Getting my new Jotul F400 up my stairs.

[AKRover]

So I picked up a barley used Jotul F400 Castine on Craigslist or $900 this past winter (wrong size for the guys cabin), and now I need to get it up the stairs to install it in my house. When I picked the stove up from the seller I rented a towable engine hoist to load and unload it into the garage. If I remember right it weighs about 400 pounds and is really only big enough for two guys to get ahold of and I don't want anyone getting hurt or have it dropped on my floor accidently.

I was thinking about using a stair climbing hand truck but I haven't found a place that rents them yet. Any other suggestions?

 

[tatra805]

Keep it upright.

Make a step in appropriate wood which makes a ''bridge''. you move the stove up a couple of steps and then put this bridge part so the stove stands in normal position flat on the stairs and you can have a rest.

Drawing would be nice not? well just think of this bridge part as an L piece

turn the L 90 degrees clockwise and imagine looking at your stairs from the side, stairs going up to the right.


stove__ step 5 stove stands on L + step4
_____ step 4 long leg of L lays on step 4
|__ step 3 short leg of L stands on step 3


You will need to adapt the L piece dimensions to fit the footprint of the stove and the height of your stairs.


Never try to lay the stove on the stairs, it will slip instantly. I saw people trying to pull an object up using a fibreboard plate laying on the stairs and pulling it by rope - sliding the thing on this board. You dont have a point where you can stop, it has to go al the way up in 1 time and gravity is against you.

My 2cents

Good luck!

 

[Valkyrie Rider]

Use a good heavy duty appliance dolly. We move cast iron boilers with them ALL the time (I work plumbing/heating for a living).

3 guys can move a 500 LB. boiler without too much trouble and some thought.

Another suggestion if possible on your model stove.... if the door/doors, grates, etc can be removed easily.... take them off! Any weight you can easily remove will be to your advantage.

Good luck and make safety your #1 priority!!!

 

[myzamboni]

Disassemble the stove as much as possible(door, top,etc). Jotul's are not too difficult to take apart/put back together and it cuts the weight down to a more manageable range. Download a manual from the website.

 

[AKRover]

Disassemble the stove as much as possible(door, top,etc). Jotul's are not too difficult to take apart/put back together and it cuts the weight down to a more manageable range. Download a manual from the website.

I have the manuel and besides the door it doesn't look like there is much else to take apart. At least not something that wouldn't require me to use stove cement to put it back together. I will look at it again though, maybe I missed something.

I was looking at an appliance dolly the other day that had some roller belts above the wheels that let you drab it over the edge of the stair easily. I'm thinking that might be just enough.

 

[A. Stanton]

AK,
I would advise you to contact some professional movers. They might have a way to move it and only charge you about a buck. Let me tell you what happen to my brother. He and a buddy tried to move a gun safe up a flight of stairs. They didn't realize that they could lighten it by removing the door. The safe got away from them while going up the stairs. It hit the foyer and my brother ended up replacing the foyer floor tile.

 

[LTREES]

Jotul 400

You just bought a great stove. I got one 3-4 years ago ( a single door). Older models had 2 doors. Take off the door, take out the bricks, then turn the 2 levers by the baffle 90 degrees. push the baffle up and allow a corner to dip down. I take mine out to clean once a year. There is a piece of steel on top that sets in the top piece. The stove will be considerably lighter. 2 people can move it with no problem. i would still use a dolly though, with a strap !! Good luck, I love mine. :lifter:

 

[AKRover]

Disassemble the stove as much as possible(door, top,etc). Jotul's are not too difficult to take apart/put back together and it cuts the weight down to a more manageable range. Download a manual from the website.

Upstairs?

Install the stove downstairs and let the hot air rise up the stairway! LOL.

I'm serious. The thought of having to haul wood upstairs to a woodstove.........

My house is a split level and the down stairs is an in home child care facility that my wife runs. So either way there are stairs and I don't think my wife wants a 500 degree stove around her kids.

 

[AKRover]

You just bought a great stove. I got one 3-4 years ago ( a single door). Older models had 2 doors. Take off the door, take out the bricks, then turn the 2 levers by the baffle 90 degrees. push the baffle up and allow a corner to dip down. I take mine out to clean once a year. There is a piece of steel on top that sets in the top piece. The stove will be considerably lighter. 2 people can move it with no problem. i would still use a dolly though, with a strap !! Good luck, I love mine. :lifter:

I will give that a try, sounds easy enough. Thanks.