The Steamboating Forum

A question for those that burn wood, Do you use a grate so the air goes under the fire, or burn it without a grate, A grate might allow a hotter fire but no grate would allow a nicer bed of coals to build up ?

I use a grate, I believe the most folks do. Mine is fabricated from steel angles, with the concave portion up to catch ashes to keep the steel cooler. The space between each angle is 5/8". There has been no sign of deterioration in the grate in five seasons of use.

A creative grate design.
I had not thought about using the ash to insulate the steel grate bars.
Thanks for sharing the idea.
RussN

Thanks, but it's not my idea. I read about it in the old Steamboating magazine decades ago. It does work pretty slick though.

Any particular reason you want a bed of coals? I guess for holding a spot fire when at the dock. My working fire is more like 6-8" deep.

I do a lot of short trips hauling passengers. Too much residual fire is an issue when I come back to the dock to unload and load. For long runs I love hardwoods, Prestologs and the like. But they are a fuss to get under control when you don't want more steam. Some day I'll have to rig a stack cap or damper.

For reasons of availability and cost, I burn soft wood. Fir, hemlock and cedar. As long as my neighbors keep rebuilding their decks, I have free wood. It would take many weekends of steaming to accumulate more than an inch or two of ash in the pan. An amazing quantity of nails and screws though.

So for, the only drawback to wood has been the room it takes up in the boat. For long runs it is just the two of us. So I look like the African Queen! Who cares. For short hops at an event, I can come back to my bags of wood piled on the dock.

Mike

I currently use a grate but I have only done two short trips with my boat and was wondering if no grate would be better. The point of dealing with a residual fire at the dock or when loading the boat on the trailer is a good one. Since it seems most people use a grate I will keep mine. Thanks for the help.

My boiler has both a stack damper and a tightly closing ash pan door. In addition, I have a Breisch duplex pump to add water to the boiler when the engine is stopped. Accordingly, usually the only time my safety valve lifts is when I intentionally test it.

If I am able to plan ahead and burn down the fire prior to stopping, adding water isn't needed to control the boiler pressure.

Hi Kelly,

... Mine is fabricated from steel angles, with the concave portion up to catch

it is a very fine solution. The grate is removable through the fire door?

What are the dimensions of the grate?

Regards
Dietrich

Yes, it is removable through the fire door. It could have fit if made of only two pieces, but I wanted to keep the length of the spans of the angle irons shorter.

The boiler furnace is 17.375 inches inside diameter.

The grate outer ring is 16.875 outside diameter, roller from .25 x 1.00 flat steel.

The angles are cut from 1.00 x 1.00 x .25 low carbon steel. There is a .625 air gap between each angle.

The grate bearers are 1.00 tall at the ends, and 2.00 tall in the center.

The center section of the grate is 7.625 in overall width.

The side sections height of chord is 4.375.

Thank you, it is very interesting.

--
Dietrich