Old cast iron stove- wood bishop company Bangor Maine

celliott · September 21, 2018, 04:27:39 PM

Hey all, not my usual corner of the forum but just bought our first house!

So we have a wood stove at the moment and I'm not sure what to make of it. I've searched online and found minimal results. It is a wood Bishop & company, Bangor Maine, and there is EVA cast into the top. The doors and sides have some nice designs on them.

However this stove is not airtight, it's pretty darn loose actually. I want to replace it.

So my question is two part- does anyone have information on this stove and a possible value if any? Or is it just old and probably scrap?

Also recommendations on a stove to replace it with. Not a big house, but I want wood to last all day. I'm in northern Vermont so it can get pretty cold, we have stretches of below zero weather sometimes down to -25,-30F.
Open to a new one if the price isn't too outrageous, but was more thinking used, kinda on a budget having just bought a house.

Thanks!
Chris

SwampDonkey · September 21, 2018, 05:44:16 PM

I've always been around wood stoves all my life. But Canadian stoves, so no help to you on that brand. I just put in a Napoleon wood furnace, forced air. Probably this week will be the first firing if the wiring gets completed, everything else is installed and new flu (new house). I hope you find a stove that fits your needs soon, winter is a coming.

Bruno of NH · September 21, 2018, 06:31:37 PM

Woodstock soapstone
Vermont Castings
Any old Fisher in good shape

47sawdust · September 22, 2018, 06:36:40 AM

Chris,Never heard of that stove.As far as a new one goes I am very happy with the Hearthstone soapstone stoves.Our house is very evenly heated by the Mansfield.That size might be too large for you though.I paid $1500.00 used several years ago.
Good luck,Mick

By the way I really enjoyed the Northern Canoe trail blog.Thanks for taking us along.

snowstorm · September 23, 2018, 06:12:07 AM

try bryant stove in thorndike me.

thecfarm · September 23, 2018, 06:26:34 AM

Got a picture?
This one came from Bryant's.

Worth a day trip just to go there and see what they have. They use to have many stoves on display. I have not stopped there for more than 10 years.

celliott · September 23, 2018, 07:56:50 PM

No time for a day trip these days! I'm behind on firewood, crazy busy at work and moving into the new house! Bought a 1994 f350 to plow with, trying to get that squared away before winter, get my skidder all set for my winter woodlot among many other things but such is life. I'd drive to Maine tomorrow to buy a stove if I found one that will fit. But no time for leisure visits :D
Having a tough time finding something with the correct dimensions. The height is the killer, the hearth is just 29" tall and we don't want to set it outside the hearth and eat up room space.

celliott · September 23, 2018, 07:59:09 PM

Another question however- insight in chimney liners/stove pipe, metalbestos pipe. The current setup elbows out of the stove and the elbow terminates where the damper for the old fireplace is, and vents into the chimney. I don't like it. I want to run pipe all the way up. What's my best bet here? Probably have to chip away some masonry as the current 6" pipe doesn't fit through the old fireplace damper.

samandothers · September 23, 2018, 10:51:09 PM

Another place to check to get additional answers is Hearth.com Forum. I have done some reading there and folks seem pretty knowledgeable, but I have very little concerning stoves.

celliott · October 02, 2018, 06:24:44 PM

Well we are buying a hearthstone soapstone castleton model. Had to bite the bullet and do it, the used prospects were not good, and this is a very nice stove that will heat our home for years to come and (in my opinion) add value to the home if we sell it. Plus it fits inside the hearth! Just a tough pill to swallow after buying the house.

Now firewood!
I have a maple stand to thin and can get some beech birch and ash so I'll be set for next year, might have to break down and buy some this season.

celliott · October 13, 2018, 09:31:08 AM

So I did end up going with a SS liner. I'm working on the old fireplace damper right now to get enough room to fit the liner up. What a mess and a hard place to run a grinder.

We got about 1.5cd of fairly seasoned ash stacked on the porch. My boss is a great guy- he had some surplus log length and it was heavy to ash, so he suggested a trade deal. I'm cutting/splitting what firewood I need from his log length pile, and I'll send him some green log length ash/beech/birch from a thinning on a maple stand I'm working on.

GRANITEstateMP · October 13, 2018, 01:15:21 PM

Quote from: celliott on October 13, 2018, 09:31:08 AM
So I did end up going with a SS liner. I'm working on the old fireplace damper right now to get enough room to fit the liner up. What a mess and a hard place to run a grinder.

We got about 1.5cd of fairly seasoned ash stacked on the porch. My boss is a great guy- he had some surplus log length and it was heavy to ash, so he suggested a trade deal. I'm cutting/splitting what firewood I need from his log length pile, and I'll send him some green log length ash/beech/birch from a thinning on a maple stand I'm working on.

That's a good trade. Everybody is happy in the end!
Did you get the wrap insulation to go on the SS liner? We did my liner maybe 3 or 4 years ago now. It was a bear to get it in, borrowed a friends 55ft bucket truck, that helped. My brother-in law is a Chimney Sweep, he broke out the old flu, not fun, and I carted the waste away. The liner was one piece, we wrapped it with the insulation, then fed it down a little at a time. Took a good bit of the day to do the whole thing, but man it sure is nice!

celliott · October 13, 2018, 03:46:11 PM

It's not insulated. Probably should have...
I got the old damper knocked out and room for the new liner today. What a messy job jeeze... running the grinder and chisels with my head in the chimney, all the junk falling down, not a good time. But I have room for the liner now, that'll hopefully go in tomorrow if all goes well, and I'll pick the new stove up next week, get a few rugged buddies and be all set! Still got more wood to cut. Temps are dropping, there was snow in the higher elevations last night.

hedgerow · October 13, 2018, 08:05:04 PM

Make sure your insurance company is good with the new liner and stove. Don't need a problem with them if something would happen down the road.

rjwoelk · October 14, 2018, 12:14:38 AM

I did a ss liner in a masonry chimney, That was 32 years ago. We brush it twice a year, with the new stoves get maybe a large coffee cup of dust out of it, basement to 4 ft out of the roof peak, on a single story home.

Al_Smith · October 14, 2018, 06:14:34 AM

A few years back I also installed a single wall SS liner inside a clay liner flue . 7 inch pipe inside a 9 inch liner . I found it was less expensive to buy it through a building supply company than a so called "stove shop " buy a bit more than 1/2 price .It's 22 gauge welded seam about a total of 14-15 feet .
I stuffed the portion that rises above the roof,about 4 feet with fiberglass insulation .The only portion that shows any creosote is about the top 5-6 inches above the brick flue .It's hard pyrolited not the gooey stuff that can catch fire . A flue brush about once year takes care of that

celliott · October 20, 2018, 06:47:24 PM

Well the new hearthstone castleton is in!
I'm getting ready to light the first fire in it now. It's not that cold right now but I gotta do it

I do have pictures but I'm just on a slow data connection on my iPhone until we get WiFi going so pics gotta wait.

Got another cord of wood in today, one more and we'll for sure be all set for the winter.

Wood Shed · October 20, 2018, 07:37:54 PM

Chris, hope you did not scrap your old stove. Guys like me would like to have it for some heat in a shed or garage . I have to take a look when they come up on local auctions. Most I find are not usable but some are and are interesting at least.

celliott · October 20, 2018, 10:22:08 PM

I haven't scrapped it. I have it listed on Craigslist and FB marketplace. Lots of "is this still available?" And then no more responses. Same thing with an 8ft plow I have listed. I'd practically give the thing away, I just would caution whoever used it that it needs repair. Hate to see someone try to heat their house with it and have a fire...
A friends dad who is big into stoves is coming to take a look at it. He'd fix and restore it.