RW, Jr. recently picked up four old truck brake hubs to use as fire bowls. These are pretty big and weigh close to 80 pounds each but since they're somewhat round are pretty easy to manage. I was out at his place last night looking them over and even saw the ones he painted (mine aren't painted but will probably outlast me anyway!) and they look really nice. You can build a really nice fire inside one of these and keep it going almost constantly without having to worry about burn out.
I've included a few pics of the fire bowls. These things would make a great forge or they can be used to melt lead or simply just to cook outside or provide a little additional heat for you to warm-up with when working outdoors.
You can also put one of these over an old stump and burn it out in no time. It holds the heat in and there is less chance of a fire spreading.
Staying above the water line!
Riverwalker
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12 comments:
Great post RW. Never thought about using those for a fire bowl. Those could come in handy.
matthiasj
Kentucky Preppers Network
To: matthiasj
You can also set them over a stump, load it with some scrap limbs and burn out a stump.
RW
Where do you get something like that?
To: anonymous 11:25
They are old brake hubs from an old bus or truck. Look for a truck or bus repair shop. The old drums have to be replaced due to wear or cracks by the lug holes and can usually be gotten for pennies on the pound as scrap...most shops sell them to salvage and junkyards for scrap. Being cast iron and really thick they can last a long time. You can probably get them at an auto junkyard also. Hubs off of old dually pickups work also but are a little smaller. They are lot cheaper at scrap prices than the ones you see for sale that are ready made. Just hang a grate on them or use some expanded metal cut to fit and you've got a fairly indestructible backyard grill.
RW
Really Really cool idea! I showed it to DH. He's already thinking about where he can pick some up! Thanks!
To: SciFiChick
Let us know when DH gets one! They can come in quite handy for a number of different uses. Thanks.
RW
They are also great to use as flower pots. However, they weigh approximately 150 pounds. So, transporting them can be a problem.
RW Jr.
what if you put a few hole's in the base,like a dakota fire stove?
Dean in az
To: Dean in AZ
If you take a close look at the pics you can see slots around the bottom where the lug holes are that allowed heat from the brake pads to vent. These give you plenty of air circulation around the base. Thanks.
RW
To: RW Jr.
Thanks for the correction on the weight of your fire bowls.Thanks.
RW Sr.
If you get three brake drums you can make a great outdoor potbelly stove with very little work. Simply put the 1st one open side down on some bricks, the the next opend side up, then place some mesh in the bottom of the second drum to hold the coals of the fire, then place the third brakedrum open side down on top of the second brake drum. Now you have the makings of a makeshift potbelly stove. Improvements to the basic design are limited by your imagination.
Re the outdoor potbelly comment above, if you can't understand my instructions, send me an email to BushWok@ozemail.com.au and I will send you a photo of mine
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