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My OWB company is out of business

Started by woodmills1, March 09, 2011, 06:17:49 PM

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woodmills1

Free heat machine is gone.  web address no longer responds

posts on the arborist site provided much info

funny very similar stove now for sale under a new name biomass something or other
some of the same names of contact info
same stoves
same acessories


good way to void the promised 20 year warrenty I guess
James Mills,Lovely wife,collect old tools,vacuuming fool,36 bdft/hr,oak paper cutter,ebonic yooper rapper nauga seller, Blue Ox? its not fast, 2 cat family, LT70,edger, 375 bd ft/hr, we like Bob,free heat,no oil 12 years,big splitter, baked stuffed lobster, still cuttin the logs dere IAM

forest

I am sorry to hear abour your unfortunate experience. What was the brand name of your stove? There seem to be some less than upright companies in the outdoor wood boiler market. There were a number of people complaining about their treatment in regards to stoves that they bought on health.com. Jamie

Dean186

Forest, the brand to which he is referring is "Free Heat Machine".  The company's name sounds more like a statement than a name, so it was easy to miss the brand name in the opening paragraph.

Jeff

Not looking good. I found this video, and the comment below it if you go to youtube to watch it..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qw4Tcb3FWY
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Dean186

That doesn't sound good. 

In the video, he stated there was 20 cords of wood stacked by his stove, looked like much less to me, and it would last about 3 months.  What would he be heating that would take 20 cords of wood in 3 months?  Seems like a lot of wood to me to just heat a home.

clww

20 cords in 3 months?!?! Must have been one of those 15,000 sq ft castle/houses.
Many Stihl Saws-16"-60"
"Go Ask The Other Master Chief"
18-Wheeler Driver

doctorb

Yikes!

I watched the video too.  Why would anybody place a bunch of firewood into a stove with water in the bottom of the firebox?  Wouldn't you notice that?  Sorry that the company is gone, though.  Doctorb
My father once said, "This is my son who wanted to grow up and become a doctor.  So far, he's only become a doctor."

Flyer

I'll  add my "Yikes" along with Doctorb!  20 cord in the heating season!  Must be a big shop around the corner that's being heated that were not seeing.  That does look look like around 20 cord on the ground though.  I burn around 12 a season myself and my wood pile seems to be about half that size when I start.

Flyer

woodmills1

I have no problems with my "free heat machine" OWB other than the company is no longer with us


yes I use lots of wood, but I heat 4300 sq ft of very poorly designed addition after addition in just close to man it is cold here NH

The main thing for me is how does a company that says 20 warrenty get to close, then open up down the street without providing some support


BTW this is a brand from a company called timber ridge that has made wood stoves since the 70's
James Mills,Lovely wife,collect old tools,vacuuming fool,36 bdft/hr,oak paper cutter,ebonic yooper rapper nauga seller, Blue Ox? its not fast, 2 cat family, LT70,edger, 375 bd ft/hr, we like Bob,free heat,no oil 12 years,big splitter, baked stuffed lobster, still cuttin the logs dere IAM

woodmills1

some basic math

it was 3k plus to heat this place chilly before the OWB

8k to buy

7 winters so far no oil

so basic math 21k in oil saved minus 8k = wow I like these numbers

stove still works

little Jimmy (woodmills to the rest of you) still cuts and splits and fills it


but how does a guy start a business then run away with the profits and jusr scew?
James Mills,Lovely wife,collect old tools,vacuuming fool,36 bdft/hr,oak paper cutter,ebonic yooper rapper nauga seller, Blue Ox? its not fast, 2 cat family, LT70,edger, 375 bd ft/hr, we like Bob,free heat,no oil 12 years,big splitter, baked stuffed lobster, still cuttin the logs dere IAM

Dean186

Quote from: woodmills1 on March 11, 2011, 02:43:02 AM

The main thing for me is how does a company that says 20 warranty get to close, then open up down the street without providing some support


I apologize for getting us off of the main point.  It doesn't seem right, fair or just that a company can change a name and get out of warranty claims and and maybe some debt in the process.  When looking at a warranty, one should consider the likely hood of the company existing for the length of the warranty.  However, in this times how does one know, companies are coming and going with surprising frequencies. 

Flyer

woodmills1,

May be worth your time (and money) to get a lawyer involved.  If this new company your talking about is truely marketing the same boiler under a new name than perhaps they could be made to honor the existing warranty on your boiler.  Only a business or copyright lawyer could answer that, and I'm not one so...............................

It's a shame when certain companies choose to operate in that manner.  Definately not someone I would recommend to anyone.  Sorry to hear about your boiler problems.  I hope you can find an acceptable resolution!

Flyer

stumper

Hudson?  I thought Hudson was way down south in NH.  Almost into MA. 

Oh well I am happy to share the cold with you southerners. ;D

thecfarm

Sorry to hear the company went out of business.I wonder about some of the warranties too.Some you have to clean every so often.What happens when things go bad and someone comes out and says you did not clean it right.  ::) Sounds like you are ahead of the game no matter what,but it is still not right.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

woodmills1

I wish I had bigger pockets I wood go after this

burns me I chose free heat machine over central boiler on the doubled warrenty/low price my buy year

mind you I have a version one OWB put in wood and burn, it has booster fan on door

very little smoke, and no complaints on stove since new

but.......close down and open up the state??????


looks the same but DanG they say the inside is all new


guess I can do mods now with no worry of voiding the warrenty
James Mills,Lovely wife,collect old tools,vacuuming fool,36 bdft/hr,oak paper cutter,ebonic yooper rapper nauga seller, Blue Ox? its not fast, 2 cat family, LT70,edger, 375 bd ft/hr, we like Bob,free heat,no oil 12 years,big splitter, baked stuffed lobster, still cuttin the logs dere IAM

superwd6

Very common in the heating industry >:( . Oil furnace companys the most popular but most recently Vermont Castings two or three years ago. Buy name brand, pay more but those companys are generaly still here 10 years from now. ;)

woodmills1

anyone have a short cut to the research needed to tie owners to companies?

leg work I can do


pockets to pay for leg work........NOT
James Mills,Lovely wife,collect old tools,vacuuming fool,36 bdft/hr,oak paper cutter,ebonic yooper rapper nauga seller, Blue Ox? its not fast, 2 cat family, LT70,edger, 375 bd ft/hr, we like Bob,free heat,no oil 12 years,big splitter, baked stuffed lobster, still cuttin the logs dere IAM

Jim_Rogers

There is a site called "whois" that you can use to look up who owns a webpage or domain name.
If you use it to look up FreeHeatMachine's site, you'll see it is Timber Ridge, Inc. which you already know.
To be incorporated they have to register with the secretary of state in their state. I don't know if you can go "online" and find the Secretary of State of TN and see who owns the company. Probably not, but that's a start.
Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Woodmizer 1994 LT30HDG24 with 6' Bed Extension

SwampDonkey

Here, registered companies are published to the public via the "Provincial" Gazette. You can go online and see when, where and who. Is there any such publication in the States?

20 cord may be a lot, but the neighbors burn 30, with the house and later two green houses in March. Although, I see no sign of the green houses going yet because there is a separate OWB for that.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

beenthere

south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

jgrant

No bone to pick beenthere you may want to see the posting on this site about this subject and Larry Boyd---there is much more on the web about this subject. (link below)

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,60497.0/all.html#lastPost

r.man

I have a lot of experience with leaking owbs. They can be fixed economically even if the repair is fairly major. Anyone who can weld can repair them, it just takes prep time. I have welded my own and need to do the one I have right now. Eventually they become so rusted and thin that you have to either completely rebuild the firebox or give up and move on. The stove in the video looked like a Pacific Hydronics that I own that had been branded Wood Doctor. It developed a fairly bad leak at the top of the firebox. I finished the season with the water level below the leak, which causes problems of it's own, but it will get you by. I now need to dismantle the stove at the top and remove a section of the tank to access the firebox from the outside. In my case the leak is blocked on the inside by a transverse water tube. Once welded I hope to get another 5 or 6  years out of it since it had only been used 5 seasons total. Generally if there are owbs in the area some of the welding people will have experience fixing the older or poorer quality ones. Should be worth the cost if the stove is not very old. Good luck with it.
Life is too short or my list is too long, not sure which. Dec 2014

Logging logginglogging

CB is the only brand around here. the name "Free heat machine" sounds a little sketchy to me anyway. mabye with some work he can modify that thing and redo the inside to make it a bit more eficient and not rot out as fast.
The e might be one place i drive by that has somthing other than a CB around here, but its a long way off from the road and i really couldent geuss the barnd.

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