Woody Glenn

I'm rummaging around the web trying to figure tis one out.  I ran it past some folks at a wood stove forum and got some constructive criticism and a few more ideas.  Here's a link for any one at all intrigued:

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R Scott wrote:There are lots of portable steel forge plans/ideas that would work as is or slightly modified.

I found a few welded outdoor Argentinian cooking hearths with a fire box and short chimney. They are more of a horizontal layout for roasting meat. With gizmos.  Found it..



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Here's last winters out door fire place.  It's been neglected, and with the drought and fire warnings, Im waiting for rain before burning again.

Michael Cox wrote:I think you have conflicting design objectives here that might cause you issues.

The objective is to have a small structure similar to Thoreau's  Walden cabin with a small open cooking hearth, on a trailer.  

The hearth is an engineering challenge.  I think there's got to be an elegant way to add removable thermal mass to a built in steel hearth.

The windows are another challenge.  Big  wood frames windows are not going to go down the highway. They would likely have to be removed and protected during transit.   I'd also design them so that they open and have screens, because at the moment I'm south of the Mason Dixon.

 One scenario for its use is zoneing restrictions that allow  trailers on "hunting camps' for 6 months of the year. I live in an area with more unbuildable properties than properties with structures.   I'm not sure if having 2 adjacent lots and a come-along for the commute would work, but it might...

Kevin Olson wrote:It might be possible to cast a fireplace - whether monolithic or in pieces - using aerated concrete.

Darwin, of the HoneyDo Carpenter YouTube channel, has made a lightweight box stove from aerated concrete.  You could check out his channel - he's got lots of videos of his various experiments with lightweight concrete for several structural applications, in addition to the stove.

Maybe a radiant style fireplace - Rumfordesque?  There are pretty standard dimensions/proportions available for Rumford fireplaces that will heat and draw well.

I don't know that this would work, but it seems like a definite "maybe"!

A monolithic casting might survive a road trip.   I've got some engineering to figure out, like is how do I work with "thermal mass" differences between metal and masonry.   Being that I'm in a place that gets hot in the summer, it might be nice to be able to vent extra heat out of the back of the fireplace to the exterior, so that it can actually be used   in the summer.  I've also decided that I'm going to have to build a little bread oven into the hearth assembly, which will need more mass to hold heat.

My first thought was a Rumford design, but that is not based on any actual experience running one, just standing around   with a bunch of carpenters after the masons had finished one.  I'm not sure if the efficiency's of a Rumford will scale to heating such a small space, and I'm not sure I actually want to maximize the radiant heat into a small room in the summer.

The one room design will need a bit of tweeking.  Going with an 8x20 trailer, I'd make the main room 8x16 with an 8x4 covered porch/screen/mud room on the back.  The attic/loft I would attempt to use for heat regulation with hatches and vents.   Old houses in the south had high ceilings for a reason.

Another big engineering question will be how light can make the whole structure including the stove.  I'm thinking some sort of light "timber frame" with the walls and roof being  foam sandwiched between a pine ship lap interior and lath and cedar shingle exterior. It might make sense to ad a thin layer of plywood sheathing to that mix to give real rigidity.   Goal would be to make the whole structure light enough to use a recycled travel trailer frame. but there's a lot of numbers I need to confirm before comitting to that idea. There's a few available locally, so It seems worth it to actual do the math at some point.  

John C Daley wrote:

compiled with a bic....

What does this mean please?
Sand sounds like a great idea.

The bic is a butane lighter kept close to every propane lamp. You turn on the 12 volt lights long enough to find the lighter.

What do y'all think about sand as a thermal mass?  If I weld up the fireplace out of plate and box in behind it and fill with sand. The sand might settle but it wont "crack" and I would set it up to dump all the sand  if I move and then refill the cavity when set up.  The open hearth is definitely integral. I'll be using flint and steel to let a fire. If that gets old it's not a big leap to add a wood stove and oil lamps.  I know a hybrid 12 volt/propane system is the bee's knees, compiled with a bic....

Hi all.  I've been kicking around the idea of a simple tiny house on a trailer for a while now. I've lived in a number little cabins, boats and tents over the years, and I think I'd like to have something like Thoreau's cabin in my life.
 There are some zoning issues that  a registered trailer  simplifies, and perhaps some day I might want to move from the backyard to  a spot next to a pond.  

I haven't done any engineering, but I assume that an open plan 8x16 cabin with an 8x4 covered porch and no systems would be pretty light except for the open cooking hearth that I realy want.

What I'm thinking about is is a welded up hearth and firebox and chimney for that mater.  I think some of Benjamin Franklins earliest  inserts where still designed to cook with, but I want a pot crane and  a big enough hearth to cook a meal.   I also want to be able easily install a small air tight stove if heating becomes a priority.

One of the big questions I have is whether there is any kind of light weight fire proof material that I can use as a loose fill behind the fire box and around the chimney for insulation and a bit more thermal mass? another is more cosmetic, but I'm wondering if I can do some sort of tile work attached to the steel fire place that would maybe survive transport?

Here's a couple pictures of  other reconstructions of Thoreau's cabin:

I found this. I wonder if it would scale down to a 6 chicken yard?

Ive got about a roughly square 1000 sqft spot that I would like to let develop into an orchard / chicken yard. I'm restricted to 6 hens, and while their house will be stationary they will get tractor-ed around, fed compost and what ever supplemental feed that they want. So the plot dose not have to provide fodder. Ive got sun, water (Lawn and dirt road run off, reasonably clean, and redirect able) and good dirt. There is a variety of fruit trees across the way including peach, plum, apple, Tupelo, and fig The plot is about 45 degrees off north south and north east boundary is a pretty good jungle hedge with out a couple over grown snags a couple shade trees that are comeing back after I cut them out of vines. I will have to put any fences inside this hedge and while I can add and subtract plants I need to maintain the visual and physical happy neighbor line. The north east face is still briars and raspberry. This line will still need to be a visual boundary but no so much of a wall of green.

With all that said I was hoping to see what other folks have done with comparable spaces. Thanks, Woody

I'm not a lawyer but I do have bad neighbors...... Bulldozing your wild flowers bad. With $ and a lawyer I could join the club of people they leave alone, but for now I am restricted to passive aggressive behavior, to further my re-greening efforts. Your neighbor is polluting you property with over-spray and leeching. Proving that is hard to do. The Following suggestions are for-entertainment purposes only:

A marginally ethical/ Machiavellian suggestion would be to have a large nursery/landscaping company plant a hedge of sorts that comes with a reasonable guarantee to survive. If the neighbors pollution kills theses plantings then the nursery/landscaper would be the damaged party, and would look to the neighbor for satisfaction. I would only attempt to make a larger company the monkey in the middle as they would be prepared to deal with these situations, and part of the cost that you pay is for supporting their corporate umbrella. And I would read the fine print at least 3 times.

Planting Bamboo could be like letting Godzilla loose in the back yard. If You wont run afoul of the local zoneing folks, Planting an 8 foot row something chemical resistant, maybe corn or sunflower? These would provide screening visually and from over spray. Letting it go wild an leaving the stalks up over winter will provide lots of bird food and habitat, and most probably drive you neighbor mad. Corn is so messy, but is it a fine from planning and zoneing messy?

Your neighbor sounds like a crank. Who else dose he hate? Dose he hassle every one else or are you special? Find out how the rest of your community feels about this individual. Bake cookies for every one, because your a good neighbor. How tired are the planning and zoneing people of being used as a weapon? Do they like cookies? Call planning and zoneing in the next town over and pretend to be a gardener whose roses where killed and ask what can be done. Get his goat, make him use up his credibility. Make him call the police because your blowing bubbles and danceing with plastic flamingos. Offer the police cookies. Hell offer the neighbor cookies, it could be all he needs is a little love.