Life in Tee Harbor, Alaska

We bought a wood stove!

We have talked about getting a wood stove for this house since we bought it.  The quote we got for the stove, all parts and labor was between $3000 and $4000.  Ouch!  So I have been looking for a used stove since then.  In reading my old Mother Earth News magazines, I found a stove called a Fisher Wood Stove.  It was so cute and had trees on the front.  It is an airtight type and is a really heavy-duty, well made stove from what I could see.  So I was on a mission to find their "Baby Bear" model which heats up to 1000 sq ft.  I looked on ebay and saw a couple of them over the past year and a half, but none in good condition that the seller was willing to ship. 

So last night I was looking in the newspaper and saw in the classifieds that someone had a Fisher wood stove for sale.  I figured it was probably one of the bigger models, but had to call anyway to find out.  The lady wasn't sure what model it was, but it was about a foot wide by a couple feet deep - sounded like the right size to me.  I asked if it had one adjustment knob on the front - yes - sure enough, it is the Baby Bear!!  I was so excited - I drove to see it and take pictures so Rod could see it too before we decided for sure to buy it.  There is a little rust to clean up, but not a big deal.  Rod said we should go for it - it is exactly what I've been looking for and we don't have to deal with shipping it!  We picked it up this afternoon...now just have to find out how much to get it installed.  We have to decide what kind of heat shield to put up on the wall behind where the stove will go.  We are considering a copper sheet that a man in town does - and he can put different designs on it like fish or bears or moose or whatever - that may turn out too expensive, but we are going to find out.  I love copper!

Untitled Comment

12:56 AM, Friday, June 22, 2007 .. Posted by ApplesofGold

Hi there. I really enjoyed reading your blog for a bit this morning!
Congrats on the stove-it is a beauty. We have a similar looking stove in our garage. It's a different brand, but the top looks the same. We boil sap on it every spring. We have a wood stove for our house, but it is a wood burner/boiler. It's nice having it to hear our domestic water. So, we have to have a fire once a week during the summer, too-but the valve for heating the house is off, so it doesn't make it hotter in here.
I really liked reading about your hide tanning experience. My kids wanted to tan a deer hide once and we tried it, but it didn't go well. It was during deer season, so was freezing cold out. We were working with it frozen unfortunately. We also did try using the deer brains-which was so gross and stunk up the house boiling it. Never again. LOL
Holly

Congradulations

4:00 AM, Friday, June 22, 2007 .. Posted by babysteps

Congradulations!!!! The woodstove is a real adventure. We purchaced ours two years ago and haven't regretted it. We have a free wood source. It has reduced our propane use by about 70% I've done a little cooking on it and it has a zillion uses. Check on my post on 10 things my woodstove does for me. I recently found another one. A summer use. The stove sits in the basement. The basement is a walk out and the clothes line is right outside the door. I had trouble finding my close pins because I would set them down in their basket anywhere in the house. Now I always make sure I set them on top of the woodstove! I can always find them now.

Best Wishes with keeping warm. Christine

Untitled Comment

4:33 AM, Friday, June 22, 2007 .. Posted by homesteadinthemaking

Oh, it is lovely. I would love to have one of those.
Trixi

Untitled Comment

8:29 AM, Friday, June 22, 2007 .. Posted by southernbelle

Love the trees on the front of it. I know you are so happy with it!

Untitled Comment

4:00 AM, Wednesday, July 11, 2007 .. Posted by tiffibug

Hey, That is the same brand stove we have. Ours is slightly larger, it has two doors on the front. It really puts out the heat. it's in the basement, but heats almost the whole house. I think this house is about 2500 sq ft. Good luck getting it installed!