Finally Picked up my Dream Stove Today!

Well... after what seemed like an eternity because of bad weather and a blizzard on every planned day to take this road trip, I finally succeeded in getting the Crane model 404 i wanted.
I want to give a shout out to ONEDOLLAR (from this forum) for taking the time to find it and make me aware of it, it sort of makes my time here all worthwhile and its like karma

I will say that when going to the multi million dollar home in Wellesley to pick up this stove i was faced with it being hooked up still and on the second floor , Thank god i had my son with me and he swiftly learned what daddy did for a living decades ago and im sure the homeowner was equally impressed because the fact is he should have been paying me to get this stove out of the house I had the stove broken down in about 2 min flat and all the memory's and methods two wheeling them on stairs and disconnecting them all came rushing back to me at once

The only real problem with the stove is the slightly warped cast iron firepot (its the only thing i dont really have the ability to repair or refurbish without spending crazy money at a foundry), but other then that this stove is going look like a million bucks and its going to run like a champ when im done with it! I will be keeping my eyes out for the cast iron trivet top or even better....the soapstone top for this beauty (i know its a long shot but they are out their!!!) Im so excited and so thankful to have it and its all because of this forum! thank you ALL!

By GOD, if you're happy----I'm happy

Hey Doug, good find. Is it missing the baffle in the back or did you remove it?


Rich

coalvet wrote:Hey Doug, good find. Is it missing the baffle in the back or did you remove it?


Rich

OMG can you believe it Coalvet I got one! I thought the only way I was going to get this stove was to wait for you to go into the old folks home

ya... i had removed the baffle, doors, blower and ashpan to make the trip down the huge flight of winding stairs (ill clean everything good and assemble it), Im going to replace all gaskets, seal the shroud (id solid weld it if i had a 220 machine), paint the exterior, remove the window screens (they are not necessary), grease the stop shaft (the piece that goes through the wall of the stove to shake it), The hinge pins are definitely the 1/8th inch type (but i wont change them out unless they fail), If i can get the firepot out i will machine grind the cam shaft and the bottoms of all the finger grates, I did not attempt removal of the warped cast iron firepot at the site because this is a tricky procedure that has to be done with wedges and levers from under the firepot to prevent braking the top lip of the firepot (I think I'll be able to get this one out) but if I cannot the only alternative is a heavy hammer and smashing it out (I wont do that because i cant replace it), This unit has the heat plate on the bottom that i will leave in place (buts its not necessary if the stove is on a proper hearth (it was designed for U/L listing on a combustible surface (none of us are stupid enough to do that even with a heat plate ).

A multi-million dollar home in Wellesley??

NAWWWWW ...... that can't be!

Good score on your family history there. That's mint.

Nice... I'm still going to flood your in box, with every Crane stove I come across that are for sale though
Just as a thankyou for the advice you gave me on getting my stove to run.

James

When I bought my mother a used 404 out of a barn the fire pot was so warped It was unusable. I looked at a couple of places (I don't remember who) and found that a replacement pot was over $600. For a stove I paid $50 for that was out of the question.

I ended up making a new pot with firebrick. I do have to say, this little stove does put out the heat.

As for the soapstone top that came with it there are a few relatively deep scratches and we never use it.

beemerboy wrote:When I bought my mother a used 404 out of a barn the fire pot was so warped It was unusable. I looked at a couple of places (I don't remember who) and found that a replacement pot was over $600. For a stove I paid $50 for that was out of the question.

I ended up making a new pot with firebrick. I do have to say, this little stove does put out the heat.

As for the soapstone top that came with it there are a few relatively deep scratches and we never use it.

Wow when it rains it poors.....nice job

Doug

Glad you got the stove. Sorry you had to wait for it because of the crazy weather.
Congrats again!

beemerboy wrote:When I bought my mother a used 404 out of a barn the fire pot was so warped It was unusable. I looked at a couple of places (I don't remember who) and found that a replacement pot was over $600. For a stove I paid $50 for that was out of the question.

I ended up making a new pot with firebrick. I do have to say, this little stove does put out the heat.

As for the soapstone top that came with it there are a few relatively deep scratches and we never use it.

Ill take it!!!! LOL... the soapstone can be brought back to life by using steel wool and oil (if the scratches are super deep it wont work), I would love the soapstone top because my intentions are very special with this stove and the soapstone would work so beautifully with my plan... ill post some pics when im done. If you seriously dont use the soapstone i would pay you a small fee for shipping it (i wish i was wealthy to be able to make a good offer)

P.S... well done on using firebrick to line it (i would not pay those thievin' bastards at woodmans either)... my own dang familys patterns and products they should be paying me for copyrights lol
I will be doing the same as you come the time i need to do it!