Just another option. ....
I don't know if they are big enough for everyone's campfire grate needs, but years ago, i used one of those very common fireplace/firewood racks which "cradled" the wood in place..... remember them? I'll bet u can still find them, even used.
The bent-up-both-sides welded bars were at least 1/2 x 1/2 square steel stock...probably 3/4 x 3/4. and a similar, if not same, pair welded across the bottom of them served as feet on the fireplace floor. So, i just slipped 1" x 16" black pipe over the bottom pair to elevate the cradle over a campfire. Thinking about it now, i had wished that i had made it to be easily height- adjustable while still over the fire as it embered down.
If the cradle shape on top is undesirable, u could flip it over and stick the pipes onto the downward cradle bars. The angle of the bend made for great stability.
Ottawa Gal, for a heavy duty fire grate you can use old oven grates/shelves. I did that years ago at s friend's permanent campsite. We built the firepit around the oven shelves. You can cut them to any size you need and mount them in the sides of the firepit if you want to get fancy. I believe they are generally made from stainless steel and are sturdy.
Just as a general comment here, why don't you, Ottawa Gal, take a welding course?? Algonquin college has them in the evenings and are really good for learning the badics of gas welding and cutting and braising with different msterials. With a very basic and inexpensive setup and a wrlding course or two you will have gained a most useful skill and you can manufacture/repair all kinds of things yourself and have a tradesble skill.
The basic gas cutting/welding equipment is not very exensive and there is always some equipment fr sale on used Ottawa or kijiji. Or Princess Auto for supplies ad well.
Its a good investment in yourself.
I would like to remind everyone of these great resources. A torrent client is needed for the downloads.
https://kickass.to/compact-house-t8531947.html
https://kickass.to/strategic-relocation-n-america-ru-t8646567.html#technical
https://kickass.to/semi-permanent-shelters-t7979059.html
https://kickass.to/wild-food-herbs-t7979050.html
https://kickass.to/edible-wild-plants-3-t7979022.html
https://kickass.to/survival-pdfs-t8775402.html
Ottawa Gal, for a heavy duty fire grate you can use old oven grates/shelves. I did that years ago at s friend's permanent campsite. We built the firepit around the oven shelves. You can cut them to any size you need and mount them in the sides of the firepit if you want to get fancy. I believe they are generally made from stainless steel and are sturdy.
It depends on the weight of what you're cooking and the heat of your fire. Cooking over real fire and coals tends to cause SS oven racks to soften and bend where they wouldn't when exposed to the exact same heat in an oven.
Not a bad alternative, but I would suggest that if you're going to do this, to pair a couple racks up in a criss-cross fashion to increase their strength.
It's coming... and it's going to hurt!
Great idea Oddmott!!
Not really heavy duty, but could be useful .... till Mar.31
http://www.princessauto.com/pal/en/Camping-And-Rv/Camping-Grill-Stand/8472664.p
Here's some pics/footage of the maple syrup evaporator my buddy built us using just 2 old wood furnaces and some scrap metal.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151989577173038
It gets an evaporation rate of roughly 15-20 gallons per hour during the main boil-off. Once you're nearing the point of finished syrup and getting ready to draw off, it slows down to 10 gph and then jumps to 25-30 gph after you hit 200 degrees.
If we find a way to add a blower i could see this getting 20+ gph easily. Due to a miscommunication during manufacturing we have about half the fire brick insulation value I wanted. As a result it does shed quite a bit of heat.
Yesterday i boiled off 70 gallons of sap to 2 gallons of syrup in 6-7 hours. I used less than 1 face cord of firewood.
It's coming... and it's going to hurt!