Got a wood cook stove today

[kawalekm]

Our homestead cabin has a wood heating stove, but for a while now, I wanted to replace the gasoline and propane burners for winter cooking. While surfing the net I found a guy locally that was selling an old wood cookstove that was in his house when he first bought it. It's a Monarch coal/wood stove. He said he thought that the value of it was about 3000 dollars.

I brought along photos of our homestead, the trees we had planted, how we constructed the roof of the cabin where the stove would be going, and explained why we thought an self-sufficient lifestyle was important to us. I told him that we wanted to put his stove to work, not keeping it in a corner as an antique, but we could only afford 500$. The guy was great, and accepted my offer, because he know that he was selling his stove to someone that really needed it and would put it to good use. I wrote out the check and we shook hands. I'll be back shortly with friends to help load it onto a trailer to take it to it's new home. I can already smell the turkey cooking in that new oven!
Michael

[bee_pipes]

WooHoo! What a bargain! Ya might find it a bit hot for cooking in the summer - keep your eyes peeled for the outdoors stove for summer cooking.

Ya know, you can cook with electricity, or use natural gas or propane, but you're really substituting one dependency for another. Wood is the only practical, renewable fuel you have access to.

Congrats on cutting one more cord.

Regards,
Pat

[kawalekm]

Don't worry Pat. We have propane also, and only intend the woodstove for winter cooking. And I'll still use propane for making a quick cup of coffee in the morning. The purpose of the wood cookstove is to give us more flexibility in our energy sources so we aren't overly dependent on just one heat source. When we only need to boil water, a gallon of propane will last a long time. But if we needed it to warm the whole cabin it would disappear fast. That's what the cookstove is really for. The stove also has a hot water reservoir, so I'm also interested in plumbing the cookstove to supply hot water to the shower.
Michael

[MadTripper]

I picked one up quite a few years ago. It needs a complete restoration and I couldn't find much info on the company that had produced it. I suppose someday I'll get it up and running. I'd love to have it upstairs in our house for supplemental heat and to help cook those long dishes like chili and stews. Here are some photos I put up a while back:

http://www.madtripper.com/gallery/v/Various/stove/


Tripper

[AlchemyAcres]

That's incredibly cool...
We had a MT. Penn cookstove when I was growing up...different color..ours was peachish looking...
My Mom cooked some great meals on that stove.... I can especially remember a couple capons one Christams with all the fixin's....excellent!!

~Martin :)

[humbug]

I have one given to me by my dad. It is a majestic. I have it in storage at my moms. It needs a little welding done on it but other than that it is in pretty good shape.

[DM]

I have a Findlay Condor a friend in Canada gave me. It's complete and in great shape!

http://www.fototime.com/EF5AAB7E0509278/orig.jpg

Right now i have it set up so i can wheel it out of the garage and use, it if i needed to... But in the future i may set it up permanent, and use it a lot more...

DM

[Deberosa]

*I have a Findlay Condor a friend in Canada gave me. *It's complete and in great shape!

http://www.fototime.com/EF5AAB7E0509278/orig.jpg

*Right now i have it set up so i can wheel it out of the garage and use, it if i needed to... *But in the future i may set it up permanent, and use it a lot more...

*DM

That's cool - so you can use it right on the platform like that?

I could kick myself. My ex-boss had one of these stoves that was left in her garage when she bought her place. She wanted it hauled away but it was just right as I was buying this place and I didn't have a place to put it! It was in great shape too - she was one that had to have everything just so and it really bugged her to have that "junk" in her garage. ;-)

[kawalekm]

I found my stove on Craigslist.com. There were other wood cookstoves for sale that I considered before the Monarch I purchased. I saw one stove advertised for free if you'd be willing to haul it out of the owner's basement. This stove was somewhere in the midwest though, so I wouldn't have access to it. If you shop around and do the footwork, I bet you can find something. Just try to stay away from antique dealers that want to make a profit off of the sale.

There are even more regular woodstoves for sale. Some are still new that people never installed or are sitting in a garage. I payed 100$ for a Federal Airtight from a neigbor that had more than one. Ask around. Talk to neighbors. One might have an old stove in their barn that they'd like to get rid off. I think it's a really really good idea to find a stove now before the general public realizes how important wood heat will be with rising energy prices.
Michael

[DM]

That's cool - so you can use it right on the platform like that?


Yup, i can push it outside, put the stove pipe on it, and use it right then... It works great...

DM

[kawalekm]

Well, here it is. I picked it up today and have it loaded on the truck for the trip up to the cabin. I'll wait a couple of weeks till the road is clear of snow, then I'll transport it up. Installation will have to wait till the rainy season is over. Tree planting is my biggest priority right now, and I don't want to cut into the roof when there's still chance of rain.
Michael
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/kawalekm/Monarchwoodcookstove.jpg

[bee_pipes]

man, what a beauty!

Regards,
Pat

[DavidOH]

Well, here it is. *Michael
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r55/kawalekm/Monarchwoodcookstove.jpg

Wow! :o What a steal! You sure that's an OLD stove?

http://www.lehmans.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=298&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCa t=671&iSubCat=809&iProductID=298

[flatwater]

I have always liked that cream color in the the wood stoves , and you got the faaaaaancy one to boot.
Flatwater

[kawalekm]

Hi msta
The same company, Monarch, that made my stove produced something like this before they finally closed down. A wood/electric stove was the last generation of serious woodstoves before wood was abandoned. I think they were made in the 1940's. I did actually find a combination gas/wood stove, also on Craigslist, but the Monarch I got seems like such a good deal that I passed it up.

I got around to disassembling the Monarch yesterday, and did as thorough an inspection as I could possibly do. The previous owner did a good job of cleaning it, inside and out! No cracks in the firebox at all. All heat-shields are cast-iron and some actually look almost new. Once it was taken apart, I could see what all the levers and moving parts do. Looks like all I have to do now is buy the stovepipe, and she's ready to go!
Michael

[WileyCoyote]

I am drooling over the Pioneer Maid stove at Lehmann's...
http://www.lehmans.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=507&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCa t=809&iSubCat=872&iProductID=507

It heats water in a 12 gallon tank. It ain't pretty but, OH! it is fine!

[BIGGKIDD]

Thats some nice stove. Just wait till I tell the wife she's going to have to learn to cook on a wood cook stove. One of those would be perfict in the house I am planning to build. I also went over to lemans at looked at what they have. Pretty cool stuff. I love double duty. Cook your food and heat the house at the same time COOL.

Larry

[DM]

That really is a pretty stove... I've always liked that color best too...

Wood cook stoves are pretty handy to have around, even though i don't use mine as much as i should...

DM

[WileyCoyote]

It isn't hard to cook on a wood cookstove. I had one for a while, and it just took a little practice keeping ju-ust the amount of wood/fire/air in there to regulate the oven temps. Most stoves you get are a little 'off temp' anyway, especially after you use them awhile.

Having one was great practice. I freaked out several people on a camping trip when I baked a cinnamon crumb cake in a dutch oven in a fire... understanding fire's easy. All it takes is patience.

But I can't wait to buy my next (and final) one!

[pergammano]

That is a beauty...and I am so jealous! That's all we had growing up, it had a hot water jacket, too! I still believe, or maybe it's just memories, that everything tasted better coming out of that oven. It's such a dry, beautiful baking heat.
At one time, we had a hopper put on the side, so that we could burn sawdust, too! It also kept a much longer burn at nite. Congratulations!

[CarolAnn]

There's a real art to building a fire in a wood cook stove. It's worth puttering with it so you learn its ways!

Grandpa used corn cobs for a quick, hot coffee fire in the mornings - it was just enough heat to boil the water without heating up the kitchen! Both he and his brother, my great uncle John taught me a lot about using a wood stove.

Different sorts of wood have different characteristics. John had a divided wood box with different sizes and types of wood - and he was darn picky about what went in when, and how much!

We're lucky now - we have inexpensive oven thermometers. They used to gauge the heat by how long they could leave their hand in the oven! (One Mississippi, Two Mississippi . . . ) As I recall, four was a hot oven for quick breads and five or six was a lower heat for long-cooking a roast. (Of course, that also depends on how calloused or sensitive your hands are!!) You learn to fiddle with the draft and damper and just how often to poke in another stick or two.

If you're heating with the wood stove, remember that you can also make a nice batch of dried apples on cookie sheets with the oven door propped open! ;) Mmmmm! Schnitz!

[fr8rain]

I just got this Modern Maid for $140 but can't find any info on the net about it as in where it was made, when it was made and where I can find parts if I need any. Haven't cleaned it up yet but it looks pretty good so far.
Any info would be appreciated.
Kat
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f355/fr8rain/Yahoo%20Photo%20Album/Universilly/th_ModernMaid3.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/albums/f355/fr8rain/Yahoo%20Photo%20Album/Universilly/?action=view&current=ModernMaid3.jpg)
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f355/fr8rain/Yahoo%20Photo%20Album/Universilly/th_ModernMaidMama.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/albums/f355/fr8rain/Yahoo%20Photo%20Album/Universilly/?action=view&current=ModernMaidMama.jpg)
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f355/fr8rain/Yahoo%20Photo%20Album/Universilly/th_ModernMaid2.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/albums/f355/fr8rain/Yahoo%20Photo%20Album/Universilly/?action=view&current=ModernMaid2.jpg)
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f355/fr8rain/Yahoo%20Photo%20Album/Universilly/th_ModernMaid1.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/albums/f355/fr8rain/Yahoo%20Photo%20Album/Universilly/?action=view&current=ModernMaid1.jpg)

[NCLee]

Welcome, fellow Tarheel!

That's a nice looking stove!

First, try to determine if it was originally designed to be fired by wood or coal. Coal fired were rare, around here, but from what I understand, they were fairly common in some other areas. I can't help much with that, as I've explored the details on coal fired ones.

Next, while you may not be able to find the specifics for your stove, you'll still be OK. Wood cookstoves basically work alike. The differences will be in which knob to push/pull to get the air flow around the oven and the draft working correctly.

If possible, set it up to work outdoors. Add a flu of a couple of sections of pipe sized to fit your stove. Check with local hardware and/or farm/feed stores for pipe. You "may" be able to find what you need at Lowes or Home Depot.

Clean out the stove. Remove everything you can easily remove. That may be quite a lot. For example, in addition to removing the eyes, the top of your stove may be removable. If not, work through the eyes. Vacuum/brush all the accumulated debris, especially surrounding the oven. You may want to cover your vac hose with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. You will get a lot of soot.

Check everything for cracks, especially around the fire box. Empty the ash grate. See if you have a control to shake or dump the ashes.

Can't tell from the pictures --- do you have a water resevoir? If so fill about 3/4 full of water and check for leaks.

If you want to clean up the castiron portions, use a stiff wire brush or a wire brush in a drill (use eye protection) to brush off surface rust. Not necessary to take it down to bare metal. Just brush off what you can. Then apply Stove Black (stove polish). Any place that sells wood stoves, and some hardware stores will sell it. Put it on like waxing a car. A thin coat. Let it sit for a while them use rags (plenty of them and gloves!!!) to buff to a soft sheen.

Next, build a small fire in the stove. First try to figure out how the dampers work on yours. You can do this with trial and error, by watching the smoke and how well your fire is burning. Once you've figured out that, then, work on how to control the heat to the oven. You may need to adjust more dampers. While you're dealing with a small fire and the stove is still outdoors, "play" with every thing that can be pushed, pulled lifted, lowered, etc. until you get a feel for its purpose.

While doing this, you're also curing the Stove Black that you put on the stove. The odor from that is outside, too. :wink:

If you run into something you still can't figure out, post close up pictures and give info on what's happening. Perhaps someone can lend a hand, if they have a stove with something similar.

Hope this helps get you started. BTW, that stove was a bargain! If I'd spotted it, it would have followed me home. Thats fer sure!

Lee

Edit: Since that looks like an old stove, replacement parts may not be available. Some parts can be fabricated by metal working shops. If you can find a PRO, even some castiron can be welded, if the CI around the problem is still sound. Good luck with your stove, from the standpoint of not needing anything material from an operational standpoint.

[MrGreenJeans]

I,am such an IDIOT! i had a modern maid and let it go because the fire box was burned out. I could have replaced it. I had $15 in it. Need my but kicked for that one. I did get a 9mm and $100 out of it anyway. Now 10 years later i,am looking for a wood stove go figure. Those are some nice stoves. Hang on to them.

[Mad_Professor]

Great score!!! That stove will bring you years of happiness.

I learned to cook on my grandmother's old Glenwood. My "job" was to stoke the fire in the morning and get water boiling for coffee/tea, also made toast right on the stovetop. Warmup place to let dough rise before baking bread......

I've got another Glenwood, a hybrid, with 1/2 wood fired the other half natural gas/propane.

My mothers house has a Franklin stove, with attachments for a swing out grill, or an arm to hang a dutch oven. Nothing like a barbecued steak in the winter without leaving the kitchen..........

[ktm rider]

MAN !!! My wife and I have been looking for one in that condition every since we built our log home in 2001. It would look great in the kitchen. I did find a Home Comfort wood stove a few years ago that needed refurbished but I still can't find anyone in my area with the know how or expertise to refurbish it.

If anyone knows someone who refurbishes these stoves in the Md, Pa. or Wv. area please let me know. Or if anyone has one for sale I would be highly interested...

[momma_to_seven_chi]

I just got this Modern Maid for $140

It's beautiful. We were also foolish enough to leave behind a wood cook stove when we moved here because it was so heavy to move. How foolish of us.

[Rimfire_Red]

I don't remember what he paid for it, (he was a radiologist so it might have been a lot) but in about 1980 my Uncle found a black and chrome Monarch in an out building at an auction. NEVER USED....with the bill of sale in the bread warmer. It was $32 new. It is in his old house where my cousin lives now. It was purchased new in the late 1920's or early '30s. What a beautiful stove. From what I see he many of you have "scored" also!

[bookwormom]

can you take the top off? Take off everything you can and clean it good. Is the firebox okay? that is the most important. If it has a crack you can seal it with sandy clay. Let it dry first before starting a fire. that is the cheapest, may have to be redone once in a while. You ought to be set and ready. It looks really nice.

[fr8rain]

I did smear some vegetable shortening all over the cooktop and then scrubbed it with some tin foil a bit. It does have a water reservoir. Haven't checked for leaks yet. I also fired it up and cooked some supper on it. It is throwing some smoke out the side so I'm going to check the firebox using a flashlight or lamp to see if I can find any cracks. Found some lid lifters and cranks for the grate on ebay. The right hand side grate is messed up and doesn't dump but it came with a piece of grating that I just put on top. Amazingly enough, the oven thermometer works!!!. Not sure how well, but the needle moved anyway. lol