Yep - Another Momma Bear

Looks like these are all the rage again!

Just picked it up tonight. $223 off Facebook marketplace. Not the best condition but definitely safe and good for my use! One front leg is a bit twisted and the top is heavily pitted. Otherwise it looks really good. Judging by the tight door pins and no louver slop, I don't think it's been used much. No cracks or warping.

I will try and fix the leg but I'm no pro with metal working.

Bricks need replaced - I would have done them anyway. Are the brick holders supposed to be angled like that?

Definitely want to install a baffle. One thing at a time.

Someone was an artist!

 

The angles are straight in mine.

 

I've read that these can bend like this from excessive heat. I think someone ran mine with the tops of the bricks broken off but besides the warped angle irons, the unit is solid. The top is severely rust pitted but oh well - for me it's ment to be used not look good.

Have some free time on my hands so I've been doing some tinkering. Got the unit stripped down, cleaned up, and painted. I got somewhat of a deal on firebrick yesterday at tractor supply - 50 cents off because they had them advertised for the wrong price. Suckers are 4$ each these days!! I got 30 but think I will be returning some.

I've done tons of reading - may have read every Momma/Papa bear thread ever. Mine only had the lower row of bricks from the factory so I guess I'll keep it that way. I really like the idea of the upper row, but welding those brackets on would be a real pain. Unless WeldrDave suggests otherwise?

Definitely need to build a baffle - either going to do Coaly's simple 5/16 plate, or build a angle iron frame that holds the fire bricks. Leaning towards the angle iron frame for a few reasons:

-I already have the materials
-I feel like fire bricks would deflect/hold heat better (although it may not even matter)
-It seems like a sturdier option (although Coaly says it's fine - I believe him but I also know I tend to jam/throw logs in)

May get out the old welder today or tomorrow and have some fun.


Besides that, I am picking away at splitting some Black Walnut for the 22/23 burning season. It's going to be something like 87 here today in NE Ohio - terrible time to split but oh well!

Photos: the frame design is a screenshot I pulled from another site. Thinking of building something like this.

Firebrick

Painted stove / Favorite Gravely

Wood operation for today

 

Trying to decide if cutting these fire bricks warrants getting out the wet saw... or if the angle grinder with diamond blade is sufficient.

Wet saw will cut nicer and will be easier to make the cuts but I'd a PITA to dig out and clean up when I'm done....

Angle grinder won't make as nice or as square of a cut and makes tons of dust. Simple to get out and put away though.

Decisions decisions

 

I use the angle grinder with diamond blade...use a black marker to mark your cuts, take your time to eyeball it straight n true, they come out just fine that way for me. I set up out in the yard so the dust mess is minimized...still need to wear a N95 mask while cutting though.

 

Your Momma bear looks just like mine, and my stove only has the bottom row of bricks, also. But I see in the manual where it shows a second row or bricks. I assume that later vintage Momma Bears got the second row of bricks? Does anyone know the history of changes in production?

 

Searching on other sites, Coaly mentions that the newer models (1978+ ???) Received the upper row of bricks. He also mentions that it's not necessary but can help with overfiring.

I'm sure it would help under extreme conditions but for the careful operator, it's not necessary.

I'm assuming it's an "idiot proof" feature

 

On the fire brick for baffle, which may be the ticket, I might suggest, to think about protecting the bricks from being hit by a stick of wood when loading the stove. It's just that I have found out that if a fire brick is not backed up on the back side, really well, it's very easy to break them, if you hit them or in my case, I was just trying to remove one with my hand and broke it. So, just think about how you will be loading the stove with wood, I know for me, I am a little rough at times, on shoving a stick in the stove, and like is said, if you bump a fire brick, that is not backed up on the back side, chances of breaking it, are high. Just my opinion.

 

Bricks cut. Now to test fit

More gravely too

 

Looks really good painted!

 

Wife got covid. She's okay but sick on the couch. Meaning, I'm on mandatory quarantine from work for the foreseeable future. Wasn't planning on it just yet but I started on CSS the tops of 2 massive black walnuts I had some Amish top and drop for me.

Thus black walnut is awful stinky. Almost as bad as black locust! Missing my usual ash or oak smells from the splitter operation.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to track down the materials I need for my momma bear baffle. I was thinking angle iron and bricks but I'm indecisive and now I might just do coalys simple metal plate deal.

A 15x8 piece of 5/16 or 3/8 plate is harder to find than I thought!

My buddy assists.

 

In the midst of the chimney mockup. The chimney stack I'm connecting to needs swept before I do my final hookup but just realized it's an oval shape so I think I need a different shaped brush....

Otherwise, all is good. Furnace is 24" away from stove but it's all metal except the condensate line and AC refrigerate lines which I plan to install metal shield to protect.

Currently in experimental/mockup stage so things could change. But so far, this is looking like the direction I'm headed.

Also have my pile of firebrick ready to install and my 3/8" baffle plate.

In no real hurry, but hope to do test fire it while weather is still good so I can keep the windows open to vent out the paint smoke.

Any pointers, thoughts, or suggestions?

Thanks!

 

Looks pretty good to me...

 

Give your wife a tablespoon of baking soda with a half of lemon in a good sized mug add hot water and drink before bed time for several days.Covid gone.

 

Thanks for the heads up! She is doing much better now, still no smell or taste but healing quickly!

 

So my chimney stack I’m connecting to is a 4x7 oval stainless liner. If my calculations are correct, that is the same internal area as a 6” pipe. Couldn’t find a brush for that size so I got another 6” poly brush and I’m going to cut it down to fit.

Once chimney is cleaned, I can start final chimney pipe install. I want to put some supports hanging from the ceiling so I got some plumbers galvanized strapping. Doesn’t need to look pretty as it’s in a utility area of my house but I’ll be as neat as I can with it.

Almost ready for test fire.

I have a feeling this chimney is going to draft extremely well. I’ve got 4’ of horizontal pipe, one 90, and 2 45’s but I’m connecting to an internal chimney that is approx. 22’ tall.

 

How'd I do?

Test burn tomorrow to burn the paint off and fume the house out with the windows open.

Broke one of my leg bricks so I'll have to replace that but I think I'm pretty well set.

I was planning to hang the pipe with pipe straps but it is super sturdy now that it's screwed together. Obviously I can't hang my weight off it, but it would take a lot of muscle to as much as move it.

Lit a piece of cardboard inside to test the natural draft and sure enough, it pulled right up and out the stack.

All double wall pipe from Menards.

Thanks to all of the wonderful online support, I think we'll be warm and safe for years to come.

 

More pics

 

Once my wife realizes how nice it is to have the heat from this basement stove, then I'll make moves to replace this with a cat stove of sort.

At that point, I would either sell this unit to recoup some funds or keep it for my future garage/shop which I plan to be about 1250sq ft.

Baby steps.