Vermont Castings-Vigilant

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dustytools

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I called about about woodstove that a guy had on Craigslist today. This older couple recently bought a house that had this stove in it when they bought it, he said that he had no desire to burn wood so he installed a new heat pump and is selling the stove to try and recoup some of the cost of the new heatpump. He said the stove is in excellent condition but he cant tell me if it a coal or wood burner. My question is if it is in fact a coal stove can I still burn wood in it. I hate to drive 1.5 hrs to look at it if its not gonna be something that I can use. The only info that he has is that it is a Vermont Castings Vigilant and he cant see well enough to make out any of the numbers on the tag. Thanks.
 
I have the VC Vigilant. Nice stove. Mine burns wood and used about 7.5 cord to soley heat my house all last winter. My house is around 1200 square feet and it has no problem with it.

Here are some pics. I built the diamond plate aluminum box for firewood. It holds a couple wheelbarrows full, the rest is right outside the door in the shed. The kindling is 1" pine boards I split up. FIL gets them off pallets at work.

The stove is in our kitchen. Last year I had a couple weeks off and cooked Rabbit stew and Grouse soup on it. I'd go out and make a loop around the 20, then throw the game in the cast iron pan. Works good for cooking or warming things up.

These are expensive stoves and top of the line. I don't know the price for sure because mine was given to me by my uncle from Texas, he retired at 60 as a captain for Southwest Airlines (mandatory retirement). He said he didn't use it enough. Stove is a 1977 model I think and in mint condition.

DSCN1644.jpg


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Your stove fits his verbal description to a Tee. He is only asking $200 for it, im just wondering if I drive there and find it to be worth the money and it is a coal stove can I still use wood in it? Thanks for posting the pics.
 
I think........ THINK, you won't want it if its set up for coal. My previous stove was a V C Resolute. My maunal showed the insert kit for burning coal with all the part numbers to convert it to burn either. Assuming the stoves would be similar, if the stove you are interested is set up for coal, you could physically burn wood in it but you will only fit a few sticks of wood in it that are 10 or 12 inches long. The coal inserts greatly reduce the inside volume of the firebox, and create a much larger air gap between the actual firebox and the exterior walls of the stove. Again.... this was on my Resolute, so your mileage may vary...... but is supect the Vigilant would be the same.



P.S. though their older stoves could be set up to burn either...... the parts to convert them are no longer available to my knowledge. It would be unrealistic to think you would be able to get the inserts to convert it to wood if in fact its currently a coal burner.
 
Dusty,

See if they guy can hook you up with the phone number for the previous owner. Then you'll know which way it's set up. They had a coal conversion kit but where mostly a wood burner. They are darned good stove for $200 if it's a wood burner. I don't own one but my firewooding partner and neighbor has one and it will drive you out of the house when cranking. Top/side loading ability is cool too.:cheers:
 
Ask the owner if he can fit three or four decent sized pieces of 16" long wood in the stove. If he can, its set up for wood.
 
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I went to look at the stove today and it is identical to the one that Nailsbeats posted the picture of except this one has solid doors instead of glass. It is in excellent condition with the exception of a small amount of surface rust on the lower portion of the stove. Any ideas on how to remove the surface rust and shine it up a bit. BTW, I paid her $200 and brought it home with me.
 
I got her cleaned up last night, some fine steel wool and a lot of elbow grease and it looks real good. I wiped it down with a little cooking spray and rubbed it off real good just to give it a little shine. I even managed to find and download the users guide and instructions from the Vermont Castings website. Here are some pics. View attachment 74333

View attachment 74334

View attachment 74335

View attachment 74336 Sorry about the crappy pics, there seems to be a rash of red in everything Ive taken here lately.
 
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Looks like a great buy for $200 - but I bet it gobbles up the wood. That will just give you an excuse to buy a couple more saws and go cut more often.
 
Good deal

A friend of mine has a VC Defiant. She can tell right away when her ash pan door gasket gets out of whack.. It will begin to consume a lot more wood.
That defiant in my opinion is a very tough stove to beat. I am sure the one Terry bought will do a great job in heating his home.
Did you use stove black? Or stove paint? The stove black goes on like shoe polish and once dried you can buff it to a pretty high gloss.
 
I havent used any paint or polish yet. I was at TSC yesterday and they havent stocked any stove polish or gaskets yet.
 
stove black

That's what I was going to suggest. We used that on a kitchen stove that had some kind of solid burners when I was in Germany. Worked good. That cooking oil will burn off the first time you fire it up and smoke all the bugs (and people) out of your house... LOL

nice score,
Ian
 
That's what I was going to suggest. We used that on a kitchen stove that had some kind of solid burners when I was in Germany. Worked good. That cooking oil will burn off the first time you fire it up and smoke all the bugs (and people) out of your house... LOL

nice score,
Ian

LOL. I just wiped a little cooking spray on it then buffed it off, hopefully it wont smoke us out too bad.:laugh:
 
Nice stove. I'll never forget the first good woodstove I ever bought, a Vermont Castings Defiant. I even rigged up a steak grill on her from an old and somewhat worthless imported "Franklin" stove that I gave away.

That stove burned long logs as hot as a $2 pistol. :cheers:
 
Ok, I am bringing this thread back to ask a question to other Vigilant owners. Do you use the "thermostat controlled" air intake door as intended or just prop it open?

On my stove, the bimetallic spring is detached from the control lever and therefore I have always just propped the door open with various sizes of things depending on how much air I want to feed. I think that automatic control of the air intake door is a neat idea but does it actually work?

Any suggestions on reattaching the srping to the lever? I have tried soldering, but it does not hold well and melts once things get hot. I have thought about trying J-B Weld, but it is only rated to 500°F. I think brazing may be the only option. How the heck is the spring attached to the lever to begin with?

Thanks!
 
Your stove fits his verbal description to a Tee. He is only asking $200 for it, im just wondering if I drive there and find it to be worth the money and it is a coal stove can I still use wood in it? Thanks for posting the pics.

i just sold one for an old lady for $250. almost the exact same stove as pictured above. the guy drove like 60 miles to get it and didn't even flinch at the price.
 
door parts

my roomate has teh exact same stove wiht the glass doors does anyone have any idea where you can get new parts to fix the glass from falling in gaskets retainers etc or just some solid door replacemnts i would really appreciat any help
Pete
 
my roomate has teh exact same stove wiht the glass doors does anyone have any idea where you can get new parts to fix the glass from falling in gaskets retainers etc or just some solid door replacemnts i would really appreciat any help
Pete


When i needed parts for my VC Resolute, Woodmans had everything i needed in stock.

http://www.woodmanspartsplus.com/
 
thanks

ductape thank you very much i will give them a call does you or does anyone know the model number of the stove pictured in naisbeat's message?
 
Chris
I have a Vigilant sitting in the garage. Bought it from a guy for 35 bucks. Havent used it but once to burn the new paint but mine had the bimetal spring mounting hole in the back all crusted up. Tried to tap it and it was a useless endeavor, so I just bent the flimsy door on the back up enough to expose about a half inch or so of the bottom of the opening. Seemed to work well. Still not sure about the damper though. I know after they're hot your supposed to close those things and let the smoke and hot gasses weave around and back. I totally redid mine but really have no use for it. Try propping the door open about a half inch or so. You might find it's all you need. Hope this helps.
 
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