Bixby Corn Stove

[vicsvw]

Most of the Bixby stove owners that tell you how great they are have used them less then 2-years. If they are happy with there dealer he has sold the stoves 5 years or less. Dealers go by the wayside in 5-years or less due to the problems they have with the Co. Any one using the Bixby 3 years are more can tell you of the broken parts the poor quality and the lack of help from the Dealer. Feeder wheel gear box was first to go out and it was replaced with the same part that only lasted 2-years. Feed wheel was replaced with a completely different design that still has the same problems. The inner ex/In box rusted out in about 2-years and was made of light weight tin. and poorly made at that. Starter went out in 2ed year and we are still waiting for parts to get the stove going. We have gone through $300 worth of flue pipe and it only goes out the wall 2-feet. If you want to save money, sell it before the 3ed year. Have a second one for parts and become a stove repair man on the side. Don't blame your Dealer for the Bixby Co. problems. Vic. vicsvw@hotmail.com

[Mary B]

Going on year 3 with my Bixby with no problems other than a feeder wheel gasket and that is a wear item. It has been running fine this fall and I bought online with no warranty.
_________________
Never trust a skinny chef
Bixby 115
Outdoor wood fired BBQ pit

[steadywoman]

Don't know how you can make those assumptions, vicsvw. We are on season 5 with our Bixby. Other than gaskets, we have replaced NOTHING on this stove. Well, the vent this year (after 4 years of use) but the vent, like the gaskets, are normal maintenance items. Vents rusting out quickly are usually tuning problems that create too much corrosive soot. There are a number of people on the Bixby site that have had their stoves more than a few years. A lot of those stoves get a real work out in far north climates and they do it with a minimum of problems.

I have seen NOTHING cheap about the Bixby and am impressed constantly by the quality of the stove. Our dealer has been selling the Bixby for more than 6 yrs and still has stoves on the floor for sale right now. If I call, they usually show up in less than two hours (human error on my part, not the stove...and they showed me how to fix it myself...doesn't sound like a bad dealer to me). Have some dealers been less than honest? Sure. Have some gone out of business because of poor business practice? Sure. Did the spike in corn prices because of ethanol drive a lot of them out of business? Yep. Welcome to the real world.

I'm sorry to hear of your problems but they are NOT the norm. Is there an occasional lemon out there? Yep, that happens in the real world but in my experience, the majority of problems are people caused, not the stove. I will say this, it takes a special type of person to own a bio-mass appliance. It isn't your gas furnace and it will take some of your time to care for it. I personally think the savings and the comfort are worth a little of my time to maintain our little girl properly.
_________________
Bixby 110
Happily burning since 11-05

[SidecarFlip]

One thing that's for sure is they aren't inexpensive to purchase. I could buy 2 of my units for one Bixby and interestingly, when you distill it all down, everyone of these units do the same thing with the same end result. It's just the process and convenience of operation changes slightly.

No unit is ideal, nor is any unit suited for everyone. If that were the case, there would be only one manufacturer.
_________________
Flipmeisters Specialty Products, LLC
www.flipmeisters.com

[vicsvw]

Just talked to the Factory this morning and was told I had a really old model (3-years Old) Model 110 and that they only had the "computer fan" for a short time. This fan blows on the ex. fan motor after it has run for some time. Yes a fan was installed to blow air across the fan motor. I can not see what holds the 3" Ex pipe in the IN/EX collector box. The service man thought it must have been welded or maybe there was a lip that held it in place. All I can see is there was red Hi-temp Silicon seal on the two surfaces. I will take a bunch of Photos and send to them so they can become familiar with the stove. I have noticed that when you call Bixby they have an option for those customers that have dealers no longer in business. Think about this. Maybe some one should rewrite the Phone Answer.? Vic

[rona]

A typical install kit has a piece that fits on the stove prior to slipping the pipe on. That piece comes with a couple of screws that should have been screwed into the outer pipe and would hold the pipe onto the stove if needed. The silicone would hold it anyway unless you have a longer pipe with elbows on it.
I may be a minority but played with a few different brands of stoves and found the Bixby to be the best for me.
It is obvious the simpler the item is the less to go wrong.
The simplest appliance is a barrel stove and a axe. Not much to go wrong and as side dump says if there is fire there will be heat.
Back when corn took a drastic jump the stove demand fell flat leaving lots of dealers with big inventories. That problem came about because of the stove shortage the year before and the dealers were crying for more stoves so the companies looked at the demand and based on their research built a huge number of stoves. All of a sudden corn went up pellets went up and the demand evaporated leaving dealer sitting with a surplus of inventory. The owner of Harman is on record as saying I couldn't give a stove away. As a result several companies were bought and sold in the last few years. More then one dealer went broke or quit because of the situation.
When was your 110 built? It will say on the side but when you say 3 years old it must have been built in 2006? All the 115s I have seen were built in 2006 so I would assume it was in 2005. Like someone said you can get a dud in any brand of stove.
One thing you fail to realise is how many companies won't take your call and tell you you have to go through your dealer. Ask anyone who owns a Harman how easy it is to order a part from the factory. For that matter try Quadrafire.
I have no dealer and found Bixbys system very fair. It is easier for the company to put a order together for a dealer then for every individual person. The company called me back and tried to find out my needs but yep I was gone so I waited and tried again. Next time I was home and thing got resolved.
In closing I have dealt with other companies that always blamed the problem on wet corn, dirty corn , or all of this years corn is bad. yeah I said but I am using last years corn and having farmed for 40 years I do have a moisture tester and know how to use it. Then we finally got into well maybe there just might be something wrong with your unit.
There is also a company that claims its stoves are perfect and the problem is always improper use or improper installation.

[SidecarFlip]

In retrospect, everything wears out. Even us. I have an old Englander that's now in the shop. It's 13 years old and still runs fine. Not to say I haven't replaced about everything inside the cabinet, some components more than once.

I have a USSC 6039 in the house now. It was relatively cheap compared to the Bixby and it too, has component failures. I think any appliance suffers from component failures and manufacturing ills.

It's all part of the solid fuel burning experience.
_________________
Flipmeisters Specialty Products, LLC
www.flipmeisters.com