[JESTER458]

i recently got an old shipmate skippy stove and was wondering if anyone knows anything about them. it has a burner of some type in the bottom of it that has a pipe coming out of it but i dont know what its designed to burn. heres a picture of the stove. ill get a picture of the burner sometime too.

 

[casioqv]

That's a cool looking stove, but it looks like it could be dangerous on a boat. It's probably meant for burning charcoal, coal, or chunks of wood.

 

[n0w0rries]

If it's got a burner and pipe then it's gas (might have been converted to gas)
Here's the operating manual:
Shipmate Stove Operating Instructions
There's also some posts here about them, not sure if you searched the forums.

 

[JESTER458]

yeah i searched the forums and didnt really come up with anything. here are some pictures of the actual burner.

 

[casioqv]

Any pics pointing straight into the burner?

 

[JESTER458]

yeah

 

[n0w0rries]

I googled some more for ya... even found your post on another site. I'm guessing it's missing parts. If you have your heart set on using it, you'll need to add a regulator on the outside and a burner on the inside (to go gas). Or use it with coal/wood as is.

Personally I'd save the weight and the trouble and go with a smaller newer stove. Doesn't have to be a spendy stainless one, even a portable coleman would work. If you want it in the boat for looks/nostalgia, and you're handy, I'd buy a coleman portable stove, gut it, and put the parts in this thing. Plum it so the burners are up top, and figure out a way to mount the knobs. It would be more efficient that way.

 

[JESTER458]

ok thanks. ive actually had a few people tell me its for burning kerosene (unpressurized) im takin it to a guy tomorrow who might be able to tell me more about it.

 

[RichH]

Shipmate has been out of business for some time. The old Shipmate factory is now a metals recycling center.

The (probable) good news is that most of the parts, etc. for these various Shipmate stoves can be found at: Sailorman New & Used Marine: The World's Largest and Most Unique New & Used Marine Emporium

 

[TSOJOURNER]

Shipmate Skippy Stoves Available Again

Looks like a fairly well done casting that sits down in where the old ash grate would have sat. Can you see if there are any weld beads on the gas block piece? If you need the grate that sits down in where the current gas rig goes, I can help.....

I am making cast iron Skippy's again in both oval and rectangular tops with the standard model having a stainless searail and the Bronze model having bronze feet, searail and a Shipmate Logo on the front of the stove...very handsome. We also have the larger Model 211's (with the oven) almost done....Should be ready in 3-5 weeks after nearly 4 years in the works. Porcelain colors optional with Blue, Green, Black, Flat Black and Red. All work, castings & assembly done here in the ole U-S of A. Website done but waiting to be launched along with some sassy boat mag advertising this holiday season. Drop me a line if interested....Sean Tracy
Shipmate Stove Company Inc
"Always Reliable...Fair Weather or Foul"

 

[JESTER458]

no there are no welds that i can see anywhere in the block

 

[xsboats]

The burner looks similar to one I had in an old Shipmate stove. It burned diesel. To start out, a fire was lit at the burner using a couple of ounces of alcohol. This heated the burner box and got the stovepipe drawing. Next, a driprate of diesel fuel was established by means of a simple carbuerator that had a float to control flow from the gravity tank and a valve to control the drip rate. The diesel vaporized when it hit the hot metal plates in the burnerbox and the vapor would ignite. While living in Annapolis back in the 80's, I would light the stove around Halloween and leave it burning until almost Easter. I have had similar arrangements on other stoves including one built by Everett Stoveworks out of Washington State.

 

[JESTER458]

do you know where i could find pictures of the drip setup? or even a stove thats in production that uses the same concepts?

 

[xsboats]

I'll get back to you on that. By the way , I was wrong on the stove manufacturer's name, it was Washington Stove Works out of Everett, Wa.

 

[JESTER458]

oh ok. thanks!

 

[xsboats]

Check out Sigmarine.com. Their regulator is different from the ones I have used, but I think it would work with your stove. I miss the days of having a cast iron stove on board. I converted my last one to propane for use in my van while working away from my boat as a ski-bum.

 

[JESTER458]

ok. hey this may be a dumb question but my burner has a pipe that runs into the bottom of it. after its heated does it just burn fuel from the bottom or am i actually missing something that goes above it to drip fuel downward?

 

[xsboats]

Yes, it just burns the fuel from the bottom of your burner box but the fuel needs a regulator above the inlet pipe in your photo to control the rate that the fuel arrives at the burner box. The regulator on the sigmarine site has a low pressure pump[around 3-5 psi] so you won't need to have a gravity day-tank. It has a knob that will meter the amount of fuel running into your stove. It looks to be a bolt-on fix for your stove, but you will need to run 12 volt for the pump.

 

[JESTER458]

ok. awesome thanks again for the help!