too bad it's not the weekend. No door trim came off during the making of this post and I'm happy to report all appendages are in tact! I will get a photo of the mud ruts in my yard and post for the chuckle too. Man they are sexy.

Guy, yes sir... rollers! Great minds think alike! If you were a tad north of course I would have said, "me and yins guys think da same". heh I am here to say that this thing will stay in place until I move, if that ever happens. Agreed. Slow and easy. Can't afford to rush or a toe might come of for sure.

4seasons! Thanks for chiming in and thanks for the suggestion! In the crate, the sticker reads "700lbs". I do have a cart. Heck it was squatting pretty bad when I moved my 8" RMH core while it was in the box. It's a cheap Harbor Freight and scared me a little just toting that around. Not sure how it would have done with the ideal steel stove, but I like the idea of finding the center of gravity. I've done that with other heavy things and ended up leaving go of the dolly altogether and using the item as the "handle" to move with. The crate wasn't very high and I'm kinda tall so I prolly would have had to make an extension to create the extra leverage perhaps.

Manny.. I wish I could have lifted it right in but none the less one thing that you did list are my spirits indeed.

Thanks so far for all of your concerns, advice, and laughter! You all have lifted my spirits!

The stove seems to be in the condition that it shipped in. I did find a very small peice of chipped soapstone and firebrick, but pffffftttt! Come on! This thing is built like a Sherman tank!

I am so stoked to get my pipe in the ceiling now... My job has had me working around the clock, very long days. I haven't even had a chance to unbox all of the stovepipe until tonight. Heck, I went and grabbed a piece of wood and threw it in the stove and the girlfriend and I laughed..



Guys, this stove is way more handsome looking in person that what's seen on the woodstock website!! It's one of those things where you gotta see it in person. Pictures just don't do it justice. I reckon Matt understands as I believe he's seen one. I've found a flaw or two, but nothing really to complain about so I won't even mention it. THIS STOVE IS BEAUTIFUL! Oh yeah.. I am not complaining about paying the extra $ and sourcing the pipe from Woodstock--check out the matching paint job. It's like a piece of art!!

more photos to come later..

[matt walker]

Holy crap, that looks freakin' AWESOME! Dude, nice work. I don't know how you did that, but great freakin' job there. It really does look beautiful, and yeah, I've seen 'em go and that thing is super impressive. You are going to love it. The hearth looks great too, love the colors together. I'm happy for you man, I bet you can't wait to light that thing off.

[mannytheseacow]

DOPE.

[mannytheseacow]

I'll bet you feel a sick day coming on.

[DrewInToledo]

[pa_friendly_guy]

You da man, you da man !! I was very surprised that you already had the thing set in place. 700 lbs is a beast to try and move by yourself. But I am pleased that yinz didn't hurt yourself n at, yinz guys will problly have a party n at to show it off a bit. Invite your friends over for a jumbo samich and maybe pump a few Irons. If yinz guys have the party on Sunday yinz could watch the Stilher game, but I suppost out where yinz live yinz guys problly root for the Brownies. They certainally beat the snot out of the Stilhers the last time they played.


PS The stove looks fantastic on the tile floor you laid. Every thing matches and looks great, great job.

[DrewInToledo]

HA! Perfect, Guy! PERFECT!! I thought I was in the burgh for a minute!

[DrewInToledo]

When I got home yesterday, I decided to give the ceiling box a go and attempt to install it into the ceiling. I've never done this before so here we go..

I hung a plumb from the ceiling down to the center of where I positioned the stovepipe. After finding the center on the ceiling, I traced out square for the box but it ended up being a rectangle because of the nature of the square shape on the slope of the ceiling.

I then proceeded to have a beer and shower myself gypsum dust when I cut the shape out of the ceiling.





Bummer! After getting into the ceiling and moving back the insulation I found a peice of truss in the way. It looks like I'll need to cut out this bit of truss and sister it onto the other side of the rafter.



But I do have some good news! When I cut the rectangle out of the ceiling, I cut slightly larger than the dimensions I sketched onto the ceiling..

Bingo! It looks like I have a fit. I have the box up in the ceiling about 6-7 inches until I hit that bit of truss.



I'm mostly bald, so I usually wear a cap to keep my head warm. I didn't need it up here. I found where all my heat goes! Good thing I have a couple of ceiling fans in this room..

My job has had me working days and nights and I have to travel on Friday and Sunday evening so I'm not sure how much further I'll be able to get this week but I'm hoping to have some combustables fired up in this beast by Sunday night.

I do have to say that after getting up and into the ceiling much of my trepidation vanished. This will be a snap!

[matt walker]

Nice man, good to see you! Yeah, you got this no problem. Can't wait to see that thing with fire in it.

Hey, I have a question. Did Woodstock supply all the parts? Like the ceiling box and all that? If not, where did you get the remainder of the stuff? I'm thinking about punching a hole in my bedroom ceiling and wondering if there's a better(online?) source than Home Depot.