Parting Out a Harman Magnum

My boss from a place I work part time told me I could have all the parts from his stove as it has two grapefruit sized holes rusted through on the back of it. It pretty much looks like mine except it has a solid window in the door and mine has 3 panes. The other difference is the grate system as mine is one piece and his is like 3 pieces the way it looks. Two smaller grates and a heavier one that they sit on. Mine has flat firebricks also where his makes a V shape in there as the internal structure is a little different. He said to rob everything off it I can use for spare parts and he wanted to keep the cast iron unit in case he needed to cut steel out of it for something to repair on the farm.

Had a couple of questions:

1. Are the parts from this stove compatible with mine? I'm guessing one of the stoves is newer than the other as there are some slight differences.

2. How does the grate on his stove come off? I have the two smaller grates out (just lifted off) but can't get the larger cast iron grate that they sat on removed. I saw there was a small screw on the front of it that held it to the feed assembly. All corroded so had to drill it out. Also got as much of the gunk/gasket material out from between the grate and feed assembly as I could. Prybar still does not break it loose. I wanted to take the whole feed assembly out the back of the stove if it would fit in mine but need to get that grate off. The bracket that the fire bricks sit on seems to be stuck in there as well. I don't think the stove was well maintained and wonder if it is not worth my while to mess with the assembly? Maybe I should just take the brain box, pusher block, pusher rod assembly, motor etc.... and let that dang feed assembly in there to rot! Would be nice to get it out, clean it up and have for a back up if I ever need one though. Any suggestions on how to get it out of there?

3. I have a friend who was a Seabee in the Navy and is pretty good with a welder. Should I be telling the boss I want the stove as well? Is it repairable? Would need a whole new back panel. The boss said something about selling it for scrap at 8 or 9 cents a pound. If I should make an offer to buy that from him what would be a fair price? Anyone know how much the stove weighs?

Thanks,
Scott

If it is like my mag stoker then the bolts on the back of the stove need to be removed and the whole thing can slide out the back. If it fits in your opening that would be a good thing since your one piece grate is no longer available. If it doesn't fit in your opening then maybe your welder friend can fab something up to make it fit so you can use the newer dual grate unit.

Definitely get the fans, feed motor and control box off the thing.

e.t.a....I have one dis-assembled in the workshop, later I'll check the stoker feed assembly to see if there is anything else hidden there to get it apart.

I think I want it. Harman will not sell those stoves in Alaska, claiming they are not UL rated with our subbituminous coal. I have sent coal to anthracite country and on overfeed stokers it likes to burn up to the hopper, makes people nervous. The pictures I've seen of the Harman magnum are of the coal pushing up and across a grate and I would like to try one of them with my coal. How big are these stoves, and how heavy, I need to figure shipping. Maybe we could buy him a piece of plate for his farm needs.

Yes, I removed the two bolts on the back of the unit but the feed assembly does not budge. I am assuming the grate and the piece that the firebricks sit on needs to come out the front of the unit and will not fit out the opening on the back. At least that is how my unit is when I take it all apart for maintenance. I have to remove the one piece grate as the hole is not big enough in the back to remove it while still sitting on the feed assembly. That would be great if you could check your disassembled one out to see if I'm missing something that is holding it in there so tight. I just wonder if it is all rusted fast?

Short Bus,

I don't know a lot about types of coal but what makes your coal (subbituminous) different than ours down here that they won't give the Harmans a UL rating. Does it burn hotter?

There are no other fasteners holding it to the bottom housing other than the one in the front middle. The 'ears' you see in the pic with the bolt holes are what keeps the brick retainer in place on mine.

First pic with the grate assembly (silver) in place on stoker housing (rusty/black)
Second pic with the grate assembly slid out a couple inches. You can see a lip that fits under the stoker housing.
Third pic with the grate assembly removed and flipped over so you can see there are no other fasteners except that bolt hole in the very front which I think you mentioned drilling out.

Great pictures! That helps a lot as now I know it must be rusted/corroded fast to the feed assembly or stoker housing as you call it. Maybe stuck fast at that lip? Gonna spray it up with PB Blaster and let it soak a week or two and see if that helps to get it loose. Might have to pound at it pretty good with a 2 lb sledge as well to get it loose. Thanks a lot for the pictures. Nice to be able to see cleaned up individual parts instead of a cluster of corrosion/rust like the one I'm trying to take apart. Wish me luck!

Wolfe,take your time and keep chipping away at all four sides of that Stoker Assembly. I'd say it made itself a Home corroding itself to the rear of the Stove Body. For a Unit built that stout to have a couple of grapefruit holes in it,it must have gone through Hell and definitely not been shown any Love. I'm not at all sure about the early vs. later generations' interchangeability. CoalKirk's a Source on that,but he's Majorly Tied Up with a Little Junebug at the moment. It may be a while before he can chime in. Send him a PM and he can review later. Any other Harman Magnum Wizards out there got thoughts?

Wolfhunter,

Subbituminous is more volatile and has less BTU per pound. Coal is a term that covers many things, most of them black and combustible. I'll lurk around for a Harman somewhere else. You seam to be putting some real time and effort into getting this one out. Shipping will probably wipe my program out anyway.

Coating the side and front joints with PB Blaster and letting it soak for a while should do the trick.

You should be able to get a flat bar between the grate assembly and stoker housing in the front and apply some pressure to eventually pry them apart. If you can't then maybe that bolt isn't drilled out all the way?

Get a measurement from the back of the stove on the size of the hole for the stoker assembly on both stoves for comparison to see if they can be interchanged. You should be able to measure across the slot where you can see the gasket where it goes through the back of the stove. I have not seen a single grate model to know if it is smaller than the dual grate model so I am interested in what you see.

The new stoker unit is interchangeable with the old style.
Harman sells a Kit for the old style, that upgrades the stove, replacing the stoker unit to the new style.

I would take the guts with the stoker unit too. Computer, probes, fans , everything.
Good find! Harman would charge you over $500 just for the new -style stoker unit.