I am thinking about buying the drum kit and making a drum stove? Has any one else done that and how does it hold up? Or are there other stove suggestions

we have one for our 16x21. Its the vogelzang kit w/ a 55 gal drum and a piece of plate steel welded on top for a stove top. We love it. But its huge and not light. I hear the better sealing stoves are better somehow, but if you run ours right it will burn through the night at elk camp.

Pretty cheap way to go and we are totally happy with ours. If I had to do one for a 14x16 i might try and trim down a 55 drum in length to keep it more compact.

If you can find one of the old Sotz barrel stove kits, it beats the hell outta vogelzang....

We are thinking about a 30 gallon drum. I didn't know there was that much difference in the kits. Is that the biggest problem with the drum kits is getting a good seal on them?

The Sotz is pressed steel, fairly airtight and has a inner intake channel that prevents sparks from jumping out. Vogelzang is cast with cast legs. much heavier than the sotz, but a whole lot easier to come by. I had a double drum kit in the shop, a 30 gal single for bigger tents and a round-door cut down 15 gal drum stove for my 9x12 tent. Sotz rocks.....

go with a gravity fed pellet stove. I'll ask my friend what make his stove is. It sure kept us warm, too warm at time, last November. It burns wood ,too, but the hopper will hold a bag of pellets, so there's no need to get up in the middle of the night to put a good stoke on it.

Any of the ones mentioned is going to drive you out of a tent of that size due to over heating.Look for something smaller like one of the Simms foldup.Tough it does not have to fold up

ehunter:

You might take a look at an Ellis Stove. http://ellisstove.com/features.php

I haven't seen one in use and would be interested to learn of it actually is as good as it seems.

KC

That's what I've been using in my 14x16 tent and it works just fine.Stoke it with coal before ya hit the sack, sweet dreams.

http://www.rileycampstoves.com/

I have one of these for my 12 x 14.

Lots of good accessories available as well.

I've had mine for about 20 years now and going strong still.

Another stove suggestion is a Cylinder Stove, the Outfitter model. We used one in my 14x16 tent and it worked great.
I think Cabela's sells them still, and they are made in Utah, if memory serves me.
Get the accessories that come with it.

+1 on the Cylinder Outfitter. I love mine, but we're comparing apples to oranges if the OP is looking for warmth in the drum kit price range.

Where do you get your coal?

That's right, and I realized that after I posted, but sometimes I think that people really want to know what I have to share...it's a mistake I make sometimes.

I have not tried this one but it gets good reviews and looks like it would work perfect in the wall tent. Walmart, who would have thought?

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Camp-Chef-Wood-Burning-Cylinder-Stove/11969436

For coal, if nowhere else, talk to a blacksmith supply. Traditional smiths use coal.

I have the Cylinder stove and its the best I have seen. I've used the drum conversions good, and the fold up sheet metal Cabelas stoves [which are ok for the $$ but don't last but a few seasons]

All put out lots of heat but the well sealed stoves burn longer

DP4:

I buy coal at the local landscape materials company.

KC

Its all good to hear other inputs. Thanks I am not sold on one type only trying to gain some experience from others?

I'll +1 on the cylinder stove. Ours has worked great for our tent.

If you won't be packing the stove far or often, go with a heavy stove. The cylinder holds heat nicely for a relatively packable stove. I can pack my outfitter (with all parts) and my spike tent (with all parts) on one horse. Minus 20 or 30 degree nights with a thin walled stove require lots of waking to feed the stove and still waking cold in the morning. Been there too many nights. Also, consider going oe size up from the stove you figure you can "get by" with - it'll hold more wood and you won't regret it.

I use a propane heater in my wall tent, it works great, and i don't have to cut wood.

Kevin

Do you burn the propane all night while you sleep? Isn't that dangerous?

Yes i do run it all night, and have for years now, with the 2 holes at the peak of a wall tent and the air that comes in around the bottom, you get plenty of ventilation. the first couple of years, i kept a carbon monoxide tester in the tent just to be sure.

Kevin

We hunt in the Adirondacks out of a 10'x12' canvas wall tent and we use a 30 gal barrel stove. I'm not sure what brand our door is but we've had it forever, has a main square door and a smaller one with two dampers on it.

It won't burn the whole night but we are usually in bed by 20:00 and usually will make it until after midnight before we have to add wood. We just check it when someone gets up to take a leak anyway.

Before we start burning in it for the season we always put a few inches of crick sand in the bottom to keep from burning the bottom out.

http://www.walltentshop.com/idstove.htm
I've used the Idaho stove for years.
They are hell for stout and indestructable.

Lots of good information and options now I will share this with my partners and see how much cash they will part with

Cylinder Stove:

I am trying to make a tent stove out of a 30 gallon barrel. I bought the US Stove Barrel kit. I put the door on, put the feet on. The top vent was a little tricky as a 30 gallon barrel has a ridge on the outside edge of the vent area is supposed to go. I had to take some pliers to flatten that area. Otherwise seems to go together alright. I bought some fireplace caulk to ensure that I had a good seal. I also made some brackets to lengthen the feet to get it up off the ground. The problem I am running into now is that I bought a nesting stove pipe. The nesting stove pipe starts at about 4 3/4 inches od. The vent is 6 inches. I need to find a way to reduce from the vent hole which has a damper to my first piece of pipe that starts 4 3/4. Any idea's? I also bought a cast iron stove grate from a hardware store and cut it down to fit inside.

Why not just use regular 6 inch pipe? You have more than enuff room in the firebox to store it. I don't have much use for the tapered pipe, anyway. Fiberglass gasket material around the flange, works better than stove cement, too. Might also want to consider a flat cooking surface on top. It can be made outta expanded metal and screwed on with sheet metal screws.

Don,

You'd be a handy guy to have around, because the stuff you build is top-notch!