ebinmaine 67,541 #1 Posted April 2, 2022 At 2:40 this morning our friend arrived to stay a couple days. When we woke up this morning we guzzled some 🤠 ☕ and took off for a medium length hike with that friend and another. I'm still slow as molasses going uphill but downhill I'm fine. Getting better. When we got back to the house Trina was still in "go" mode. (of course!!) She started shredding the round fire circle our back and then the friend and I went and helped Trina assemble a combination open BBQ and smoker all made up of concrete blocks. When that was done I helped them move the sides of the outdoor chicken coop into the backyard and they continued with assembly. They made some changes including narrowing the entire set-up 6 or 10 inches so we can use the gate and coop door easier. While they were doing that I commenced to doing a bit of water relocation in the new clearing. Tried to make a wet are drier and also dug the stream a little deeper for better flow control. After.... Fire 🔥🔥🔥 7 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lynnmor 7,307 #2 Posted April 2, 2022 Those concrete blocks will fail if they get too hot, maybe you could find some fire brick to line the fireplace. 6 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 67,541 #3 Posted April 2, 2022 5 minutes ago, lynnmor said: Those concrete blocks will fail if they get too hot, maybe you could find some fire brick to line the fireplace. Quite true. A friend up here does a LOT of meat smoking. His brother built one similar but cemented it all together. It's now 5 or 6 years old and badly cracked up. At his advice and seeing some online, Trina didn't use any mortar. These are just gravity set. Replace as needed. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lynnmor 7,307 #4 Posted April 2, 2022 8 minutes ago, ebinmaine said: Quite true. A friend up here does a LOT of meat smoking. His brother built one similar but cemented it all together. It's now 5 or 6 years old and badly cracked up. At his advice and seeing some online, Trina didn't use any mortar. These are just gravity set. Replace as needed. Good plan. I just thought that with your resourcefulness that you might find some used bricks. I helped with a charitable event that made a large pit and it was trashed after a long day of high heat. I suppose the durability of the blocks depends on a lot of things and I suspect moisture content upon firing is a major factor. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 67,541 #5 Posted April 2, 2022 2 minutes ago, lynnmor said: Good plan. I just thought that with your resourcefulness that you might find some used bricks. I helped with a charitable event that made a large pit and it was trashed after a long day of high heat. I suppose the durability of the blocks depends on a lot of things and I suspect moisture content upon firing is a major factor. Fire brick itself is tough to find up here, used. Likely because so many folks use woodstoves. New is certainly available. I'll tell the BBT of this and she'll keep an eye out for future hot spots, so to speak. 👍 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Achto 27,591 #6 Posted April 3, 2022 1 hour ago, ebinmaine said: Fire brick itself is tough to find up here, used. Likely because so many folks use woodstoves. If the cement blocks turn out to be an issue, I would suggest building one with clay bricks. There is one near me that has been there for 20+yrs. It's not used as hard as I would use it but they do use it a few times per month. Seems to be holding up well. 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Horse Newbie 7,070 #7 Posted April 3, 2022 (edited) @ebinmaine… you could get yourself a few bales of straw, build some brick molds, go down to a muddy creek and get some mud, take off you shoes and socks, and make your own bricks… Edited April 3, 2022 by Horse Newbie 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oliver2-44 9,756 #8 Posted April 3, 2022 2 hours ago, Horse Newbie said: @ebinmaine… you could get yourself a few bales of straw, build some brick molds, go down to a muddy creek and get some mud, take off you shoes and socks, and make your own bricks… Newbie you might have to send him some of that NC Red Clay 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Horse Newbie 7,070 #9 Posted April 3, 2022 16 minutes ago, oliver2-44 said: Newbie you might have to send him some of that NC Red Clay He can pick it up at the Big Show … 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SylvanLakeWH 25,586 #10 Posted April 3, 2022 8 hours ago, Horse Newbie said: @ebinmaine… you could get yourself a few bales of straw, build some brick molds, go down to a muddy creek and get some mud, take off you shoes and socks, and make your own bricks… Gonna need pictures…!!! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sparky-(Admin) 21,318 #11 Posted April 3, 2022 Nice to see all the snow is gone 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
