Smokeless Burn Barrel

God bless you, sir. this economy has hit me hard, but I ran with your idea, I added a fourth leg. I went past the secondary combustion and created a 3rd combustion section which almost makes the burn cycle smokeless. I burned off all the paint on the barrel and added high-heat paint. thus keeping the barrel looking sharp. since I started selling them 6 months ago, I've managed to catch up financially and feed my children. I can only say god bless you, sir!

I got one of those plastic 50 gallon drums and it smokes no matter what I do.

Myself and my 90-year-old dad built a barrel following your instructions. The legs were structurally unsound, so I cut them off and replaced them with three outside mounted steel plates and we added handles on the sides to ease of moving the barrel around safely before and after use. The thing is awesome, we've named ours, "The Dragons Breath!" it incinerates whatever we throw at it. Thanks for your video and the chance to do a project with my retired sheet metal worker father.

Your instruction and attitude are top tier. Nothing to prove, just simple, straight-forward instruction. Well done.

Written instructions based on the video: Parts needed • two steel drums (same size) • angle grinder with cut off wheels • drill with 1/8th inch bit and #4 step unibit • template material (rigid plastic or metal) • sharpie • Tape measurer • Optional oil for drilling • Jigsaw and metal blades • Sheet metal screws. Inside drum 1. 5 inches from the seam, draw a solid line 2. 1 inch further from the seam, draw a dashed line 3. Use an angle grinder with a cut off wheel. Cut the middle section at the seam and the solid line 4. Ratchet strap the center to hold it 5. Cut the top and bottom sections of the side of the barrel (at seam and solid marker line) 6. Cut through the rim at the seam 7. Cut through the rim at the dash line, across the bottom of the rim to the solid line, and across the rim at the solid line (leaving a one-inch section with side wall and no rim) 8. Cut off the entire capped end of the drum (including the rim) 9. Ratchet drum with tabbed edge on the inside. 10. Fasten drum together with a few self-tapping screws from the outside in (maybe three or four total). 11. Once secure, screw it together every few inches from the inside out. Remove the original screws and put them from the inside out also. 12. Use the angle grinder to cut off the excess screw from the outside. Leave a few threads so it doesn’t unhinge itself. 13. Flip it over, with rim side up. 14. Using a 3.5-inch square template, beginning at the seam, draw squares under the rim and label the squares 1-18. The seam area will not be marked. 15. #6, #12, #18 cut the sides and the bottom (not the rim part). a. Cut just a little bit into the rim from the inside out to allow you to fold them up. b. Bend them in an all the way up. c. Use plyers to fold in the sides of the three tabs to make sturdy legs. From the top, they should look like be C’s, with the hump facing out. 16. Cut the bottom, left hand side, and top (under the rim) of the even numbers. Gently fold these in a little past 90 degrees 17. Flip over and stand on the legs. 18. Draw two lines around the unrimmed top. One 1.5 inches from top, one 3 inches from top. 19. Draw vertical lines from the 1.5 inch line to the top. Cut the vertical lines with grinder. Take off the outside edge of the double layer section. 20. Gently fold the tabs in (can use plyers if you want). 21. Drill a 1/8 hole in the 3-inch line, at the middle point of the tab above. 22. Use the unibit #4 to drill those holes out. (oil can help)   Outer barrel 1. With open edge facing up, put one line at 1.5 and one at 3 inches around the drum. 2. Use 1.5-inch square template to draw vertical lines on the 1.5 to rim area. 3. Use the 1.5-inch square template to draw vertical lines staggered from the last lines, in between the 1.5 and 3 inch horizontal lines. 4. Use 1/8 th drill bit to draw pilot holes for each, then use the #4 unibit to drill those holes out. 5. Flip it over so closed end is up. 6. Mark out a circle the size of the diameter of the inner barrel (likely 20 inches if it is a standard barrel, but check). 7. Drill a hole with the #4 unibit, then use a jigsaw to cut out the hole. (Save the disc). Assembly 1. Put the outer drum over the top of the inner drum, with the holes on the bottom of the outer drum. It should seat, with the outer drum possibly resting on the sheet metal screw in the seam. It should seat between the bent tabs and the holes in the smaller barrel. 2. Use one fastener per leg to screw the inner and outer barrels together. 3. The disc saved from the outer barrel. a. Remove about ¾ inch from the outside edge using jigsaw. b. Draw 8 solid pie lines c. Draw 8 dashed lines between the solid lines. d. Draw a ring ¾ inch further in from edge. e. Use unibit to drill a hole at the inside solid line and solid pie line. f. Draw a 4-inch diameter circle in the middle. g. Use unibit to drill a hole at the solid pie line and the 4 inch circle line intersection. (8 total, in line with the ones drilled previously) h. Using Jigsaw, cut from unibit holes to the dash lines on the left and from inner to outer unibit hole i. Use plyers to bend the tabs up, will look like fan blades. j. Put it in the barrel, with the folded tabs down.

The ability of this guy to draw a circle by hand is way more impressive than the barrel itself

Pro tip: Before you cut the bottom out of the second barrel you can draw all your lines, drill your holes and make your "propellor" cuts, and THEN cut the bottom out. It will be easier than cutting it out after. Also, consider adding a grate in the bottom of the finished burn barrel to better support the wieght of the burn material and not just relying on the thin metal of the "propellor." This will have the added benifit of prolonging the propellors lifespan and avoiding burn through. Congratulations on an excellent presentation by the way!

We need more Dads like this guy who take time to show their kids how to make things and how things work. Great burn barrel too, I'll be making one soon.

I built my burn barrel last fall. I built a dolly into mine. Scabbed an axle on to it from an old yard trailer and used some tubular steel remnant for the handle. I don't like a burn barrel laying out in my yard all the time. I researched building it more efficient to burn faster but didn't come up with much. I saw the smokeless fire pits but couldn't figure out how to build it into a burn barrel easily. Well done.

Built the burn barrel this week and it works like a charm. We made one modification which is obvious, but still may be worth mentioning: We found that the legs were very flimsy so we folded them inward and rested the barrel on cinderblocks that rest on their sides so that the cinder block cutouts allow air to flow freely from the outside to the underside of the (elevated) barrel.

Probably one of the best instructional videos out there.

Honestly i didnt expect such a well explained and wholesome video from a burn barrel tutorial but you did a great job explaining all the steps! Got a new project for this weekend thank you!

Hey buddy, great video. But PLEASE put the blade guard back on your grinder. I have 11 stitches in my chest and I'm pretty sure I'm going to lose this finger because I had a cut off wheel pop on me doing stuff I have done 1,000 times before.

Quote of the week! "We all have something to gain by inspiring each other."

Super impressed with the ingenuity that went into this conversion. Thanks for sharing!!!

I made a burn barrel according to your instructions and the barrel is SUPER EFFICIENT!!! Thanks for the video!!!

What I enjoyed the most about your video, was hearing you tell you children Multiple times throughout the video you love them. And you can hear it out your voice. Your awesome.

My favorite part of the video was , you having fun with your children. Thanks for giving this world a better chance with great kids.

Awesome awesome awesome teaching!!! Please don't ever stop passing on the knowledge! It's the only way we live and grow👍

I am a 71 yo single grandma, who is raising a 16 yo grandson (autistic, high functioning, he has a whole mom + a whole, mature dad, my son). I'm sitting here watching this video, fascinated. Going to build one.