Wood stove suggestions

[Robin]

This is it. Enjoyable video demonstrating a hot tent stove set up for a fall deer hunt. . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NXeMlCKADE

Thanks, I subscribed to him, now I have about 50 deer camp guys I need to watch along with the other 300 guys I have subscribed too.

 

[coldfeet]

Coldfeet would have to buy a new car just to fit in a double barrel stove...!.

HAHA! Yep, I upgraded my Kni-co Trekker model to the Alaskan Jr. model and fired it up yesterday and getting my daughters dog introduced to it. Have to watch his wagging tail hitting the side of the fire box, ouch! I'm using a 9x11.5 tent and like the larger stove. But the smaller Trekker model worked fine also depending on temps.

My friend MOC helped me make a false bottom for both stoves out of 20-24 gauge sheet metal from Home Depot at a cost of app $10-14 each. He just snipped away and bent the metal, lower gauge 20 was more difficult with hand held tools but worked nicely yesterday.

Kni-co and others mentioned placing sand on bottom of stove box I guess as an insulator which I did a few times but then had to keep buying sand or digging up soil where we went. I just coppied some ideas on wintertrekking.

Thos Four Dog Ti stoves are sweet! Expect to pay a lot for a great product. $700 plus without the pipes if I recall. On a wish list in my next life. For now I'd rather pay a day laborer $20 to haul my sled for me.

 

[Bothwell Voyageur]

We have a kni-co Trekker for our 8 by 10. It has been plenty of stove right down to thirty below. Another mark against the four dog is the pipe collar on top really hurts when you sit down on your sled for a rest!

Really great stoves though. Wish I could afford a ti version though.

​

 

[Guest]

Two approaches here. Heavy stoves heat well and hold heat, but are heavy. I sometimes winter camp on snowshoes pull in a toboggan. A heavy stove just wouldn't work. At the drive in primitive winter camps I go to many have real nice, sometimes heavy stoves that are ideal and other than not being able to boil water, the heavy stoves work better..

 

[lowangle al]

Two approaches here. Heavy stoves heat well and hold heat, but are heavy. I sometimes winter camp on snowshoes pull in a toboggan. A heavy stove just wouldn't work. At the drive in primitive winter camps I go to many have real nice, sometimes heavy stoves that are ideal and other than not being able to boil water, the heavy stoves work better..

I have a hot tent set up in AK with a sheet metal stove and one in Pa. with a cast iron stove and I much prefer the sheet metal stove for a tent. The lighter stove transfers heat much quicker and gets hotter for cooking. I found little benefit from the cast iron stoves heat holding property in an uninsulated tent.

 

[red langford]

That Silver Fire Multi Purose Tent Stove looks sweet but shipping to Canada is $183 and coupled with exchange it will set me back $700. Too rich for my blood but still like the design.

KnoCo seems to be the popular choice so probably going that route.

Thanks for all the replies

 

[Guest]

yes, a sheetmatal heats up way quicker. Just the thing for a camp setup at the end of the day for a short stay. The drive in camps I was referring to last for 5 days and a continuously hot stove is a plus. If you sleep long and the stove goes out your tent stays warm.

 

[Boreal Birch]

Most tent stoves don't have a baffle, so most heat goes up the stove pipe, they also need a damper in the pipe to help control the burn.
I have slept many nights in wall tents at -40 degrees heated by stoves I made from old oil drums, following instructions from Ole Wik's book, all had baffles and dampers. He also showed some stove made from lighter weight metal gas cans that are now obsolete, but may still be found and beaten into stoves.

 

[Boreal Birch]

The above post didn't work the way I wanted it to. Not much fun being computer illiterate in today's world. The link does not take you to Ole Wick's on line book. Do a search for WOOD STOVES: How to Make and Use Them by Ole Wick instead.

 

[Boreal Birch]

Double post!

 

[tump_lion]

cheap and cheerful...

and very functional

https://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/wood-burning-stove/A-p8282303e

 

[memaquay]

I was waiting for someone to post the Hippy Killer!

 

[red langford]

I can get those easily enough. Never heard them called Hippy Killers. People use those in ice shacks but from all accounts only last a few seasons then need to be replaced. No the greatest to cook off from what I can tell either

 

[Murat V]

In my experience, you don't need a false bottom for the kni co. No-one that I know does that. Perhaps if you were burning daily for a protracted period of time.

Good to know. I purchases a used Knico Trekker over the summer. The previous owner said he used it one time. Noticed the he didn't use a false bottom and was worried about the burn marks and future problems. When I told him the manufacturer suggested using sand or a false bottom, he knocked off a few more bucks off it.

Before reading the thread, I ended up making a false bottom from this galvanized metal pegboard sold at Home Depot from $15 CND. At 16" long it fits the Trekker's length nearly perfectly. Cut it up into two pieces, folded over the edge and now have 5 inch and 4.5 inch wide pieces that fit the bottom snug.

The smaller piece can nest into the larger for storage/transport, but it turns out that all the pipes still fit in the burn chamber so it'll be left in place.

 

[Guest]

A warning on that galvanize. When its heated hot the first time it gives off a harmful gas. people cutting galvanize with torches have been affected. maybe if you fire it up hot outside it would burn off the grates, but I think to grate on top could be a problem.

 

[red langford]

I just read about the galvanized issue and for it to off gas the temperature needs to reach 2360 degrees, not sure of that was F or C but it seems it doesn't matter as a wood stove will never reach that temperature

 

[Guest]

As a former mechanic the word galvanize set off warning bells. We were constantly warned about fumes when welding/burning it. Perhaps in this case it's not a problem-just a word to the wise. Also, although I mentioned it briefly, Sheet metal stoves being able to boil water is a big advantage to someone like me to whom "cooking" means adding boiling water to something.

 

[Nodrama43]

I use a four dog titanium for wood and a Nu-Way single burner for propane. Four Dog is pricey but it is a quality piece of gear. They are selling so many of them that they are currently not taking orders. It took me three months to get mine last year when I ordered it.

 

[lowangle al]

That Hippy Killer has a good weight to price ratio, and I can see some advantages to a top loader. I would have given it a try if I had known about them before my last stove purchase.

 

[DanOver]

I have a four dogs that weighs 44 lbs. Heavy, but built to last and I can get a 5- 6 hour burn with hardwood and damping it down. Heck, after 5 hours I have to get up and pee anyway. I just stoke it up then and when I wake up its all comfy in the Laavu.