oneoldbanjo
Addicted to ArboristSite
The way the current wood loading and burning system works in my Woodmaster is that after I load the wood it stays together and burns for a while until the wood loses it integrity and it falls apart and forms coals, then the coals fall to the bottom of the furnace and they lay on the previous layer of coals and ashes. If you don't stir things around the coals get smothered and never do burn.
I have often thought that the use of a grate in my Woodmaster would sure make dealing with the ashes and coals easier. Instead of having to rake the coals and ashes back and forth......the coalswould just stay up on the grate until they turned to coals...then when the coals burned up they would just fall through the grate. I had a piece of heavy woven wire that was made from wire about as big around as a pencil, and I decided to use it to try building a grate system without spending any money. I cut the woven wire into two pieces that were about 24" square and wired them together to make a hinge. I stacked up two bricks at the back and middle of the OWB and placed the rack on top. Then I put some logs on the rack and shoveled a few coals onto the wood and closed the door.
Everything worked well for about 3 days.....however the rack was starting to show some sagging from the heat. On the 3rd day the outdoor temperature was going down to 10 degrees and we were going to be gone all day until late at night.....so in addition to stacking wood on top I put a few pieces of wood in the bottom of the firebox in front of the grate. The result was that the grate got too hot and lost all of it's strength.....and ended up sitting on the bottom of the OWB firebox.
For a few days it was pretty nice.....I just needed to shovel ashes and did not have to do any raking of coals. I am not sure if heavier materials would solve this problem......if you have fire on both sides of the grate it just gets too hot and sags.
I have often thought that the use of a grate in my Woodmaster would sure make dealing with the ashes and coals easier. Instead of having to rake the coals and ashes back and forth......the coalswould just stay up on the grate until they turned to coals...then when the coals burned up they would just fall through the grate. I had a piece of heavy woven wire that was made from wire about as big around as a pencil, and I decided to use it to try building a grate system without spending any money. I cut the woven wire into two pieces that were about 24" square and wired them together to make a hinge. I stacked up two bricks at the back and middle of the OWB and placed the rack on top. Then I put some logs on the rack and shoveled a few coals onto the wood and closed the door.
Everything worked well for about 3 days.....however the rack was starting to show some sagging from the heat. On the 3rd day the outdoor temperature was going down to 10 degrees and we were going to be gone all day until late at night.....so in addition to stacking wood on top I put a few pieces of wood in the bottom of the firebox in front of the grate. The result was that the grate got too hot and lost all of it's strength.....and ended up sitting on the bottom of the OWB firebox.
For a few days it was pretty nice.....I just needed to shovel ashes and did not have to do any raking of coals. I am not sure if heavier materials would solve this problem......if you have fire on both sides of the grate it just gets too hot and sags.
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