gave up on ever finding a BGE chimnea

RRP

So I decided to construct this outdoor burn pit. Only cost me about $200 and at 54" diameter a whole bunch more people can sit around it compared to a chimnea anyway! 

Photo Egg

Looks really nice Ron.

SciAggie

That's nice Ron. 

The_Stache

No expectations ... No worries!

The_Stache

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1206382/bge-chimney-minnesota-250#latest

RRP

Thanks guys! BTW the picture depth is deceiving - it would appear the blocks are merely resting on pea gravel when in fact it has 3.5 cubic feet of pea gravel inside.

fishlessman

i will take a burn pit over a chiminea any day. we have some serious pits up at the camp, mines small at 5 foot wide, 8 foot deep, 4 foot high in the back compared to most of the neighbors. not so upscale as yours, its all crumbling cinder blocks, time for a rebuild

RRP

fishlessman said:

i will take a burn pit over a chiminea any day. we have some serious pits up at the camp, mines small at 5 foot wide, 8 foot deep, 5 foot high in the back compared to most of the neighbors

8 feet deep sounds like an abandoned well or former privy pit! But if not then why so deep?

fishlessman

i

RRP said:

fishlessman said:

i will take a burn pit over a chiminea any day. we have some serious pits up at the camp, mines small at 5 foot wide, 8 foot deep, 5 foot high in the back compared to most of the neighbors

8 feet deep sounds like an abandoned well or former privy pit! But if not then why so deep?

i build my pits open in front, high in back, throws the heat forward in winter, we use the pit in the winter as well. 3 feet in front is more to catch the forwrd jumping embers and for putting long logs in where you push them to the back while burning. its also wheel barrel accessible

StillH2OEgger

That a great looking fire pit, Ron. Nice work.

northGAcock

Very nice job Ron. Spending hat money on a fire pit seems like a wise investment over the 11# propane cylinder. Seriously....nice job.

4Runner

I should do this.  Very nice.  

SGH

Ron, it is absolutely killing me to say that you can tell a mans money by his belongings. However I will not succumb to temptation no matter how strong it may be. 
Thus I will simply say; awesome brother. 

RRP

SGH said:

Ron, it is absolutely killing me to say that you can tell a mans money by his belongings. However I will not succumb to temptation no matter how strong it may be. 
Thus I will simply say; awesome brother. 

Huh? $200 "belongings"? Thanks, buddy! 

BJM2932

Looks great. Just add fire/refreshments, and you're in business!

JohnnyTarheel

Nice pit brother

GregW

Look's very nice!

ryantt

Ron I sent you a PM. 

Focker

Strong work Ron, you did good, opting out of the novelty chimnea.  

Like fish, I'll take a pit any day.

Central_Bama_Egger

RRP said:

Thanks guys! BTW the picture depth is deceiving - it would appear the blocks are merely resting on pea gravel when in fact it has 3.5 cubic feet of pea gravel inside.

And you can cook on it!!???!

Focker

fishlessman said:

i

RRP said:

fishlessman said:

i will take a burn pit over a chiminea any day. we have some serious pits up at the camp, mines small at 5 foot wide, 8 foot deep, 5 foot high in the back compared to most of the neighbors

8 feet deep sounds like an abandoned well or former privy pit! But if not then why so deep?

i build my pits open in front, high in back, throws the heat forward in winter, we use the pit in the winter as well. 3 feet in front is more to catch the forwrd jumping embers and for putting long logs in where you push them to the back while burning. its also wheel barrel accessible

Clever.
In Live Fire Cooking by Paula Marcoux, she unearthed archaelogical site digs and found pits built this way many moons ago, disc shaped and sloped to intentionally bank heat with large stones.  She and her husband have a cool tutorial.  It also works for moving embers closer to cook over with a transfer shovel.  

My KBQ pad was built with a slight inward slope to keep things contained.  

fishlessman

Focker said:

fishlessman said:

i

RRP said:

fishlessman said:

i will take a burn pit over a chiminea any day. we have some serious pits up at the camp, mines small at 5 foot wide, 8 foot deep, 5 foot high in the back compared to most of the neighbors

8 feet deep sounds like an abandoned well or former privy pit! But if not then why so deep?

i build my pits open in front, high in back, throws the heat forward in winter, we use the pit in the winter as well. 3 feet in front is more to catch the forwrd jumping embers and for putting long logs in where you push them to the back while burning. its also wheel barrel accessible

Clever.
In Live Fire Cooking by Paula Marcoux, she unearthed archaelogical site digs and found pits built this way many moons ago, disc shaped and sloped to intentionally bank heat with large stones.  She and her husband have a cool tutorial.  It also works for moving embers closer to cook over with a transfer shovel.  

My KBQ pad was built with a slight inward slope to keep things contained.  

ive seen one once back 30 years ago built that way and then made one at the house with stone, back side built up with clay. its a small pit but it really throws the heat. the camp is rustic cinder block but every stone i find i pile on the back side. the one i saw was at a site dig, penobscot tribe, water was really low that year and they found all sorts of stuff, they said it was for smoking salmon. was pretty cool, was about 20 miles from the road with the boat fishing when i found people working a site that was under water for the last hundred years and you could still see traces where they lived hundreds of years before that catching salmon every fall. they had a nice piece of flint that was still good to skin a fish, been looking for one ever since

News2u

Very excellent.

RRP

Central_Bama_Egger said:

And you can cook on it!!???!

Yes - I can/could, but probably won't bother to do so! The inner steel ring has a piece of pipe welded inside so that a steel post with a grate also welded to it can "swing" in and out over the fire. 

Focker

fishlessman said:

Focker said:

fishlessman said:

i

RRP said:

fishlessman said:

i will take a burn pit over a chiminea any day. we have some serious pits up at the camp, mines small at 5 foot wide, 8 foot deep, 5 foot high in the back compared to most of the neighbors

8 feet deep sounds like an abandoned well or former privy pit! But if not then why so deep?

i build my pits open in front, high in back, throws the heat forward in winter, we use the pit in the winter as well. 3 feet in front is more to catch the forwrd jumping embers and for putting long logs in where you push them to the back while burning. its also wheel barrel accessible

Clever.
In Live Fire Cooking by Paula Marcoux, she unearthed archaelogical site digs and found pits built this way many moons ago, disc shaped and sloped to intentionally bank heat with large stones.  She and her husband have a cool tutorial.  It also works for moving embers closer to cook over with a transfer shovel.  

My KBQ pad was built with a slight inward slope to keep things contained.  

ive seen one once back 30 years ago built that way and then made one at the house with stone, back side built up with clay. its a small pit but it really throws the heat. the camp is rustic cinder block but every stone i find i pile on the back side. the one i saw was at a site dig, penobscot tribe, water was really low that year and they found all sorts of stuff, they said it was for smoking salmon. was pretty cool, was about 20 miles from the road with the boat fishing when i found people working a site that was under water for the last hundred years and you could still see traces where they lived hundreds of years before that catching salmon every fall. they had a nice piece of flint that was still good to skin a fish, been looking for one ever since

Really cool my friend. 

thetrim

That looks sweet.  By any chance do you have step by step pictures to show its construction?  $200 not bad!  I always heard to acheieve true wealth it's more important to limit what's going out than grow what's coming in.   

RRP

thetrim said:

That looks sweet.  By any chance do you have step by step pictures to show its construction?  $200 not bad!  

I bought the material at a home improvement center here in the Midwest called Menard's. They have a large wall mounted display of various projects such as the one I made. When you buy the blocks they sell you the pattern for 1 cent. The whole key is leveling the area and then it's a simple process of stacking the stones up against and around the steel liner. They have a 30" and the 36"  which I chose. From there it's stack 13 blocks first row then 13 on the next etc for 4 rows - easy-peasy! You then fill the inside with pea gravel to promote  drainage and to protect the stone. The spark screen was extra, but the pit is in a heavily wooded area. Since I will be using it this Fall when the ground is often covered with dry leafs I thought $42 extra was worth the money for the protection.

KiterTodd

Oh yeah, fire pit is key.   That was a requirement when we bought our current house (that the yard/zoning/neighborhood) would tolerate a campfire.

I don't have a cover like yours, but that's a nice way to make sure no errant embers fly out.  You can sleep easier after a burn.   And of course, your setup will be perfect to put a grate over for grilling or drop a dutch oven inside.