Moving a Chambers

Hiya,
My wife is buying a second "B" model so as to have a plethora of spare parts in case I mess something up in my restoration. so... Can I move this stove on its back? Or must it be shipped upright? And Why?
Thanks
Dave (husband of Sparkysmom)

There is a lot of great information on the board regarding how best to move the stoves. Use the search function and try entering the words moving stove.

I don't think that shipping it on its back would be a good idea.

One point that has been made repeatedly is that the side panels will bend if compressed. This can fracture the porcelain or result in permanent deformity of the panels. Fortunately the panels are very easy to remove. There are two bolts on the bottom of each panel. Loosen the nuts on them and the panels will be easy to remove.

All of this information is covered in greater detail in earlier postings with a bunch of other useful information regarding the best way to lighten the load and actually move the stove. I believe that lkeriegirl had the most recent set of detailed instructions, but there is another excellent description from Chipperhiker that is earlier.

Are you moving this stove yourself? If not there are also references to shippers that people have used. At least two of us used Uship with good results and Eric (search for movers) has also been highly recommended if you have flexibility on pick-up and delivery dates.

I actually transported two of my three stove on their backs inside a Suburban, and they were fine. I removed absolutely everthing I could inside the stoves, but I left the side panels attached. I also removed the handles and dials that I could, and padded any that were stubborn with newspaper that I taped in place. I also padded the service door. I didn't want to risk them damaging the porcelain if they bounced around during transport.

I did wrap blankets around the stove for padding, and made sure there was no pressure on any one area (blanket fold, etc.) before I drove off into the sunset.


-Jenn

Jenn,

One important point you have left out--

Tell us: how significantly would you say that the cuckoo-chambers-addiction dust adds to the weight of the stoves? When moving, I mean. So one can avoid or cultivate as desired? Just asking!

ERIN!

<font color="#FFFFFF" size="1">[ August 20, 2006 11:29 PM: Message edited by: lkeriegrl ]</font>

Absolutely okay to move on the back. Just be aware of a few things:

As advised previously, remove everything possible.

Remove side panels.

If your model has the high back (Silverlite), or any kind of backsplash, would highly recommend removing it before shipment. The point where it is attached to the stove is very prone to damage if the back is used for leverage (in laying the stove down or picking it up), or, if the lower part of the stove is lifted while the stove is lying on it's back. Never use the backsplash for leverage.

Good idea to remove broiler burner. It is hard to restrain when laying stove onto back, and can damage folding top when it does so.

Be aware that the manifold pipe sticking out of back of B needs to be accomodated. IE, you must make a floor that the stove back can rest on out of four two by fours (cut to length of lower stove). They will support the lower stove back without bending the sheet metal, and provide enough clearance for the protruding end of the manifold.

Or, just use your anti gravity device and be done with all this nonscence.

Good luck,

Joe P

Absolutely okay to move on the back. Just be aware of a few things:

As advised previously, remove everything possible.

Remove side panels.

If your model has the high back (Silverlite), or any kind of backsplash, would highly recommend removing it before shipment. The point where it is attached to the stove is very prone to damage if the back is used for leverage (in laying the stove down or picking it up), or, if the lower part of the stove is lifted while the stove is lying on it's back. Never use the backsplash for leverage.

Good idea to remove broiler burner. It is hard to restrain when laying stove onto back, and can damage folding top when it does so.

Be aware that the manifold pipe sticking out of back of B needs to be accomodated. IE, you must make a floor that the stove back can rest on out of four two by fours (cut to length of lower stove). They will support the lower stove back without bending the sheet metal, and provide enough clearance for the protruding end of the manifold.

Or, just use your anti gravity device and be done with all this nonscence.

Good luck,

Joe P

I've moved two in the last three months. The best advice I read, here, was to cut a 2x4 to about 40" and place it under the rear legs of the stove. That way, you can easily put a dolly under the 2x4 to move the stove. From there, the job is pretty easy with one person (two is better) steadying the stove and another person handling the dolly.

Just remember that the stove is considerably heavier on the oven/broiler side and take that into consideration when you're dollying. We learned that the hard way with the first one, but no problems the second time around.

And of course, like everyone else has said, remove the burner grates, burners, burner pans, the oven bottom liner, griddle and broiler pan, they all simply lift off/out for a savings of a good 50lbs.

Also, tie the griddle lifing mechanism to itself to keep it from popping up w/o the weight of the broiler pan and griddle to keep it down.

The only tools you'll need are a flat-head screw driver to remove the six screws that hold the backsplash on and a pipe wrench for removing the gas manifold 'el' that sticks out of the back if you plan to lay the stove on its back.

One other caution. The legs are something like 1/2" bolts bolted into a sheet metal frame. They can't handle a lot of scooting and tilting onto one or two legs w/o bending either the sheet metal or the bolt. If you lay the stove on its back, they come off easily, most likely by hand, but you might need an adjustable wrench.

However, one thing I didn't remember until I got the stoves into my basement is that many hardware stores have these plastic disks, about 4" in diameter with a foam top. Put one under each leg and one person can scoot the stove by him/herself over a smooth surface.

We strapped both of our stoves in the upright position and trailered them from Indiana to Tennessee, 5 1/2 hours at 70mph, with no problems, whatsoever.

Good luck. If you're careful it's not as hard as it might seem.

Jack