Berkshire wood burner to replace my Wonderwood

[DJ4wd]

My old wonderwood is still doing ok, but like everyone I've ever had the insides will bow in , cracking brick, and making getting good sized wood in a chore.
My dad ran across a sweet Berkshire, bought it ,painted it , and it came out nice. Its on craigslist now, and Im thinking about getting it to use in the house. My concerns are how heavy this monster is (400lbs), no ash pan, and will I need to move it further away from the wall then my WC is?
Heres the link, and of course I wont even pay half that.
http://columbus.craigslist.org/grd/2068067059.html

 

[deerlakejens]

Looks pretty similar to my Fisher, which is a great old stove. The species of wood you burn has a lot to do with the ash situation. I burn doug fir and only clean out ash about once per month, no big deal at all. I went through a lot of cottonwood a few years ago, and while it threw off plenty of heat and lasted a lot longer than I was told it would, I had to clean ashes out almost weekly.

 

[DJ4wd]

This year I am fortunate enough to have 95% locust mixed with a few logs of cherry. I do know I've one had to empty the ash pan 3 times all year so far.

And as far as the spacing goes, my current stove is covered with a sheet metal box, but is still a metal box full of fire Of course this Berkshire is all steel which I have seen glow red when wide open. I have concrete board up so I should be fine.

 

[Locust Cutter]

This year I am fortunate enough to have 95% locust mixed with a few logs of cherry. I do know I've one had to empty the ash pan 3 times all year so far.

And as far as the spacing goes, my current stove is covered with a sheet metal box, but is still a metal box full of fire Of course this Berkshire is all steel which I have seen glow red when wide open. I have concrete board up so I should be fine.

My B.I.L. has a similar Fisher and I'm continually amazed by the heat that it puts out. It's a lot less efficient than my Pacific Energy, but makes a lot more heat than my EPA stove does,...:bang::bang::bang: I'd love to find one for my barn, but will likely end up doing the double barrel stove instead. Either way, if you can get a good price on it,... BUY IT!

 

[DJ4wd]

Would you all think it would be less efficient than my Wonderwood?
& what about the amount of smoke I would let out? Due to the missing metal flap that used to hang in the entry to the fire box every time I open it up a massive amount of smoke comes out.

 

[deerlakejens]

First of all, my Fisher doesn't smoke at all if I'm burning seasoned wood, which is all I do. Get a flue thermometer and keep the temp around 450. It should never get close to "glowing red" and you and your stove should be very happy.