Propane Tank Wood Stove Question

[TimmyLo]

I am currently building a wood burner out of a 20 lb propane tank to heat my 8x8 shanty, and have a few questions for those who have done the same:

Is it necessary to install a baffle?
Do I need to install a flue damper?
How much venting on the front is necessary to feed oxygen to the fire?
Did anybody bother to create some sort of ash tray, or easy way to empty the ashes?

Thanks for your input fellas, and some picture examples would be much appreciated!

[Idahogator]

TimmyLo, it's been done before, many times and here's just one link.   The search feature, here on Iceshanty can lead you to more info. How you word each search may vary your results.  Good luck.

                           http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=197204.0

[TimmyLo]

Thanks Gator, I have seen that thread, and searched pretty much every word combination on the site. I guess my main question is are those extra features (flue damper, baffle, ash tray) necessary for my purposes, as far as function of the stove goes, or could they be classified as going above and beyond?

[Moonman]

You definitely need ample lower front venting to allow extra air for good combustion, depending on wood type, dryness etc. a fair size opening with a good control mechanism is what you want. If you have a good door design, you could always cack it open but its better to have the air come in from under he wood pile,or at least lower down.

Baffles make for better combustion and total heat output but not absolutely needed.

Damper is really great to help control burn rate and conserve wood. If you look around, you can get a collar with a damper built in.

Ash tray  not needed, but a grate of some kind will keep wood off the bottom, helping combustion and preserving the bottom of the stove.

Moonman.

[da man cave shack]

A baffle makes it put out more heat so if you can that will help it work better, yes an air intake is necessary and should be adjustable and a flue damper is also necessary to control the fore and 3" flue works great as well.

[Moonman]

Lots of good stove info can be found on the wintercamping site here:
http://wintertrekking.com/

Moonman.

[TimmyLo]

thanks a lot, guys!

[fishingwithkids]

here is one I made 2 years ago baffled and everything. the pancake compressor tank came from the dump and acts like an ash pan.

                           

[FRESH-BAIT]

I built one a while back,  I built a lower ash pan with vents, I also put a damper in the stove pipe.  Went way more complicated then I needed to. 

[jimmyrig]

here is one I made 2 years ago baffled and everything. the pancake compressor tank came from the dump and acts like an ash pan.

                           

That is an awesome design, Andy great use of resources! Looks cool too.

Jimmy

[Lobes]

Woodstoves made this way work fine. If I was to build another stove I'd just get pre cut flat steel and go that way. The build would be much faster/easier. I have built a lot of wood burners in my day. Just make sure when you put in the damper that it don't completely close the exhaust or you will flood your shack with smoke.

                                                             
NBG

[G Man]

Here is an old pic of mine long before everything was finished. Six or seven yrs ago...

Anyhow, 20lb tank.

Damper in stove pipe (not in pic) is a must have. I had a 4 inch connection on top of tank but availability of four inch pipe is poor. So I added an adapter to 5 inch stove pipe. Make sure the stove pipe is high enough above roof line of shack so stove burns and exhausts well. Too low a pipe gives poor burn/action and a smoke filled shack...

Sliding air intake in bottom of door.

I cut a grill to fit inside of bottom of stove to sit wood on and create air space/ash space below fire. The grill just sits in place. Easily comes out to scoop out most of ashes.

I do really like the stove. It doesn't take up much space inside shack. The only thing I regret is your pieces of wood need to be cut so short to fit inside of stove, it can be unhandy/inconvenient sometimes...

Next time I would go with a small but longer rectangular style stove just to be able to fit normal sized logs/pieces of wood...



G Man

[fishingwithkids]

G MAN tractor supply and places like that sell pill shaped compressed wood blocks they are like 6x4x4 a package like that lasts all day in mine. awesome lil stove you have there.