New Member and New (?) Purchase

Hi all,

New to the Forum, but relatively experienced in burning coal. Trying to identify a specific stove I have the opportunity to buy. I know it's a Franco Belge, but the current owner doesn't know model or output. Trying to identify whether this will fit our needs, and to see if it's a dual-fuel (wood/coal) or strictly coal.

Any help would be appreciated!

The size of the firebox doesn't look large enough to hold any amount of wood.

I vote for coal only.

Is that cutout on top a hopper feed or just a top loader? Scott

The franco Belge is made for coal. Nice little stove but I woudn't expect to heat more than a few rooms with it. That's just a supplementary stove in the true sense, I think they are around 40k - 50K BTU. Good to keep the living room warm and maybe the adjacent room and a hallway or if you wanted to keep a cellar warm. Check the grates and be sure to open it up and check the back plate and plates in the middle that are inside the stove for warping. Many people over fire them because they aren't meant for a lot of heat and get a fire inside the hopper and warp the plates.

My brother picked one up in decent shape about 5 years ago for about $300 but that one you posted looks much newer and is a lot nicer style. Use pea coal if you buy it.

This past year, we were lucky enough to only burn 175 gals of heating oil. We did this thru use of our Glenwood M cookstove in the kitchen on wood/nut coal, and a Parlor Stove in the Living Room. Not airtight - would hold a burn for maybe 6 hrs - and in the process ran thru about 8 cord of wood and 1/2 ton of coal. I believe the output of the parlor stove was around 45K BTU. Between the 2 stoves, we kept the house 60-70 in the cold New Hampshire Winter - that is until things burnt out! I'm hoping that by specifically identifying this stove, I can figure out it's specs and see if a) it'll keep up with what we have currently in-place and b) do it in a more consistent way, so I can avoid going to bed at 70 degrees and waking up at 50.

Well I can tell you this, you can easily get a 12 hour burn from one of them and if you slowed it down maybe 24 hours. Sounds to me as if its perfect for your situation. You probably go through about 3 to 4 ton if you keep it lit for the season. They are very efficient.

The only think I don't like about them other than getting parts is the exhaust, the outlet from the firebox is on either sides down near the front and it wraps around the stove. These outlets are not very big and not accessible. You need to make sure you keep them clear, get a narrow vac hose for cleaning them out about once a month.

Thanks for the info and tips - very helpful, as is the site - great info that should help us transition to coal from wood with a more shallow "learning curve".

Any ideas on what model this thing is? I'd really like to try and come up with the specs on it before I make the purchase, but if I don't act quickly, I'm likely to loose the opportunity...

I'm also looking at a Surdiac for heat in my detached Garage/Woodshop. The propane Daisy Heads and my portable Kero just didn't cut it this winter, and I figure if we're looking for a new stove for the house......

That is a rather handsome stove,, especially for a Franco Belge,, most of the FB stoves are rather ugly.. looking at the firebox, I think it is the same BTU capacity as most of the FB stoves... roughlt 50K btu... if the price is reasonable,, like $3-500, I'd just buy it,, there is going to be a rush on coal burning appliances when the reality of oil prices sinks in,, you should be able to aways get your money back if you chose to sell it..

I'd say it will far exceed the performance of the parlor stove,, it will for sure have a much longer burn time..

My advice is to buy it if it is priced right,,

Greg L

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OOF!....so I guess when it rains it pours....

for about the same price as the Franco Belge, I can now seem to find a Harman Magnafire Mark II, closer to our home, and about the same age (+/- 10 years old).

I've seen a good number of folks on the site with the Harmans, but not nearly as pretty as the Franco Belge, which I'll need to sell the wife on.....

Suggestions welcome!

Buy the Harman,, VERY heavy duty,, more BTU output, easy to clean [the FB is not easy] and if something does break, you can buy parts..

The Haman Mark series are very well made, it won't be for sale for very long,,

Greg L

Well, the Harman was scooped from me....back to the Franco Belge. Does anyone have any info on these units? I've ID'd the model to be a 144.08.01. I believe it will be sufficient for our needs, but could use some advice/resources on the unit.

OK....so the Franco Belge is purchased....now I need to move it. I'm unable to find much of anything on the web on this model, and am at least trying to find out how much the thing weighs so I know how many beers I'll be buying on "move day"...

Bueller....Bueller.....anyone?

Rough guess is that its probably 400lbs. Take apart what you can before moving it. The plates I mentioned earlier should come right out, they aren't attached. Be sure to pay attention to how you take them out. Also make sure to wear gloves when you're handling any of the internal parts and wash your hands thoroughly afterwards if you don't.

There's other parts you should be able to take off too to lighten the load. Not sure about the cast iron model but on the others you could take the panels on the outside off like the lid, they are just ornamental. Take the door off is you can. If the bolts attaching anyhthing don't loosen easily forget it though, you'll probably end up snapping them.

I'd have at least 3 people to move it if you have to move it as dead weight, you might be able to get away 2 . Makes sure you don't snap the legs off.

I don't think you'll be disappointed with it, let us know how it works out.

Whew!....You weren't kidding.

Picked the stove up and it definitely had lots more heft than I expected. Took 3 of us (even after dismantling anything that was only bolted on) to move it along with the help of a Dolly. Was also much nicer than I expected. Got a really good deal. Not that I'm crying for Winter to begin - by any means - but I'll be very interested to see how this unit performs. Now begins the task of cleaning everything out/up and putting her all back together.

Are there any resources out there for owner's manuals on these units? I've looked on the Franco-Belge website, but they only seem to support their newer units. Any advice on where to pay special attention when cleaning/inspecting?

TIA