yep,
’‘free’'
always has its costs.
I wouldn’t be concerned about the stove weighing too much for the car. 475 pounds these days is 2 adults. Can you carry 2 adults in the back seat? Then you’re golden.
What I would be concerned about is that if you get into a front or rear-end collision, that stove is going to be, literally, the last thing that goes through your mind before everything goes dark. So be sure to secure it very well for your own safety.
The differences between the stove and the two adults are
- where the weight will be located. If it’s behind the rear axle, it’ll make the front end light. Rear passengers would be forward of the axle.
- the stove could become a deadly projectile in an accident. The passengers would not.
just some food for thought, but how many Subaru owners load the back end down with 400 pounds of camping gear and throw a few hundred more on a trailer hitch tongue before going boondocking.
When an old Subaru wagon I had was retired as a family car it was relegated to the usual; as a daily beater, parts hauler, trailer puller, etc.
I’ve hauled both a Subaru engine and transmission in the back end and even a V-6 Ford engine one time with no problem. The steering was a little light but not enough to be a problem unless the driver made it one.
Moving the cast iron stove from NH to Oregon reminded me of a kid’s story book I had when I was about 5. The story was about a penguin who lived at the south pole and hated the cold weather. He spent all his time huddled up with his heating stove. He finally made an ice raft, loaded up his possessions including his stove and headed off for a warmer climate. I do remember that as he hit warmer weather, the raft started to melt and he had to toss the stove overboard. He did reach a tropical island where he could be warm and of course the stove wasn’t needed. The last illustration was of the penguin lying in a hammock between two palm trees with a sad look on his face as he read a postcard from his friends,at the south pole.
I was the recipient of a free wood stove too. And I admit it does make the place toasty warm in the winter. And it doesn’t take much heat to keep things warm in San Jose’s winters, so I never have to buy wood, just collect it from folks who are trimming their trees in the summer.
There’s one potential downside you should consider though. Oregon may have code limits on what kinds of wood stoves they’ll allow to be installed in homes there. If your stove doesn’t conform, you might not be able to obtain homeowners insurance. Or if you install it and don’t tell the insurance company, you risk that they won’t pay a future claim b/c you didn’t inform them about the stove.
I guess if I were in this situation, I’d first determine if the stove was legal to use in the community in Oregon I was moving too. If so, I’d probably take it in the back of the Subie, and just drive very conservatively getting there. No heavy accelerations, no quick turns, no fast stops.
OK4450, let’s not forget that the OP is talking about a cross country trip.
I’ve loaded my small pickups with heavy loads numerous times aft of the rear axle for local drives, but I’d never make a cross country trip that way. I still wouldn’t do what the OP is describing.
^ Don’t people load mobility scooters completely behind the rear bumper? That sounds worse than what OP is suggesting. A mobility scooter weighs, what, 300+?
We just returned from a trip out west and drove through Oregon. We spent some time at the Oregon trail museum. Quite a few people from the midwest overloaded their covered wagons with what they thought they wanted. Often, sets of fine china, pianos and big furniture items were left along the Oregon Trail. Some of the travelers’ prize possessions were traded for necessary supplies along the route. I really don’t think you want the stove weighting your wagon down and have to throw it out along the interstate. Also, I don’t think you can trade the stove for gasoline or other supplies. Take a credit card instead–it’s lighter than your stove.
The mobility scooter on a carrier is a valid point the difference being it is not inside the vehicle waiting to be a projectile at the back of your head and out the windshield.
Excellent analogy, but people loading mobility scooters on those rack don’t have any choice. I can say confidently that all of them would prefer not to.
The woodstove is not a necessity.