Woodstove help (lengthy)

[neverfear]

I have a Northern Leader wood furnace in my shop,made in the 80's in Gibbon MN. The furnace is in great shape except for the grate that seperates the firebox from the ash pan. The original cast iron grate cracked and fell apart a couple years ago and I replaced it with some heavy duty galvanized floor grating,reinforced with 1/2 x1 bar stock. it hasn't even made it half a heating season and it's warped and the grating is dissapearing (I assume melting).
My question is besides cast iron, what will tolerate the heat of a wood fire? Stainless? Something else I could make a grate out of? Any Ideas?
Thanks
 

[D7fever]

Find some screen from a gravel screening plant. That stuff is really tough. They usually change it out annually. Another possibility, is take some 3/8 by 2 flat stock and make a grid with the 3/8 side up about 1 inch apart, weld together with a piece or 2 on the bottom.
Have fun.
 

[tomtirediron]

When we had a furnace in the house we had a simlar situation. Used a double layer of 1.5"x 1.5" opening rock crusher screen. Worked well for a couple years anyway. Still ultimatly met the same fate as yours. If you can find some scraps it works in a pinch.
 

[PJH]

In the manuals that came with my outdoor boiler, they recommend that you not allow the ashes to build up enough to touch the bottom of the grates. They say it causes them to burn out quicker. I'd been around wood stoves all my life, and I didn't know that.

Can you buy new grates for your furnace? You got pretty good service out of the first set.
 

[Dalet]

Cast iron is the best. That said, I leave the ash drawer empty but leave a nice bed of ashes on the top of the grate when I have my stove going. It is a bit of insulation. I have a Hotblast furnace that was new in 1995 and its time to get some new grates. They were original though.

In the summer, clean out all the ashes as they are corrosive if they get damp with humidity and the new ones will last a long time. There is cast iron on stoves and steam engines for a reason!
 

[Ted in NE-OH]

On top of what ever you do use a layer of fire brick spaced to allow a draft. My Russo wood stove of 20 yrs is lined with that and going strong.
 

[tomturkey]

First I would try to buy replacement grates if available, there are a couple wood furnace manufacturers in Minn. theirs may possibly be retrofitted. Check with sewer line contractors the grates over storm sewer intakes sometimes get broken.youn could take one and make it work. nThey are heavy and will last several years. They are cast steel I think. gobble
 

[Dalet]

[TomR Ont]

Check this one

http://www.trulia.com/voices/General_Area/Looking_for_Northern_Leader_Company_And_do_they_s-181441
 

[Dave Sherburne NY]

Don't let the ashes build up under the grate.
 

[Lou from Wi.]

I've used 1" boiler plate from the steel yard and blowed holes (with acet. torch)in it to sift the ashes,but leaves the big hot coal embers. Never had one of them burn out after it was replaced,yet.
LOU
 

[paul]

I can almost see Gibbon from here, never knew they made wood stoves there.

I see in this link, they say the company is gone, but the fella might still have some parts as of 2011??? Gibbon is a small town, everyone knows everyone....

http://www.trulia.com/voices/General_Area/Looking_for_Northern_Leader_Company_And_do_they_s-181441

--->Paul
stove

 

[NCWayne]

Before I got my wood stove I burned in an open fireplace for nearly 15 years. I made a grate out of steel the first year and about 5 years it had warped and burned out. At the time Dad and I were doing alot of work for a local scrap yard so I went looking through their piles on ewekend. What I wound up using was part of a drain grate like you see on the side of the road. It's a really fine grade cast and is dished in the middle shich keeps the wood from rolling or sliding off. I cut mine to shape and made a set of bolt on legs for the rear and a decorative piece for the front that combined legs with a raised section to keep logs from falling forward. I burned with it for nearly 10 years and when I took it out to install the insert it looked as good as the day I built it.

Unfortunately finding a grate like that in a scrap yard nowdays would be all but impossible due to so many being stolen and sold when scrap prices were so high. But, if you can find one it will last long after anything else you can get.
 

[Kerry N.S.]

T am sure there are many things you can find to make a grate but not galvanised, gives off vapours from the high heat that can kill you. Its like heavy metal poisoning. Even when you are cutting and welding
 

[showcrop]