Anyone remember this grate?

[HenryBowman]

In the late '70s, my wife and I bought a fire grate that we just plumb loved for years. My memory says it was called a Texas Fire Grate—it is definitely not the Texas Fireframe Grate that is sold today, but it was designed around the same principle. It looked like this from the side:



You would arrange logs in a reflective wall down the two upper arms, then burn easier wood on the flat grate. The wall reflected almost the entirety of the heat out into the room, and smoke never seemed to be a problem because the upper logs were irregular enough. As the upper logs burned through their centers, you'd pull them down into the lower grate and roll another fresh log down the backstop. With this grate and the fireplace's own Heat-o-later, we could keep the house warm all night.

We left the grate behind when we sold the house; there was no fireplace in our next home, and a woodstove following that, so we never got around to replacing it. Now that I want another one, I haven't been able to find anything like it for sale. I haven't even been able to find any evidence on the web that this design ever existed.

Does anybody know if these are still available, and where I might get another one?

 

[showrguy]

In the late '70s, my wife and I bought a fire grate that we just plumb loved for years. My memory says it was called a Texas Fire Grate—it is definitely not the Texas Fireframe Grate that is sold today, but it was designed around the same principle. It looked like this from the side:


View attachment 236787

You would arrange logs in a reflective wall down the two upper arms, then burn easier wood on the flat grate. The wall reflected almost the entirety of the heat out into the room, and smoke never seemed to be a problem because the upper logs were irregular enough. As the upper logs burned through their centers, you'd pull them down into the lower grate and roll another fresh log down the backstop. With this grate and the fireplace's own Heat-o-later, we could keep the house warm all night.

We left the grate behind when we sold the house; there was no fireplace in our next home, and a woodstove following that, so we never got around to replacing it. Now that I want another one, I haven't been able to find anything like it for sale. I haven't even been able to find any evidence on the web that this design ever existed.

Does anybody know if these are still available, and where I might get another one?

Things have changed ALOT since the 70's..
I'd forgetaboutit !!

 

[bholler]

Its similar to the great wall of fire. I have aeen several of the exact one you drew but i dont know the name

 

[Hot Stuff]

I have a Grate Wall of Fire in my open fireplace. Does a nice job of burning relatively slowly and radiating lots of heat into the room. I use it with a fireback.

 

[weatherguy]

That looks like it would be fairly efficient. Off to Google, I'll report back.

 

[MAD MARK]

That should not be too hard for a local iron worker/welder to fab up. Probably cheap too.

 

[HenryBowman]

That should not be too hard for a local iron worker/welder to fab up. Probably cheap too.

Especially if I start by buying a common commercial grate (or even the grate that was here when I moved in) and just ask him to add the cantilever arms and recurve hook. I wouldn't know what kind of steel to call out, and I wouldn't trust the welders around here to know offhand. I'll consider doing this if nobody can find the grate commercially.

 

[jetsam]

Heaters are so much better now than they were then that I'd never consider having an open fireplace, and I LOVE open fireplaces, having grown up in front of them in houses that were heated by them.

Let it go and put a stove in there!

 

[HenryBowman]

Heaters are so much better now than they were then that I'd never consider having an open fireplace, and I LOVE open fireplaces, having grown up in front of them in houses that were heated by them.

Let it go and put a stove in there!

Not worth the expense for the use I would get out of it. I live in desert Arizona. We get maybe one freeze night a year, and wood is not abundant. We may light the fireplace once, maybe twice per year, just to take the chill off a bad night, and mostly for effect. I'd invest in a better grate, one that would keep the fire going somewhat longer after we go to bed, to avoid a net heat loss from having to keep the flue open for smoke reasons after we go to bed. A stove would be expensive overkill.