what kind of stove is this?

[bigred1951]

no pics right now but might try to get a couple in a day or 2..but its small and oval shape with a flat top and flat bottom on 4 legs..my papaw called it a tin heater haha..its in the garage at my mamaws house but hasnt had a fire in it for i know for sure 21 years (my whole life)..i looked it up and found some that looked similar to it and they was calling them ashelys and said they put out good heat but would rust out quick..anybody have any info on these old stoves and some pics

[beenthere]

I heated with an Ashley in the mid 70's, but doesn't fit your description.
Pics would help.

edit
With Thurlow's tip, there is a similar Ashley stove that might fit.

http://www.addoway.com/viewad/Vintage-Ashley-Wood-Stove-Print-Ad-894609

[thurlow]

We used 'em when I'se a kid;  they were known locally/generically as "Wilson Heaters".  Generally, they were good for one year before the sides would burn out;  I've seen my dad reline 'em with roofing tin to get  a second year out of 'em.  There's one pictured on page 7 of google images (search for wilson wood stove); it's fancier than what we used, but is very similar.

[WH_Conley]

What thurlow described is what we used back in the day. I think they were banned sometime in the '70s. Were made a couple of years out of heavier gauge steel, that ran the price up til the air tight stove we have today was competitive. The original ones were called "tin heaters" because that is exactly what they were. Roofing metal, old lard cans, any kind of metal that you could get in the door to re-line. The higher priced ones had a cast iron door on them, that helped throttle them down some. Everybody burned green wood with them, only way you could hold fire. They could NOT be shut down tight, the fit was simply not there.

Bigred, send me a PM, I may know some of your family, just one county over and I sold logs over that way years ago.

[pineywoods]

I warmed my backside many times by standing next to one of them tin heaters. We usually put a layer of sand in the bottom to keep from burning through the thin sheet metal. Even then they were good for a couple of winters at best..Some of them had a primitive draft control on the front..

[Paul_H]

We know them as "hippy killers" for the reasons listed above.They were used in cabins and busses as a source of heat and even cooking but eventually would burn out and sometimes take the cabin and even the occupants with it.

[thurlow]

Found pictures of the ones I remember;  at one time or another, we had each of these.  As I recall, on the top-load, the lid was pinned in one place and you lifted/swung it in order to load the wood;  the other was slightly more fancy and probably cost a little more.  Be interesting to know what they sold for in the '40s and '50s, which is when we used them.



 



 

[WH_Conley]

Never had too many of the top loader's in this country. The pic on the bottom was the one with the cast iron door. After the stove burned out you could take the door and put it on a barrel, set it on the dirt floor of a tobacco stripping room.

[bigred1951]

that second pic is pretty much just like the one i was trying to describe that we have. I would just about be afraid to light a fire in the thing..
WH i will send you a pm in a min

[WH_Conley]

Being that old if you built a hot fire in it would probably just fall apart. :D

[36 coupe]

Friends and I built a small camp in the early 50s.We went to Aubuchon hardware  and bought a Reeves Dover sheet metal stove for 4.50 a lot of money for 4 teenagers.It had a lid on top that lifted to feed wood to the fire.There was a round pipe low on the front with an adjustable draft.We used 3 of these stoves in 10 years.The last one cost 9.00.The bottoms rusted out.We spent week end at the camp hunting gray squirells and grouse.Those were the days long gone now, wish I could go back in time and spend time with good friends.The camp is gone and Whitey has passed on.You cant go back home again..

[thecfarm]

But the memories live on.

[tcsmpsi]

Yep.  One of those was my very first bought for me, by me, woodstove.  Never been without a woodstove since.   ;D

[bigred1951]

i might one day this week or sometime if i get bored, try to pull the old stove outside in the yard and build a fire in it and see what happens and it falls apart or not

[WH_Conley]

If I can't help ya, put one section of pipe on it, away from any buildings. ;D

It will get warm. get a flat board to lay on the pipe, just to stay in control.

[Al_Smith]

Reeves made a couple of those inexpensive sheet metal stoves .Fact we used one for years to heat the big tents we used at deer camp in the Colorado mountains . They'd put out the heat allright for no larger than they were .During the 70's I think they sold for 20-25 bucks .

[bigred1951]

yea ill definitly be putting at least a small piece of pipe on it after the damper.. ill probly put the stove in the back yard so hopefully any smoke will just go in the woods and not bother anybody..luckly where i live its just a dead end road besides my house i have an aunt to one side and my uncle on the down the road on the other side and nobody else  ;D

[hamish]

They are still being made to this day, and are redialy available in Canada at places like Home Hardware, Canadian Tire and even TSC.