Moving a Chambers Stove

[tmowens44]

HI:
I just bought a Chambers Model B and need to move the 460 pound jewel by myself. What is the best way to do this?
I've got a pickup but figuring out how to load it is a real challenge because I don't want to damage it. I own furniture dolly, appliance truck, come-a-long, and ATV ramps.
but am concerned about having the Stove up so high by myself.
Any suggestions on how I can do this by myself?
Thanks

[sadiepike]

Lighten the load - here's what I did:

Remove the side panels - two 3/8" bolts on the bottom of each one. This is so the porcelain won't get damaged. Pull them out carefully from the bottom.
Remove the burners, drip pans. Remove the cast iron oven bottom and the cast iron burner. Unscrew the legs so they won't get broken or bent.

And used an appliance dolly.

For safety reasons I had someone help me with the loading but it was a one man job until starting up the ramp. Unloading was a one man job.

Lots of luck with your task. I'm really enjoying the work we're doing on our "C".

[Todd W. White]

Ron's right - the side panels are NOT designed to handle the weight of the stove: they'll bend on you and be ruined forever.

Do a search of this board on "moving" and read up on it before you try it yourself - you'll be glad you did!

By the way - having the Service Manual and Cookbook is an important part of your successful use of your CHAMBERS - do you have them? If not, let me know...

[chipperhiker]

I'm not sure that moving a huge stove by yourself is the safest thing to do. Find one other person, and you can try this method, two others makes the move easier yet.

Skip the idea of ramping the stove onto the pickup. I think it's dangerous and could quickly get away from you and crush you or any helper. The stove is too tall to be safe. Plus, a come-along would place a whole lot of stress on a small area of the stove and could cause damage.

Anyway - getting a stove in the back of a pickup is EASY! It literally took us SECONDS, once we got it set up. (too bad the seller had already hurt the stove before we took over, but that's another story.)

Here's what we did, and did absolutely no damage to the stove panels. We got major advice from someone who used to move huge pieces of furniture and stoves onto a moving truck with no ramps! It's pretty cool in it's simplicity.

You need a few things, though. An appliance dolly/truck - the tall, 2-wheeled variety, not the flat 4-wheeler, and it must be taller than the stove. These trucks have integral straps and are ladder-like. Big heavy blankets/quilts for padding, and some sheets for extra coverage. Lots of cardboard squares about 10-12 inches square. Two 3 foot long clear (no big knots) 2x4" boards. Extra strapping. A piece of plywood at least as wide as the dolly (I think that's about 18", but wider is OK) and at least as tall as the tailgate. Some old throw rugs.

Wow- what a list! Once you've got that, though, it's easy.

1- Remove all extraneous pieces from stove as the above posts mention - don't forget the therowell and oven burners. I removed the gas and broiler handles because vibrations could cause them to chip the porcelain behind them. (You'll need Allen wrenches) Remove the stove skirting if it is there, but keep the legs in place - you want the extra height they give you.

2- wrap, and pad the stove with sheets and then blankets. The more, the merrier. Tape it all in place

3 - take the cardboard squares, fold in half, stack 'em up about 5-6 layers think and tape together. These corner stacks will absorb any pressure from the dolly's straps later. Heavy foam would work, too.

4- Carefully tip stove and put the 2x4s under the stove legs, one for front legs, one for back legs. This gives you added height to get the stove in the truck, as well as allows you to cart the stove from the back with the legs still on. As you're putting the board under the back legs, position the bottom lip of the appliance dolly under the board in the middle of the back side of the stove.

5 - Wrap the appliance dolly's straps around the stove, but be sure that every point where the dolly or straps contact the stove is very well padded. Use those stacked cardboard corners under the straps at each corner of contact. Snug straps but do NOT crank them tight. All they need to do is hold the stove in place gently. They won't support any weight.

6- Run another strap around the stove vertically in the middle of stove. Do not go around the 2x4s. This will keep the stove from tipping forward relative to the dolly. Again - lots of padding.

7- One last thing. The piece of plywood is going to be used as a pivot between the dolly and the tailgate. It also makes the whole package easy to slide in the truck. Attach it behind the dolly, and wrap strapping around the sides of stove to hold it there. It needs to be a few inches off the ground, or it will drag when you tip the stove backward. So, you end up with a sandwich of plywood, then dolly, then stove.

6- Last step before the actual move. Put those old throw rugs, rubber side up/fiber side down, in the back of the pickup, overlapping the edge of the tailgate a bit. Once the stove is up, and on it's back, it can slide easily on the carpet. A blanket would also work OK, but carpet is the easiest.

Ok. Now the rest is easy. You've done all the hard work already.

7- Tip the stove back, wheel to your truck, and back it up such that the plywood touches the tailgate. You can prop the second 2x 4 you just left behind back under the front legs again for stability as you then position yourselves for the final leg.

Now the lifting. It really is no big deal. Two can do it, and with three it's a breeze. You actually only need to support the weight of the stove for a tiny fraction of the process, as the tailgate takes over quickly. In one movement, grasping the bottom of the stove, lift it up and tip away from you toward the pickup so that it will end up laying flat on the tailgate. Keep moving and slide it forward into the bed.

Once it's completely in, you can tip the stove back upright, wheel it as far as possible toward the cab, put the 2x4 back under the front legs again, and just anchor the entire package in place very carefully. You obviously don't want it to go anywhere...

I hope that was clear, and sorry this ended up so long. When I moved my first stove I worried like crazy because I couldn't really visualize the process. I tried to include everything we did last time that was helpful.

It's funny. I just came in the house after gathering my own set of stove-moving necessities, and I see a stove-moving thread! Tomorrow, I'll be repeating the whole process again when I pick up my "new" green highback. Very excited about this.

Best of luck.

-Jenn

[lowracer]

We bought our Chambers before we really knew what we had or how to move it properly. We lucked out in that we didn't wreck it during the move.

What we did was walk it up to the back of our minivan, then 3 of us lifted it into the van and set it on its back. The carpeted floor of the van kept it from sliding around during the very short drive home.

Removal from the van was the reverse of the loading process.

The worst that happened was one of the legs got bent. It was just a big bolt, I think I can get one at Home Depot no problem.

You might do OK with this method or you might wreck your stove. Had I to do it all over again I'd at least have pulled the side panels off --it only takes a couple seconds to do that.

[berlyn]

Texasboy,
We used a small utility trailer and a couple of strong backs!! A lowboy trailer would work too, not as high as a bed of a truck. We did remove all the items them pikes said, except the side panels. You're looking at app. 400lbs for the Chambers stove. Hubby and 1 friend were able to move it in the garage for restoration and the into the house.

Be sure to order your Chambers literature; manual for your model and Idle Hour Cookbook, which will in able you to use the features of your Chambers. [b]A must for all owners!![/b]
Did any of the Thermawell pots comes with the stove??

Here's [url="http://community.webshots.com/album/259218814eAzvEX"]Big Bertha's journey.[/url]

Welcome to the board!!


Berlyn

[tmowens44]

Hello:
I wanted to thank everyone who responded to my query on Moving my "New" '40s era Chambers Model B, especially Stoveman and Chipperhiker. I let common sense trump my Macho and Frugalness by hiring a helper with a low trailer. I say helper because every step we did it my way.

For the move I removed all the usual suspects plus the High Back (which had been chipped on the last and only move, before this one), taped around the doors so they wouldn't cause damage, removed the aluminum back cover and used chiperhikers packing instructions. The two mile move went well.

Before reassembly I cleaned out the dust, spider webs and eggs, freed the rusted valve locking mechanisms, adjusted flapper mechanisms, lubricated broiler gears, and leveled the stove. I found three large broken springs while cleaning, but not having the service manual, I will replace them later.

I will mention two suggestions Sam the Stoveman shared with me which I found particularly valuable. I used Masonite 2x4 ft sections to set the Chambers on which makes it easy to slide, without hurting the floor, in and out (I left one under the final position and saved the others for when the Stove will need to come out). The second suggestion, that is well worth the effort, was the installation of an easy to reach shutoff gas ball valve at the back of the stove (90 deg. street "L", ball valve, and then fitting for flexable gas line). I already used this feature when I couldn't get the pilot to light. Tomorrow my service manual should arrive and I will adjust everything properly.

A Model C probably would have worked better for me but this model B happened to come up. I had used a mid 50's Tappan Revalation for 20 years but was unable to find a service manual or good source for parts. Experimentation on the Tappan was out of the question since it was a "daily driver". The Tappan will get cleaned, adjusted, and probably sold.

My new Chambers came (for $100) from the estate of the original owner who took excellent care of the stove (except for using brillo pads on the chrome) and it had only been moved once, to her daughter's garage in '99. Martha Button, the original owner, had saved a dime a week to buy her Chambers in the mid to late 40's.

The Thermowell only had the single cooking pot but the lid is in excellent shape. The springs I found inside while cleaning will be replaced, along with the gas valve lock springs (best sources?), the timer cleaned, one light fixed and I will regrease the valves. Perhaps later, I will update to code safety features.

I'm looking forward to getting my Chambers adjusted and Cooking without gas. It's really amazing, over 50 years of continous use and it only needs the springs replaced.

Thanks again for everyones help.

[treatmaker]

Texasboy,

What a wonderful history your stove has. A lot of people on this board have named their stoves in honor of the prior owners. Martha Buttons is a great moniker- Mrs M, Mrs Buttons - lots of variations. I'm glad the move went smoothly.

Treatmaker

[stoveman]

Hey Tom, You got a bonus!. When you mentioned Aluminium back, I said to myself, It must be a Model BZ! That's a plus. Several improvements over the Model B.
Happy Cooking with the Gas Turned Off!
Regards, Sam


And check out the Chambers Literature here:
[url="http://stores.ebay.com/The-Uncertain-Stoveman?refid=store"]http://stores.ebay.com/The-Uncertain-Stoveman?refid=store[/url]

[Harris521]

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