Gidday All I recently bought a coleman petrol stove at a swapmeet in Ballarat. I think it is a Coleman 404 "Bushman" manufactured here in Australia in the 50's. I have found pictures on Terrence Marsh site that look similar & identify it as a 404. It is in a suitcase type cover,it is painted pink, which i dont think is original. It has 2 burners,which are cast iron,uses petrol/gasoline Does anybody have any information about them or a clue where i can find out more about this particular model of coleman stove. thanks Dougc
Got one doug. I'll have to get it out from under the rest of the stoves and fire it up for you. Post pics in the stove reference gallery. Have to buy some more shellite first thou. Barra
The colors are pretty close to what they are on these 2 pics. The gold ummm crinkly pain you can just see on the lid The green aroung the stickers. Hope it helps Barra
Gidday Bruce, thanks mate, mine is exactly the same as yours, but for some strange reason been painted pink, but that can be easily rectified. yours looks like a good one, & i will be able to use it as a pattern to restore mine to more original colors. I see you use shellite, it sayes on the tank to use unleaded petrol, but i will get some shellite to use in it.
Gidday Bruce Do you have any liturature that came with it, as at the moment i am looking at instructions for coleman speedmaster 500, as a guide only. Thanks for takin the effort to post reply for me mate. thanks Doug
Doug please excuse me for butting in however i'd like to assist you. the lighting instructions are the same for almost all Coleman products. 1. Fill with proper fuel. 2. Pump until stiff resistance is felt. 3. With the small lever pointed up open the fuel control valve 1/4 turn. (sometimes you need to open it a bit more) 4. When spitting is heard apply match (lighter) to right hand burner. (Be sure the left burner is closed.) 5. After one minute (or when the flame has settled down to a nice blue) turn the small lever down and pump in more air. To light the left or "slave" burner open the valve and apply your lighter (match) to the burner. To shut down the stove simply close the fuel control valve. It will continue to burn for a few minutes but what is happening is the fuel in the generator (vapourizer) is burning off. In the referance gallery you will find the instructions for a Coleman "suitcase" stove. Regardles of model number the instructions are the same. lance
Gidday Lance thanks for the advice, no your not butting in, thats what this forum is for thanks mate. Yes i downloaded the instructions for a Coleman 413, as it looks pretty similar, & think that would be good enough for me to use it,went up the street & got some shellite, just want to clean it up a bit first, it is very greasy & has foodstains on it, dont want to get food poisioning. (Ha Ha) thanks for your advise Lance, have fun playing with all your stoves mate. thanks Doug
Unleaded is crap fuel. The unleaded is the 'old unleaded 20 yrs ago when it was still fuel..not this new so called cocktail of shit they sell now!!!! Use shellite or Naptha or coleman fuel. The americans here are born and bred using these stoves!!! They know a few things about them. Bruce
Doug (and Bruce), if I may. There is a fellow collector by the name of David Moody, a great guy, whose 404 Bushman stoves are the ones that are shown on Terry Marsh's site. He lives in Geelong, Victoria and seems knowledgable on those stoves. Might give him an email to see if he can be of more help. I do believe he has original literature and owners manual on those stoves as well. Maybe he can make a scan or copy of those and send it to you. Won't hurt to ask. His email addy is: dmoody@ncable.net.au As I mentioned, he is a great guy though I've never met him in person. He has bought quite a few lanterns and stoves from me when I sold off my collection a couple of years ago. Please tell him I recommended him and say "hi" to him as well for me. Joe Pagan
Gidday Joe thanks for your advise about David Moody. Yes i have emailed him asking for advise as you suggested. thanks for the "heads up", it was very useful. Doug
Gidday Bruce Yes i went & got some shellite on saturday. My son & I had the same conversation about modern unleaded. We also have a few Villiers & BSA stationary motors, & think the modern fuels are crap for these as well. Hope you catch a few barra in the future mate. thanks Doug
Doug: You are most welcome. And for your information, just in case you were not aware, the generator on your Bushman is the same as those used on the 425 series of stoves made here in the states. In fact, your fuel valve/generator set-up goes back starting with the model 2B of the mid to late 1920s and was used on the 3 & 6 series of stoves plus the 412,415,416 & 417 series of campstoves through the 425 series including many hotplates. Your burner/manifold set-up was also used beginning in the late 30s with the 4 & 6 series, the 412s & 417 series as well until the 413 & 425 series came out with steel manifolding(here in the states, that is). Only thing is, I don't know if the Aussie built camp stoves used metric fasteners or not. My gut tells me no, to keep their parts consistent with the Canadian & American built counterparts but can't say for sure. Joe
