Thought I would say hi

A friend of mine told me about this forum and after checking it out, I saw a few old friends here. Thought I would join the fun.

Back in 2008 I renovated the first floor of a rental property I owned. I decided, due to the very high cost of heating oil, to heat with pellets. I had burned wood for 30 years and I was too old to go that route again. I looked for a Harman, but because of extremely high demand, they were sold out for over 6 months. Being desperate, I finally settled on the only stove available. A Magnum Baby Countryside from Home Depot. My thinking at the time with little knowledge was how bad can they be? I did a bunch of on line research and that's where I met Don2222. With his advice, I did a few modifications to aid in cleaning and over the years I have maintained this thing within an inch of it's life. Bottom line is I still have it and it's running great. I still have the original blowers and the only breakdown was a snap switch back in 2010. Every year I take it apart down to the last bolt so I can say I know it inside and out. It was a US made unit so the manufacturing defects aren't there. It's still a very poorly designed stove, but there are ways to make it workable.

Thanks Don for all your help. I also see another name from the past. It's good to see jtakeman here!

Not sure how much I can add to discussions about stoves but I'm looking forward to hanging out here!

Chan

 

Welcome aboard... all new members are required to buy the beer for the first year...

 

Hey Krooser! Another name from the past. I could do that, but it will have to be Bud Light. Can't afford Sam Adams for everyone!

 

Looking at some of the members here, I'm getting deja vu! Dexter Day, Smokey The Bear, imacman, lousyweather. I'm sure there are a lot more names I've forgotten I know!

 

Welcome to FHC, where we drink beer/wine/bourbon and have fun at the same time

 

pssst.....we HAD to come here.....all in the Witness Protection Program. I cant speak for everyone else, but I was banned from some other forum which escapes me at the moment.....something to do with not being a left-winger, being on the gummnt dole, I dunno....been so long now I fergit.

 

and BTW, a beautiful troupe of goldens there!

 

Welcome Aboard Chan Ill have to second what Iva has mentioned ! Love the fact that you are hands on and have made your stove serve you as you have seen fit with some extra work and dedication .
Four Roses , Ballantine heck Knob Creek will do as well .
Welcome to the Luneybin !

 

Welcome ChandlerR! Cool avatar!

 

Welcome ChandlerR! Gather round the fire!

Corn-fed, Iowa bred.

 

Try some Tin Cup too. Mmmmmmmmmm. If you were in Texas, TX Whiskey is to die for.

 

You mean we don't have to avoid saying certain things that might anger the gods and risk the ban hammer? Whoo Hoo!

 

Thanks! It's an old picture of The Three Amigo's. Sadly, the one on the right passed away a month ago. 14 1/2 years old. The other two are 11 (gulp!)

 

Hey how is that AES box of parts beating you?

 

Great dogs. Mine is 7. Gives me the same look as your 3. Welcome.

 

Believe it or not, Smokey, it's been a good little stove. Thanks to Dexter Day, I modded my burn pot so that the airflow was more through the bottom than the sides. I welded up holes, tried it, welded some more, tried it again, until I got a very active flame. As you probably know, these stoves have a very poorly designed combustion air path. I worked with Don2222 and drilled into the side of the horseshoe and installed a brass pipe plug. 30 seconds of 100 psi air into that hole cleans out all the ash on the top of the horseshoe and even the two "legs". If you looked in the back of my stove, it still looks news. Everything is clean and well lubricated. For some reason, even the dreaded auger bushing is still hanging in there. Original blowers, original auger motor. Stove runs 24/7 all winter. I've had none of the issues others have had. God knows I know how bad these can be and I inspect it carefully, making sure that nothing is falling apart.

Just for fun, I sat down one day to try to figure out how many hours I had on this thing. Figuring it runs 24/7 for about 5 months a year give or take, times 8 years, I figured it has around 28,000 hours on it. It's burned 2 to 3 tons of pellets a year for a rough count of 24 tons. I paid a whopping $1800 for it in 2008. I can't say anything bad about it and I can't imagine any other stove working any better. All that said, I'm waiting for it to die so I can replace it with a Harman Accentra in Majolica brown. Who knows, if I do replace it, I might regret it!

 

welcome to the club, ChandlerR !
Glad you found us, i think your gonna like it here!

And awesome avatar!!!