Building a backyard Fire Pit

[3RRL]

Shakespear:
"A pit is a pit is a pit..."
No matter what shape or size, they all end up giving us warmth, pleasure and security. Ahhhh, I love my pit.

 

[dholly]

Hmm, "no matter what shape or size..."

Why is it that most pits I see these days are round? When I was growing up, Grandpa had a big, stone-lined rectangular fire pit about 4Wx6Lx2D at his cabin. Ok, it actually might have been the trash burning pit doing double-duty for campfires, but we loved it and it sure was easy to drag the long stuff into!

 

[Timber]

I'm almost embarrased to show my fire ring after seeing what you guys have done!!! But we really enjoy ours and have allot of fun with it.

Eddie

Eddy,
That is nothing to be ashamed of; it is actually a really nice fire ring. It is the people you spend your time with that makes it all special. There are all kinds of things effect how we construct things. A fire ring is perfect if you move your fire around from place to place. It is just another idea to add to the many in this thread.

 

[Timber]

Now I'm offended!! Are you trying to imply that our tractor rim and tank head fire pits don't provide the proper aethetics and ambiance?? I, for one, believe they go perfectly well with the toilet and bathtub planters in the front yard and the old Buick with the trees growing up through the hood .

As for the seating, the old bench seat from my first automobile are every bit as comfortable as they were when I bought the car used, with 150,000 miles 15 years ago. The used oil from the old automobiles is a perfect source of fuel, albiet a little smokey when the wind shifts around and the old stump makes a perfect holder for the bottle of "shine".

LOL that sounds kind of post apocalyptic! But hey if that fits into the theme of your landscape why not! All I can say is Pictures tell a thousand words

 

[gsganzer]

Here's one that I sat around when I hunted in Africa. It's not a pit at all. The concrete pad has a brick place in the center where the fire is built. It throws out a surprising amount of heat because it doesn't have sides.

 

[escavader]

Timber
Nice job, Everyone likes to cook on an open fire. Dont forget the bean pot. It also is good decoration. A bent piece of rebar [in a u shape]works good to hold stove grates.Heres a pic for example.
ALAN

 

[johnk]

Very nicely done Escavador. Looks like a very pleasurable place to spend the evening...

 

[Timber]

Timber
Nice job, Everyone likes to cook on an open fire. Dont forget the bean pot. It also is good decoration. A bent piece of rebar [in a u shape]works good to hold stove grates.Heres a pic for example.
ALAN

Now that is a working cook fire pit. That is nice little set up there. I think I'm gona have to take some ideas from your pit and incorporate them into my own design I think

 

[3RRL]

Yeah Alan,
That is a really nice pit you've got there. Like Timber said, I will keep those ideas in mind for my pit too.

 

[escavader]

Its funny you guys mention my pit...its my old design.The picture was taken last year.If you look closely you can see it had two chambers.The rear one was the begginnings of a chimmney.As i found flat rocks doing projects with my hoe,i would stack them up .About july of this year it was about 7 ft tall.It was the talk of the town,everyone had to come see this fire place.Then one day we started a fire and it started to rain.I threw a peice of metal roofing over the top and we able to keep our blaze going.Then an unbelievable thing happened.The large 8 inch piece of granite[that you see in the pic] splitand fell into the fireplace.It was because of the rain running off the tin on it and the intense heat of the fire...i never imagined thet would happen.Well the whole thing has to be redone.Right now i got the same pit .but with no chimmney,Im looking for an i beam to head up the chimmney inlet.Lesson learned ...a hot rock will split if cold water is applyed to it!
Do any of you have to get permits for using your pits?Here in MAINE the fire marshal in our area said you can have it without,if you have a fire place,10 ft of clearance around,and fire wood only...not trash or brush[my wood is 4 ft long]and it has to be on your own land.All bets are off if its dry enough for a state wide fire ban.
A couple more tips i burn applewood when cooking for flavor.I throw a few pieces on my cooking coals for flavoring.Also a good pair of welding gloves and long handled utensils are a must for a large cooking pit.Keep your grates inside so they dont rust ,when not in use.Never pass by an old stove at the dump,without taking home the grates...HA HA
ALAN