So today I was burning seasoned Ash that started off gassing. Secondaries were being burned off at the top of the stove with the wood gas with the stove top going from 350 to about 450, cat crusing around 950. All well and good. As soon as the flames disappeared in the firebox the cat went to 1350 in about 30 seconds. Stove top went down to 300, single wall pipe 18" above the stove about 200. So obviously the cat took on the job of burning the wood gas without raising the stove top or flue temps. So with this said what is the top end temp for a steel cat ? Anything above 1300 and I get nervous. Thoughts welcomed.