I am buying real soon either the Todd Wood Cookstove sold through Cumberland General Store for 1600.00 or the Sweetheart from Lehymans which is twice the money but....maybe it is better...does any know? Thanks, Debbie

-- Debbie (bwolcott@cwis.net), March 09, 2001

Answers

Hi Debbie,

You might look into a stove company out of Canada called Margin Stoves. ph (519)638-3602 for their nearest dealer and brochure. They make several models one of which is almost identical to the Sweethart (it may be a tad bigger). The model is called the Margin Gem. We bought one prior to Y2K and are very pleased with the quality and the price. (about 1900.00-I think that included delivery). DH Mike says you can get the Todd stove directly for much cheaper. Do a web search for their site. Hope this helps. I'll say hi to Jewel for ya! Take care...

-- Amy Dorsch (gshep@aeroinc.net), March 09, 2001.

I'm not familiar with the Todd cook stove except by name, 30 years ago I had a Todd round oak stove that was fine. I think the Sweetheart is terribily over priced, pretty yes but made mostly of sheet iron. We had one iin a cabin we owned a few years back, it did the job fine. As for the Margin Gem, if your are looking for "pretty" that is the way I would go, they are nearly identicle to the "Sweetheart" and much cheaper for the same performance, (IMO)

-- Hendo (OR) (redgate@echoweb.net), March 10, 2001.

A store near here carries the Todd cookstove and the Sweetheart, so both can be seen "in person." The Todd would probably do the job, but it looks "cheap" in that the doors and other contrast parts on the front don't exactly look squared up to the body. The hardware looks like there may be problems with tight fitting. However I have no data on how they perform. If looks are most important to you, maybe you can find a place to actually see and try out the working parts on both. Either way you will be spending a lot of money and want to be happy with your purchase. Good luck in finding your stove.

-- Peggy (bptaylor@ccrtc.com), March 11, 2001.

I have a Waterford Stanley that I bought from Lehman's 3 yrs. ago and I love it. I think we paid about $2000.00 for it but I got a warming oven and the side shelf with two supporting brackets. It is porcelin finished cast iron and there is NOTHING cheap looking about it. It is very heavy and was a real chore getting it moved into the house. I cooks wonderfully and it really heats the house in the winter. I don't use it in the summer when it gets really hot because even when you just use "biscuit" wood fior a quick fire the cast iron retains the heat for a long time. Artie Ann

-- Artie Ann Karns (rokarns@arkansas.net), March 11, 2001.

Debbie, have you looked around for an older used cook stove? We got ours, in very nice useable condition, for $200 at an estate auction -- it's one of the white enamel ones, so not "pretty" but has a water reservoir and warming ovens. The pretty ones do go for more, but often not a lot more, depending on where you are. And most of them are well-built.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), March 12, 2001.

Getting an older one would be nice except I have to have an airtight one. Have a daughter who use to have asthma when we lived up North, but just incase it hasn't gone away, I would hate to have her get an attack everytime I lit the stove.

-- Debbie (bwolcott@cwis.net), March 12, 2001.

We checked into the many different wood cookstoves during the Y2k crisis...we noted that the Amish and Mennonite families were buying the Kitchen Queen...so we purchased one after checking out others-- including the Flameview, Margen, Mealmaster, etc...when we found out that the "Plain People" were all selling their "other" stoves and buying the Kitchne Queen, plus we saw the Kitchen Queen in operation ..we are pleased. It has a large fire box, the largest, large oven hat bakes evenly... they sell for 1,650.00 made in Michigan.

-- Mark & Debbie Peters (judah7@bright.net), March 12, 2001.