Crane Stove 404

 
beemerboy
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Post by beemerboy » Mon. Oct. 06, 2008 11:01 am

This past Saturday I picked up a Crane stove model #404. It was sitting in a barn for about 10 years and very rusty. I probably paid more for it than it was worth but I felt sorry for it.

Anyways, Other than the fire pot having been over fired and seriously warped and the baffle in front of the flue opening burned out, once it's cleaned up and painted it it will at least look good.

My questions (and I sure I will probably have more) are:

Does anyone else have that model stove and could help you me out with pictures of the baffle and how the baffle fits in?
crane cooker 404a.jpg

As it was in the barn

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kozel
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Post by kozel » Mon. Oct. 06, 2008 11:35 am

Here's my Crane. It is probably about 25 years old. It hasn't been used in about 10 years. I also have a Harman Mark I and that hasn't been used in about 5 years. We're going to use them this year and I still have about 2.5 ton of nut in an outside bin.

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beemerboy
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Post by beemerboy » Fri. Oct. 10, 2008 10:19 am

Here's my Crane. It is probably about 25 years old.
Thanks for the pictures, I'm in the process of trying to make a firebox out of cast refractory cement. A new cast iron firebox is $450.00.

 
bikerboy
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Post by bikerboy » Wed. Dec. 10, 2008 10:11 am

Hi Beemerboy,

I have two Crane 404 stoves, both still in pretty good shape, except for the need for new door gaskets. Can't find them anywhere!! If you have any leads, please let me know.

The flue baffle sits on two right angle pieces welded on either side of the flu opening. Let me know if you still need pictures of the setup. I can take the shots tonight.
Jeff

 
beemerboy
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Post by beemerboy » Wed. Dec. 10, 2008 11:09 am

Thanks Jeff,

Because a new fire box is $450.00, I ended up using some scrap steel angle to make a "nest" to hold fire brick (we'll see how long that lasts). I cut fire brick to fit and glued them in place with the black cement "goop" in a tube from the hardware store. All in all it cost me about $50 to get the stove going including a couple cans of paint.
PA070004.JPG

warped fire box

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PA140010.JPG

nest for fire brick

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PA190018.JPG

fire brick in stove

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PA170017.JPG

completed stove

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For the baffle I set a fire brick laying on it's side edge along the back edge of the new homemade fire box. Seams to work fine so far.

As for the door gaskets, I went to a hardware store and just got the rope gasket material. And for the glass gasket I got the stuff with the sticky tape on one side, cut it to length and stuck it to the door, I also stuck a piece to each of the straps that hold the glass in. It's worked ok so far.

 
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coalvet
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Post by coalvet » Fri. Jan. 23, 2009 4:55 pm

beemerboy

Hello, just purchased a Crane 404 that looks like it just left the factory, I know, I got lucky! Since I'm using my Crane Coal Cooker right now I probably won't install this until this summer. What I was wondering was how effective is the shaker system on this stove?

Rich

 
beemerboy
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Post by beemerboy » Sat. Jan. 24, 2009 12:48 am

Rich.

I am less than impressed with the shaker system. It looks like it might be aggressive but the grate pieces don't move enough to be really effective. I find the best way to clear the ashes is to poke from underneath then shake with the handle.

The latest batch of nut coal I bought (I don't know what breaker it came from as there is no name on the bag) is not very good. In order to get it to burn halfway decent is to keep one draft spinner closed and the other one open just a little. Otherwise the coal ash doesn't break up and fall like it should.


 
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coalvet
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Post by coalvet » Sat. Jan. 24, 2009 8:34 am

Thanks beemerboy for the info, it looks like I'll be joining the poke and slice club when I start using this stove. I really like the looks of the stove and the ability to burn wood in the fall and spring time. It really is in mint condition so I don't have to repair or replace any parts. Even though it was manufactured in 1982 it was only used for two seasons by the previous owner.

Rich

 
beemerboy
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Post by beemerboy » Sat. Jan. 24, 2009 9:02 am

I put this stove in my mother's house and I take care of it for her. Where the stove is located it looks very nice and it does put out a lot of heat.

Depending on the coal quality will determine how much work there is clearing the ash. The place I bought the coal gets it from a different breaker each time I've been there. First it was Kimmels then Donsco, now, this last batch has generic bags with "COAL" printed on it.

Good luck with your "new" stove.

 
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dcrane
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Post by dcrane » Sun. Apr. 22, 2012 10:32 am

beemerboy wrote:Thanks Jeff,

Because a new fire box is $450.00, I ended up using some scrap steel angle to make a "nest" to hold fire brick (we'll see how long that lasts). I cut fire brick to fit and glued them in place with the black cement "goop" in a tube from the hardware store. All in all it cost me about $50 to get the stove going including a couple cans of paint.
PA070004.JPG
PA140010.JPG
PA190018.JPG
PA170017.JPG
For the baffle I set a fire brick laying on it's side edge along the back edge of the new homemade fire box. Seams to work fine so far.

As for the door gaskets, I went to a hardware store and just got the rope gasket material. And for the glass gasket I got the stuff with the sticky tape on one side, cut it to length and stuck it to the door, I also stuck a piece to each of the straps that hold the glass in. It's worked ok so far.
who the F... is charging you 450 for that cast iron pot? Im getting seriously tired of people getting ripped of by company's who stole my fathers copyrighted designs. I have the aluminum mold to make this firepot and I could bring it to a foundry and have one made for less then that! God I wish my dad was here because he would know what to do =\

anyways, the baffle for this model is simply a 3/16 inch steel plate which hangs and its purpose is to block approx 1/2 the flue pipe opening (to lessen the airflow out the chimney). You can effectively block this in anyway thats easy for you and safe, If I was you a best option might be to simply have a welding shop tack on a peice of 1/4 sheet stock steel to the back of the firebox (the only reason this baffle was made removable for the 404 was to allow for the cast iron firebox to be removed, but the fact is by the time anyone got around to removing it, it would generally require smashing it out with a large hammer and cracking the casting into pieces, knowing this tells you that their is no reason to have a removable baffle because in the end you can always just smake out the tacked in baffle if you needed to.

If anyone is an attorney and knows how to handle stopping rip off company's from overcharging people for my dads products please write to me and you can represent me in a cival action if you wish...

 
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Richard S.
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Post by Richard S. » Sun. Apr. 22, 2012 10:55 am

dcrane wrote: If anyone is an attorney and knows how to handle stopping rip off company's from overcharging people for my dads products please write to me and you can represent me in a cival action if you wish...
This would only fall under patents or trademarks. Even when patented it only lasts 20 years and trademarks only cover logos, names etc. If you trademarked the name or already have it trademarked you could go after them if they marketing it under the Crane name but not if they were marketing it as "fits the Crane model". It's after market and just like cars anyone can make parts unless it's patented.......

Copyright covers works of art, literature etc. That would be a bit of stretch. I'm not lawyer so you're best bet is to contact one but I would guess they are going to tell you the same thing.

Also keep in mind that firebox may be original equipment, a lot of these stores that have been in business for a long time end up with lot of old stock hence the reason they can charge an arm and leg for it.

---edit----

I should note decorative molds are copyrighted but I don't know if that applies to industrial molds.

 
beemerboy
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Post by beemerboy » Sun. Apr. 22, 2012 12:14 pm

dcrane wrote:
beemerboy wrote:Thanks Jeff,

Because a new fire box is $450.00,.
who the F... is charging you 450 for that cast iron pot? I'm getting seriously tired of people getting ripped of by company's who stole my fathers copyrighted designs. I have the aluminum mold to make this fire pot and I could bring it to a foundry and have one made for less then that! God I wish my dad was here because he would know what to do =\
I looked up one place http://www.woodmanspartsplus.com/169063/products/ ... repot.html and the crane fire pot is $491.77 .
I think that there was another company, Stove parts Plus, but they appear to be out of business, at least their website is closed.

 
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dcrane
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Post by dcrane » Sun. Apr. 22, 2012 6:53 pm

beemerboy wrote:
dcrane wrote: who the F... is charging you 450 for that cast iron pot? I'm getting seriously tired of people getting ripped of by company's who stole my fathers copyrighted designs. I have the aluminum mold to make this fire pot and I could bring it to a foundry and have one made for less then that! God I wish my dad was here because he would know what to do =\
I looked up one place http://www.woodmanspartsplus.com/169063/products/ ... repot.html and the crane fire pot is $491.77 .
I think that there was another company, Stove parts Plus, but they appear to be out of business, at least their website is closed.
thanks for the heads up, the patents my dad had were from the late seventies/early eighties so im sure legally they can sell these things but they damb sure cant use my freeeekinn name and claim they are Crane parts (i don't see anyplace they say "aftermarket" or "CraneLike" parts. The fact is this firepot can be made for about $200 if your buying one (that cost would go way down if 50 or 100 were bought). Ill pull out the old aluminum molds from moms house and make them available for people to use if they wish.

 
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whistlenut
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Post by whistlenut » Sun. Apr. 22, 2012 9:15 pm

Thanks for joining the forum! You sure have a proud legacy to follow. If you want to PM me, I know of 50+ Crane stoves near me. Thanks!

:shock: :D :idea:

 
CapeCoaler
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Post by CapeCoaler » Sun. Apr. 22, 2012 10:09 pm

They may be NOS...
You could have a good thing going if you have access to the Knowlage base and forms...
Larry has a nice business rebuilding Chubbys...
you could do the same with Cranes...
Ya just gotta loose some of the bitterness... ;)


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