Cheap home made Tent heater / stove

[Woods Dweller]

I have did this in my A-frame tent and it works very well, and can get very hot, if damper is open to much.

What you will need:

1 stovepipe elbow
1 stovepipe damper
stovepipe as needed
tie wire or bailing wire
5foot iron stake
Bucket or 12inch x 10inch x 2/16 sheet metal



When your tent is set up dig a fire pit, 10 inches by 10 inches [the with of a square point shovel] and 8 inches deep, and one and a half foot from tent wall.

Next: dig a trench leading under your tent and [about] one and a half foot from the tent wall. Lay a stove pipe in trench and out of the tent. Place stovepipe elbow on the stovepipe that is in the trench, Now! Place another section of stovepipe into elbow pointing straight up. [this is the chimney] place a damper onto stovepipe and continue stove pipe up past the height of your tent.

Drive a iron stake alongside the stovepipe chimney and with tie wire or bailing wire tie stovepipe to iron stake.

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Cover stovepipe with dirt, place a bucket or a 12inch x 10inch x 2/16 metal plate over fire pit, leaving a opening in the front of fire pit. This opening is to feed fuel into fire pit. After you get a fire going in your fire pit adjust you damper to the proper setting as to not burn up your wood to fast.

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On the metal Bucket or plate you can make a pot of Coffee.
XXX Always use common scents when bring fire into a tent.

 

[Birdman]

neat idea, quick simple, light weight, saw some thing simaler down in Oz years back but yours is simplicty at its finest, kool YMHS Birdman

 

[S.Kenton]

do you get much smoke in your tent with this method? Interesting for sure.. :thumbsup:

 

[Woods Dweller]

do you get much smoke in your tent with this method? Interesting for sure..

No I did not get smoke.
Make sure your pipe goes a little higher than the peak of your tent. And make sure you have a damper in your stove pipe to control the draft, and there should be no back flow of smoke.

When I first did this I used a metal plate instead of the bucket and did not have a damper. The draft was so strong that I burn most of my wood up the first night.
I layed a piece of wood over the top of the chimney to control the air flow and it worked great. I even cooked a pot of coffee on the metal plate.

PS. The first time my wife went camping in my A-frame tent was in the winter and she told me I had better keep her warm. This idea work very wll and my wife was hoppy. And when My wife is happy...... :wink:

 

[Woods Dweller]

This meted can be adapted to making a smoker. When the pipe comes up from the ground have it go into the bottom of a 5gal barrel. Then cut a hole in the top of the barrel so the smoke can move through the barrel. Add racks in the barrel and there ya go.

 

[lonehunter]

I have read of this method and always wondered how well it works.
Thanks for sharing! :thumbsup:

 

[Loyalist Dave]

It looks similar to a home made stove I saw used by a Navajo lady. She had an overturned, galvanized, steel washtub, and sombody had cut a hole near the side, and ran a stove pipe through her roof from that hole, and had cut a small door in the front side of the washtub, and put some hinges on the piece they cut out to make her a door. She could heat the living space, or cook on the top with a pot or with a frypan.

LD

 

[theDuck]

Personally I'd be leery of using a galvanized bucket. I'd worry that the zinc would burn off and be a poisoning hazard. Poisoned myself the odd time welding galvanized metal in the past.
Otherwise what a smart, simple idea.

 

[Pigman]

During the Civil War the union used a similar system to vent the Petersburg mine before the battle of the crater. the ventalation system using a fire is explained on this site.
http://www.brotherswar.com/Petersburg-6Pic.htm

Foster From Flint

 

[Woods Dweller]

Very interesting Uncle. I have always wondered how they got air to the miners tunneling in them days. That “battle of the crater” should have been called the massacre of the crater. They sent them poor souls into that large crater without means to climb out.

Thanks for sharing that U,P.

 

[bangfxr]

That method of drawing air into the mine at the Crater is an old old method. The colored troops that were origanly sapose to attack knew NOT to run into the crater but go around. The overall Cmdr didnt trust colored soldiers and chose white troops and failed to instruct them to go around. Thats going off track. I have been to winter CW camps and that style of heating works well and the ground is warm and the 4 men sleeping in the tent stay warm.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Well it looked like a galvanized wash tub..., zinc could've been long gone, or I assumed it was galvanized since that's the only kind I knew of when I saw it as a kid :grin:

LD

 

[Woods Dweller]

Personally I'd be leery of using a galvanized bucket. I'd worry that the zinc would burn off and be a poisoning hazard. Poisoned myself the odd time welding galvanized metal in the past.
Otherwise what a smart, simple idea.

A 12inch x 10inch [or larger] x 2/16 sheet metal Works Just as well and is not as bulky and you don't have to worry about the “zinc”.

 

[gearheart]

When you are welding, zinc is an issue because you are going a lot hotter than just the small fire. That bucket would have to get between orange and yellow hot to burn off the zinc.

 

[Woods Dweller]

Bump

 

[hawkeye2]

I'm not quite sure but is the fire inside the tent with the stovepipe outside?

 

[Woods Dweller]

yes

 

[R.C.BINGAMAN]

There is a article in the current issue of BACK WOODSMAN about construction of a stove made from a military ammo can interesting.

 

[coloradoclyde]

There is a article in the current issue of BACK WOODSMAN about construction of a stove made from a military ammo can interesting.

I made an ammo can stove once.......the enamel paint burns off forever........and stinks to high heaven.....
Easier to make one from scratch.....

 

[zimmerstutzen]

Fellow camped next to me at an eastern had a brazier about 14 inches square and 8 inches deep. He had a cover that fit over tightly that had a round outlet about 2.5 inches. It coverted the brazier to a small charcoal heater and used a piece of auto exhaust pipe for a chimney. As I recall the flat of the lid was very heavy, maybe 1/4 inch to hold and radiate heat. I don't know how many hour heat it would give, but seemed like a good double duty idea.