tjderby Posted April 4, 2014 Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 Are they any good? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canals are us? Posted April 4, 2014 Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 (edited) The majority of pot bellied stoves are Chinese rubbish like the Machine Mart ones. Not controllable, rust quickly and my Dad's one only lasted 18 months and it was falling to pieces or the cast glowed red as you couldn't control the burn rate and wasn't firebrick lined. You would be better off buying a cheap Chinese stove if budget is a consideration at around £150 on ebay. My advice would be buy a boatman stove. Good price at £299 +£35 delivery. http://www.boatmanstove.co.uk/ Or a small aarrow model or villager puffin. If a bigger budget a Morso squirrel (although can crack the cast iron) or a woodwarm like you saw of mine. James Edited April 4, 2014 by canals are us? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil2 Posted April 4, 2014 Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 (edited) The best value stove on the market at the moment is the Boatman from Northern Fabrication Services. http://www.boatmanstove.co.uk/ PS. remember it isn't just the price of the stove either, if starting from scratch you need a flue, collar and a chimney - Eddie who makes the Boatman does a package deal which is hard to beat. No I am not related, on commission etc. Edited April 4, 2014 by Neil2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjderby Posted April 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 Yeah I was thinking morso squirrel. But not sure if the chimney dimension is the same. Could get expensive if not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John V Posted April 4, 2014 Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 James has pretty well covered it...... most of the cheap stoves only fit where they touch and are hopeless, generally you get what you pay for Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjderby Posted April 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 Seems pretty gd. So I take it the Boardman stove is steel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canals are us? Posted April 4, 2014 Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 (edited) Seems pretty gd. So I take it the Boardman stove is steel. Yes looks like steel which in my opinion is a good thing on a boat due to cast iron stoves possibly cracking. 4kw would be plenty for a 38ft narrowboat. I would order the stove £299 and the flue kit £130 from boatman. If your existing flue pipe 4inch? is the same then just buy the stove if the old flue is the right length and in good condition. James Edited April 4, 2014 by canals are us? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamKingfisher Posted April 4, 2014 Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 Another vote for the boatman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjderby Posted April 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 Is a single skin flew gd enough? Yes looks like steel which in my opinion is a good thing on a boat due to cast iron stoves possibly cracking. 4kw would be plenty for a 38ft narrowboat. I would order the stove £299 and the flue kit £130 from boatman. If your existing flue pipe 4inch? is the same then just buy the stove if the old flue is the right length and in good condition. James Not sure if its 4" not measure. That's something ill do when I'm off work. As for condition. The flew is flacky. And by that I mean rusty lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canals are us? Posted April 4, 2014 Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 Is a single skin flew gd enough? Yes as you get extra heat. Most narrowboat stoves are single skinned. May need extra wall shielding but the installer will advice. You get a better draw apparently with a double skin flue but much dearer and loose the extra heat from the pipe inside. James. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjderby Posted April 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 Yeah I seen the difference in price. This may sound stupid but do you measure the flew from one side to the other going over the centre of the hole? Lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul C Posted April 4, 2014 Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 Yeah I seen the difference in price. This may sound stupid but do you measure the flew from one side to the other going over the centre of the hole? Lol. Well, there's an inner and outer diameter. When we talk of 4" flue, its the outer diameter which is being referred to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan de Enfield Posted April 4, 2014 Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 Measure the circumference and divide by 3.142 to get outside diameter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjderby Posted April 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 Thanks Alan mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan de Enfield Posted April 4, 2014 Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 Are they any good? Its a bit like saying "is a car any good" - various manufacturers and for each manufacturer a range of sizes, qualities etc etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjderby Posted April 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 Well, there's an inner and outer diameter. When we talk of 4" flue, its the outer diameter which is being referred to. Yeah I thought as much cause its go to go through the same hole in the roof. Definitely going to go for the boatman stove. Makes financial sense. Thanks for the advice. Really appreciate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil2 Posted April 4, 2014 Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 The standard flue collar (the bit on the roof) is 6" o/d so you think a 4" flue will be a very slack fit but it's actually a lot less on the inside I forget how much, anyway what you do is wrap thick fire rope round the flue or use exhaust lagging made into a "tube" to fill the gap. Then you need some sealer, the flexible heat resistant stuff is best the idea being to create a sort of funnel so any moisture, rain, tar etc naturally channels down the inside of the flue. This is also a good reason to use a double skinned chimney where the inner part slots into the flue. It's difficult to explain this in words but if you buy a Boatman stove Eddie will give you all the help/advice you need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Ambrose Posted April 4, 2014 Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 I have a Pot Belly, purchased from Amazon, guessing its Chinese, however I love it. Once lit it stays on 24/7 as we live aboard, claimed output is 4 1/2 kw and keeps our 60ft boat toasty. Initially struggled a bit with control but once I had it sussed had no problems. Because of the shape you can have a small fire of about 6 Taybrite nuggets, ideal for this time of year and for mid-winter a full size fire does the job. I always have a "hot" fire irrespective of size and never have problems with soot or choked up flue, in fact I swept it last week and only got a 4" shovel of soot out. In short I love it. Chose it because it had a small footprint. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjderby Posted April 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 I prefer a stove with a window lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterboat Posted April 4, 2014 Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 Another vote for the boatman. Snap!! just lit my other halfs in the lounge it lights easily looks good and burns forever on a shovelfull of smokless fuel Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurence Hogg Posted April 4, 2014 Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 The first pot bellies that I came across in the days of "Boatmans Cabin Co" were Taiwanese imports via Classic Garden furniture of Newport Shrops, they were OK and the castings sound. The ones I have seen of late seem to be second generation copies without much thought to use and safety, however for Machine Mart to sell them they will be up to standard. The 6" collar which we made had a 5" inlet underneath which was fine with a 4" OD flue pipe set in correctly. A better alternative if you can find one is a Artic No1 or No2 which are fully insulated and can burn almost anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie Booth Posted April 4, 2014 Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 The best value stove on the market at the moment is the Boatman from Northern Fabrication Services. http://www.boatmanstove.co.uk/ PS. remember it isn't just the price of the stove either, if starting from scratch you need a flue, collar and a chimney - Eddie who makes the Boatman does a package deal which is hard to beat. No I am not related, on commission etc. I thought it was very "Tinney" so bought an upmarket one from them. Very pleased with Northern Fabs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedwheel Posted April 5, 2014 Report Share Posted April 5, 2014 Another vote for the boatman. And another. I've have three stoves from Eddie (for different uses not because any needed replacing). One with back boiler and two without. All have been great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHutch Posted April 5, 2014 Report Share Posted April 5, 2014 Yeah I was thinking morso squirrel. But not sure if the chimney dimension is the same. Could get expensive if not. The squirrel is certainly a very good stove, it could be more solid, but equally although I had one crack the lip of its top after 5-6 years of use (largely before my time) the on we have now has been in 10 years and as far as it goes, appears as good as the day it was bought. Or flue is a length of case iron drain pipe, flared end into the top of the stove, pair of 135 bends into the collar. Originally this done with glass rope and cement, but after the same got in and the frost cracked the two 135's its now all done with 300deg silicon with no issues to date. Daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Featured Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now