I got to grips with commissioning this in a ‘fettling’ post HERE. Marketed by Sears Roebuck under their ‘JC Higgins’ brand, there can be no doubt from this photo of the equivalent AGM model (photo courtesy of Terry Marsh), that AGM was the manufacturer. Apparently JC Higgins was dropped as the Sears brand label in favour of ‘Ted Williams’ in 1962, hence my stab at a date for my stove in the title. Disassembly photo of the fuel tank, control/air valve, generator and pump assemblies. The Coleman safety feature of a locking ‘check valve’ operated by a spindle controlled by a twist of the pump rod has an equivalent on this JC Higgins stove of a non-return valve offering no inherent failsafe, but supplemented by an extension to the pump rod that screws into the pump tube outlet, operated by a twist of the pump knob. Cast iron burner manifold ... ... assembled from two castings A burner cap and outlet ring. AGM’s fuel/air metering for start-up and running gets the job done with two separate controls - black knob for air during start-up and a red knob controlling fuel flow and operating the jet pricker rod. The Coleman equivalent of the concentric pick-up tubes and a central fuel/air rod operated by the same knob that controls fuel flow and the pricker offers a theoretical advantage that the fuel/air rod acts as a pricker to ensure that the fuel pickup tube inlet hole doesn’t block. The JC Higgins relies on a fine gauze cover to prevent blockage of the fuel pickup tube inlet. Generator tip. Steel outer, brass insert. The distinctive ‘bulbous’ generator component has a history outlined, with reference to a patent in THIS post by @shagratork of his AGM KampKook from 1947 or thereabouts. It’s a way of enabling leaded gasoline to be used - delaying the inevitable of a clogged generator but not an antidote I suggest and I’ll be using Aspen 4 white gas only. A replacement generator when the stove was still a current model would have been easy to source. Now? No chance! I’m fortunate that this example’s evidently not seen so much as a whiff of pump gasoline. Start-up procedure followed ... ... all three burners lit, on a moderate setting. Main burner close up ... ... and on simmer John
Thanks fellas. Well, no. The cast iron manifold makes it a lot heavier than the Coleman 426 I have with a pressed steel manifold.
I know this thread is a year old but these stoves are not common and I am pretty enamored with them and this was a really informative writeup. I just picked up this model on ebay (not received yet) and I have a two burner model I've been messing with. I used a generator from a Coleman 425 and it worked pretty well. Looking forward to getting the 3 burner working. It will become the garage stove- garage is right off the kitchen. This allows me to tend to dinner and not stop puttering, (cars, lawn mowers, Coleman stuff) - hard to believe my family still eats my food. Thanks for the breakdown.
@dave silva I’m glad my writeup was helpful. Intelligent solution to combining your garage and kitchen pursuits in a way that keeps your family on side. Clever. Proximity of my patio (stove territory) and the house serves well enough to do the same but isn’t undercover as your solution is. I bet you’re being modest and your food tastes great.
Hey Dave. I have a two burner as well and looking for a spare generator. It’s a 710.740 with the bulbous generator. I have attached a photo of a generator and thought it looked very similar. Is this the same one you are using? If not can you let me know what generator you are using? Thanks in advance. Great stove.
