*Off the Ground Campfire Drum*
One of our favorite lakes to fish walleye is Oneida Lake. We even found a place to rent camp sites for only $10.00 a night with electric hookups. But - the older lady who owns the property doesn’t like having to mow around campfire rings.
Camp without a campfire - it just isn’t done. So with a little Yankee ingenuity and a 55 gallon drum fresh from the wine industry of central NY. We can still have a campfire.
I took the drum which was the type with a removable lid and cut off the top 1/3 of the drum (right above the first formed band) with a small reciprocating saw and a metal cutting blade.
I also cut off the lower 1/3 just below the bottom formed band. Discard the center section.
I cut a kerf in the top section taking out about an inch of metal from top to bottom. This allowed me to shove the top section into the bottom section. Why?? Well, by adding this step, it gives the lower section a nice rolled edge so nobody gets a nasty cut from the saw cut edge.
I then grabbed a light weight wire fence post and cut it into 3 equal lengths. These were then drilled for two ¼-20 bolts and attached around the outside of the drum to provide support legs. I used wing nuts on the inside of the drum to hold the legs on.
Well, I thought that looked pretty nice. Then as I was putting a few things away in the garage that afternoon, I noticed a round grill that had been left behind when an old Webber style grill went to the dump. That looks like the same size as the drum I thought to myself. Actually I probably said it out loud, but I won’t admit to talking to myself. I tried it and it sat right down insid the grill and rested on the top leg bolts. Cool!
In use, I put a 2” layer of sand in the bottom and use whatever fuel (bricketts of wood) that I have at hand. The nice thing is, that for transporting, I can put the sand, the legs, the grill and even a half bag of bricketts inside the short drum and then use the original top with its attaching band to close it right up. Keeps everything right where I will need it, and not all over the inside of the truck bed. Heck, since they were laying there in the misc. parts box in the garage, I even added handles to make it easier to carry.
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