Hey Mark! Just received my tower stove. It came with cooking pot and lid/fry pan. Works fantastic! Wood pellets for slow cooking and if want to boil water fast I use my flame concentrator. Which is, top of cut out can with 1½ hole cut in middle and cuts to create a cone upwards. Throws the flames right on the bottom. I did cut up some oak about thumb size with a burn down fire. Wow, did that work great, too. No more paint can stoves for me. Rust old cans!
Great video Mark! I would keep it as it is. Lixada Tower Stove is the best of both stove! Hobo/gasifier. But than again, drop a tin can lid at the bottom for a slower burning stove when needed. Looking forward to the next test!
I really like the Tower stove as well. The idea of carrying a plate to drop it may make it more versatile. Worth the test anyway. Thanks for commenting
Thank you for the video. It cleared up my thinking that secondary burn was true gasification. My comment on an earlier vid in which I said I got gasification placing a windscreen inside an Ikea stove was actually only secondary burn. I’ll choose my terms better in the future. Keep these videos coming as I really enjoy using your ideas in my stove builds.
Glad you found the video helpful. I found many of the explanations out there where too technical or did not apply to the small wood stoves. Thanks for commenting
Mission accomplished- you have clarified secondary combustion vs gassification. Well explained. You could create a wood gas generator and show ! Would be cool, or warm as you like it.
Excellent analysis, Mark, thank you. This was really helpful as I tweak my "tin-can" wood-gas stove designs. I've been disappointed so far with my experiments, but learning. You're quite right (non-expert also speaking here) that there is too great an intake (primary air) in the bottom of the Lixada burn chamber. I've seen a few people reporting making their own backpacker woodgas stoves out of tin cans from successful designs, but finding the stove goes out, so they go through a process where they increase the air flow to make it better and end up with a stove with secondary air intake as you describe, partial gasification at best, or virtually a complicated hobo stove. I'm finding it difficult to get the balance right, especially for camping in Britain - I notice you used kiln-dried wood for the test. One of my designs I found went out with most found wood that's bound to have some amount of moisture in it, but with another piece that's rotted for a few years and then dried out the same it goes up too quickly! I'm starting to think for my wild camping, I'm going to be better just having a nice open burn with good secondary air. But I know at least one guy who uses these with good gasification and a long, blue burn, in Britain, so maybe there's hope yet! ua-cam.com/video/oUG0Z1pa0Hk/v-deo.html He's done different sizes of these and they seem amazing. Maybe he's very good at choosing the right wood. Another important point is that they will be slowed down greatly with a pot on top, even with a fairly open riser/pot stand, so you can have a situation where they'll burn nicely until the pot's added and then go out. It's possible this increases the gasifying ability, though, with the air flow slowed at the top. There are so many variables in this, the wood type, how dry it is, what size, how it's stacked, different hole sizes and positions, type of metal of the stove, indoors/outdoors, wind, ambient temperature, etc., and those conditions all change as the wood burns down!
you have given this a good amount of thought. I like making DIY stoves but have resisted making gasifiers for a couple of reasons. First is getting the airflow balance correct and second is so many of them are made of simple cans that burn out quickly. I find while I like using wood gasification stoves I prefer simpler primary burn stoves as they seem to be a lot less fussy about wood choices. I will take a look at the video link you sent and see if there is anything I can do with that. Thanks so much for your comments
Great explanation and video, Mark! I've heard the term "gasification" used for many stoves, but after your explanation and demonstration, I think many of them are more similar to the Lixada Tower stove than true gasification stoves - they produce a secondary burn of fresh air with the combustible gases released, but also have the fuel consumed by flames, rather than charring but not truly combusting. Most of the videos I've seen show the fuel actually burning, so I now know that they're not doing true gasification. I would also be very interested in seeing if cutting down on the air flow through the fuel on the Tower would change it's burn behavior. It sounds like that woudn't be a difficult project for someone like you, and I'd certainly be interested in watching it. Thanks again for the education and video!
I will making the test video shortly. In truth, even good gasifiers go through periods where they don't gasify properly. I find this depends on a few factors like the amount and type of fuel and every time I refuel the stove. Takes a bit of time for pyrolysis to start. Thanks for commenting
Great demo Mark! Hope you will do that vid on reducing the air intake, am wondering if using a windscreen would also help. Can't see the charcoal being that effective with the space that will be between the charcoal and the bottom of the pot but I could be surprised. I am thinking even partial gasification plus the rocket effect makes this little stove pretty effective. Your demo's are very interesting and always gets me thinking! Thanks for sharing.
Good point on the windscreen Jackie. I am wondering the same thing about the height of the pot stand in relation to using charcoal and wood pellets. Guess that is what testing is for. Thanks for commenting
Both stoves are gasifying partially. Neither stove is gasifying completely. Neither stove is claiming to gasify completely and there are no stoves on the market which give 100% gasification throughout the burn cycle.
Great video Mark! Thanks for taking the time to educate us and help us get the most out of our stoves. I believe that you you are on the right track if you want to change the performance of the tower stove by working with the airflow. Air flow and air volume are both important factors for creating hot fires and hot burn chambers - both are needed if you want a stove to transition from primary to secondary and then on to full gasification.
@@MarkYoungBushcraft You are very welcome, anything that helps people make an informed decision and boost an enthusiast's knowledge is the right things to do.
Hello Mark, I tell you my modifications on my own stove. I've got an ash plate, to reflect the heat and get a ring cutting off from a can to control the air intake. Put them up, brings more air from outside, put them down but not close the intake completely the second combustion works great. Greeting from Germany.
Hi Mark. I'm a fairly new sub and just wanted to take a second and say thank you for your indepth look at these stoves. I'm also in the Halifax area (Hi neighbour! 👋) and am just getting back into camping and bushcraft after a long hiatus. I am currently researching and comparing different twig stoves (Firebox, Honey Stove, etc) and wood gasifiers like the ones you just demo'd. As always, your videos are very informative and enjoyable to watch. This video has given me some things to think about, so thanks again. ATB from E. Passage.
Thank you for covering this topic Mark, that is what I was talking about back then when I noticed its not completely gasifying through the ports. I also have that lixada silver scout clone and solo stove and it burns anything top lit or not through the ports. Now what I think about the tower stove not completely gasifying is maybe the outer holes on the bigger can are too big and the inner can is too thick since it cooled down way faster and you can really feel that its a bit thicker that other stoves(forgive me, i don't know whats it called). Now I hope you could try partially covering the outer holes of the bigger can with aluminum foil so heat wont escape right away. I cant test it on my end since I can only do it when camping. Thanks Mark, great topic as always.
Thanks for sharing, Mark. I’m looking forward with great interest with your further experimentation. I suspect it may lead to something like the Pyrolino stove out of Greece which has variable air input.
Great video and explanation. I have both stoves and always choose the tower stove over the other. It never fails to light and tends to accept damp wood better than the other stove. Once it's up and running I find that the smoke is very minimal and the stove is easier to feed. The only drawback is that it's a little more unstable... But I don't mind that when you take into account the difference in weight the ability to also use the stove as a pot stand and windbreak for an alcohol stove. I would be interested and may test myself wether blocking some holes in the base improves gasification and will that inturn improve the stove or not.. problem would be build up of ash in the base. I tend to tap the stove regularly to clear the ash and this allows me to use the stove for much longer in one session before it becomes blocked..
Perhaps you could rig some sort of shutter on the bottom of the tower stove's burn chamber, one that would allow maximum air flow while starting the fire, then allow you to meter back the air flow from below to attain more efficient gassification.
Thanks for the demonstration. I don't pre-load the stove (solo) at the beginning and burn top-down, instead I start a small fire inside, then feed more wood as needed. This propably is not as fast, but it allows me to conserve fuel and simmer if needed. Why conserve wood-fuel? I hike above the tree level from time to time (Swiss Alps) and have to bring the wood. I could carry an alcohol stove and use it inside the solo stove, but prefer not to!
Thanks so much for this video Mark. Very Helpful. I just purchased 64 of Tower Stoves and had my logo etched on the side. I have been selling them and incorporating them as takeaways in my courses. I really like the stove for how well it nests with the pots, and still has some room in it for a compass, para cord, and a few other items. Your videos are a great help for me in dealing with teaching people how to correctly fire the stove. I am wondering where the Tower Stove sits in your top 10 wood burners with regard to how well it works and also how well the kit packs into a nice size for realistic cooking? Keep up the great work. Take care
Hey Dale. Great to hear from you. As far as bang-for-buck, this stove probably sits at the top of my list. It may not be as versatile as the Firebox stove but it costs just a fraction. It is not a true wood gas stove but it does burn quite clean, depending on wood type and quality of course. I like the depth of the burn chamber and the ease of feeding. The relatively narrow, tall aspect of it can make it a bit tippy and hot coals can fall through the bottom. Of course, safe fire protocols negate that risk. It does burn hot and fast so the challenge is slowing it down by feeding it fewer sticks to control heat better. Hope this helps. Thanks for commenting
Great video. Your description of wood gasification was very good. I believe a secondary burn is great; not having to dodge smoke while cooking is a benefit whether or not it’s more efficient. That said I’ll see if I can find some stainless flashing to make a damper for the tower stove. If so would you like one?
Hi mark. As allways, a very good video. The Toaks tower stove has smaller holes in the bottom and is very near to the ground. It might be intentional to achieve true gassification. I have tried mine with woodpellets and i could see glowing embers several hours latter.
I am interested to see how it responds with the pellets and charcoal. Or even other types of wood. I'd speculate different fuels burning at different temperatures will affect gasification. Just a guess.
I agree with you regarding fuel differences. Damp/cold or frozen wood, soft woods, etc all burn differently. The hardwood I used gave it the best chance of working as designed. I will likely report in from the woods on their performance as well. Thanks for commenting
I think tower stove is better because you can constantly feed it for a long time and it burns all wood. Old lixada stove quickly gets choked by unburnt charcoal.
Dmitry Olyenyov I agree, I can get the scout type stove to run for about an hour before having to empty the burn chamber out. A few days ago I received the tower stove, I've got some mod ideas already!
@@connosaurus & Dmitry Olyenyov - You both make an excellent point and one I hadn't considered - and that is after the wood has released most or all of it's combustible gases and it's burned off to the point of no longer being able to support gasification, you then have to empty the burn chamber of the charred wood. To me, any efficiencies that may be gained by a true gasification stove in this case, would then be made pointless if I have to empty the chamber halfway through cooking my meal and start over again. Additionally, if you're practicing minimal trace camping, (which I try to do), there's the issue of now having to deal with largely intact, charred wood instead of fine grey ash. Not a huge deal as you could simply just burn it but then, what would be the point of the stove if you now have to make a fire to use up what's left of the spent fuel? In that sense, I think the tower stove is ultimately overall more efficient. Thanks to you both for pointing this out. I'd be curious to hear about your mods, connosaurus.
The more I use the Tower stove, the more I like it. It may not be a true gassifier but it has other qualities that are more efficient as a user. Thanks for commenting
BigRed BikeRider I have some spare stainless steel DIY bush pot parts that fit the tower stove components very well and with some cutting I could make a taller base and burn chamber. I also have a mini "ikea stove" type pencil holder that I can swap with the tower stove burn chamber. Lots of testing to do!
do you mean dropping ash box into the base and dont use the top at all? then you cant use the 'x-things' to get your pot onto it and you only can feed it by lifting up your pot,not good :/
Yes, it would. My experience tells me that horizontal stacked wood should slow the burn down some as it slows airflow. But it also means a lot more wood processing to get the shorter pieces to fit the stove properly. May be worth a comparison test thought. Thanks for commenting
Funny, but Ikea is the commercial for this video. So the only stick stove I used that claimed to be a gasifier was the Biolite. I knew it was getting secondary combustion, because when it was running well, there was no smoke. I never knew about it turning the wood into almost like charcoal.....I hated the Biolite btw. That's one reason why I love my firebox so much. Interesting video. Hey, have you ever done comparisons on alcohol stoves?
You can't ever go wrong with the Firebox. I have tried a few commercial stoves made a number of DIY alcohol stoves but have settled on just two that I use with any regularity. The Trangia (knockoff) or the Fancy Feast. Don't think I am the person to compare them but I might talk about why I chose those two. Thanks for commenting
Mark Young So no review series on alcohol stoves? It's something that I have very little experience with. I got a little super light one a few years ago, but have no idea if it's particularly good compared to others. Want to know a secret? How to make the flame highly visible?
Hi Mark. I really liked your last video but never got a chance to comment. It wasn't hard to tell you were really enjoying yourself. Back later, I've been tasked with an early morning honey-do.
Hi Mark, Another nicely done video! And another opportunity to get me thinking about how much I enjoy working with portable wood and alcohol stoves. It would be very interesting to learn more about how the tower stove would operate with the airflow holes in the base being restricted. 💡 Perhaps, if you were to add a screen like material, such as hardware cloth and utilize wood pellets as fuel, the density of the pellets may sufficiently slow the airflow to possibly allow for gasification to occur? 💡 Thanks for continuing to make such great videos!
Yet another interesting video, thanks Mark. Being a pedant, however, I feel obliged to say that there is no such thing as a 'volatile gas'. It's a term which is banded about by many but it's totally meaningless. Only liquids and solids can be volatile, gases cannot vapourise as they are already gases. The gases given off as a result of pyrolysis can be combustible but definitely not volatile. Please don't take this as criticism, I truly enjoy your videos, but technical terms should be used in a technically correct manner. All the best.
The term "volatile gas" is actually used by chemists, physicists, and other scientists. chem.libretexts.org/Ancillary_Materials/Demos%2C_Techniques%2C_and_Experiments/General_Lab_Techniques/Condensing_Volatile_Gases www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S174396711730421X www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27415416 phys.org/news/2018-01-method-rare-volatile-gas.html
@@darthkek1953 With reference to the 'New Oxford Dictionary for Scientific Writers and Editors' 2nd Edition. 'Volatile (adjective) - Applied to a substance with a high vapour pressure which passes readily into a gaseous phase.' www.answers.com/Q/What_is_a_volatile_gas
@@gordonmurdoch3811 dictionaries are forever behind the curve, forever catching up with the evolution of language. That's why they need updating so frequently. Those are some pretty high-flying papers, scientists and departments using the term.
I've often suffered from mental pyroliisis, probably from too many beans. Cheers Observation, not criticism, but a pot on top changes airflow so gasification needs to happen when pot is in place. Peace
When things get real technical with technical terms my brain inside my blond head kind of zones out. I guess that's the girl in me. I would like to see a burn with a small holed plate covering the large open bottom. I like the idea of gasification for stealth reasons.
Hey Mark! Just received my tower stove. It came with cooking pot and lid/fry pan. Works fantastic! Wood pellets for slow cooking and if want to boil water fast I use my flame concentrator. Which is, top of cut out can with 1½ hole cut in middle and cuts to create a cone upwards. Throws the flames right on the bottom.
I did cut up some oak about thumb size with a burn down fire. Wow, did that work great, too. No more paint can stoves for me. Rust old cans!
Interesting mod. Thanks for commenting
The tower stove is still a partial gasifier, and an absolute badass piece of kit. Love mine to death. Great demonstration. Cheers from Montreal QC
Loving mine as well. Considering the larger version now. Thanks for commenting Jeff
Interesting demonstration and explanation. As always, thumbs up.
Glad you enjoyed. Thanks for commenting Lonnie
Great video Mark! I would keep it as it is. Lixada Tower Stove is the best of both stove! Hobo/gasifier. But than again, drop a tin can lid at the bottom for a slower burning stove when needed. Looking forward to the next test!
I really like the Tower stove as well. The idea of carrying a plate to drop it may make it more versatile. Worth the test anyway. Thanks for commenting
Excellent demonstration and explanation in this video Mark. Wood stoves are very fun to use.....Take care, Bluefin.
Love me a well designed wood stove. Thanks for commenting Jamie
Thank you for the video. It cleared up my thinking that secondary burn was true gasification. My comment on an earlier vid in which I said I got gasification placing a windscreen inside an Ikea stove was actually only secondary burn. I’ll choose my terms better in the future. Keep these videos coming as I really enjoy using your ideas in my stove builds.
Glad you found the video helpful. I found many of the explanations out there where too technical or did not apply to the small wood stoves. Thanks for commenting
Mission accomplished- you have clarified secondary combustion vs gassification. Well explained. You could create a wood gas generator and show ! Would be cool, or warm as you like it.
That would be a really cool project but I am no where near talented enough for that. Thanks for commenting
Excellent analysis, Mark, thank you. This was really helpful as I tweak my "tin-can" wood-gas stove designs. I've been disappointed so far with my experiments, but learning. You're quite right (non-expert also speaking here) that there is too great an intake (primary air) in the bottom of the Lixada burn chamber. I've seen a few people reporting making their own backpacker woodgas stoves out of tin cans from successful designs, but finding the stove goes out, so they go through a process where they increase the air flow to make it better and end up with a stove with secondary air intake as you describe, partial gasification at best, or virtually a complicated hobo stove. I'm finding it difficult to get the balance right, especially for camping in Britain - I notice you used kiln-dried wood for the test. One of my designs I found went out with most found wood that's bound to have some amount of moisture in it, but with another piece that's rotted for a few years and then dried out the same it goes up too quickly! I'm starting to think for my wild camping, I'm going to be better just having a nice open burn with good secondary air. But I know at least one guy who uses these with good gasification and a long, blue burn, in Britain, so maybe there's hope yet! ua-cam.com/video/oUG0Z1pa0Hk/v-deo.html He's done different sizes of these and they seem amazing. Maybe he's very good at choosing the right wood.
Another important point is that they will be slowed down greatly with a pot on top, even with a fairly open riser/pot stand, so you can have a situation where they'll burn nicely until the pot's added and then go out. It's possible this increases the gasifying ability, though, with the air flow slowed at the top. There are so many variables in this, the wood type, how dry it is, what size, how it's stacked, different hole sizes and positions, type of metal of the stove, indoors/outdoors, wind, ambient temperature, etc., and those conditions all change as the wood burns down!
you have given this a good amount of thought. I like making DIY stoves but have resisted making gasifiers for a couple of reasons. First is getting the airflow balance correct and second is so many of them are made of simple cans that burn out quickly. I find while I like using wood gasification stoves I prefer simpler primary burn stoves as they seem to be a lot less fussy about wood choices. I will take a look at the video link you sent and see if there is anything I can do with that. Thanks so much for your comments
Great explanation and video, Mark! I've heard the term "gasification" used for many stoves, but after your explanation and demonstration, I think many of them are more similar to the Lixada Tower stove than true gasification stoves - they produce a secondary burn of fresh air with the combustible gases released, but also have the fuel consumed by flames, rather than charring but not truly combusting. Most of the videos I've seen show the fuel actually burning, so I now know that they're not doing true gasification.
I would also be very interested in seeing if cutting down on the air flow through the fuel on the Tower would change it's burn behavior. It sounds like that woudn't be a difficult project for someone like you, and I'd certainly be interested in watching it.
Thanks again for the education and video!
I will making the test video shortly. In truth, even good gasifiers go through periods where they don't gasify properly. I find this depends on a few factors like the amount and type of fuel and every time I refuel the stove. Takes a bit of time for pyrolysis to start. Thanks for commenting
Great demo Mark! Hope you will do that vid on reducing the air intake, am wondering if using a windscreen would also help. Can't see the charcoal being that effective with the space that will be between the charcoal and the bottom of the pot but I could be surprised. I am thinking even partial gasification plus the rocket effect makes this little stove pretty effective. Your demo's are very interesting and always gets me thinking! Thanks for sharing.
Good points 👍 Perhaps a windscreen would be able to slow the airflow to possibly get gassification to occur?
Good point on the windscreen Jackie. I am wondering the same thing about the height of the pot stand in relation to using charcoal and wood pellets. Guess that is what testing is for. Thanks for commenting
Both stoves are gasifying partially. Neither stove is gasifying completely. Neither stove is claiming to gasify completely and there are no stoves on the market which give 100% gasification throughout the burn cycle.
Great video Mark! Thanks for taking the time to educate us and help us get the most out of our stoves. I believe that you you are on the right track if you want to change the performance of the tower stove by working with the airflow. Air flow and air volume are both important factors for creating hot fires and hot burn chambers - both are needed if you want a stove to transition from primary to secondary and then on to full gasification.
Thank you Chris. You expertise helped immensely
@@MarkYoungBushcraft You are very welcome, anything that helps people make an informed decision and boost an enthusiast's knowledge is the right things to do.
Hello Mark, I tell you my modifications on my own stove.
I've got an ash plate, to reflect the heat and get a ring cutting off from a can to control the air intake. Put them up, brings more air from outside, put them down but not close the intake completely the second combustion works great.
Greeting from Germany.
Great modifications. I may give them a try. Thank you for commenting
Hallo, hast du davon vielleicht ein Foto oder Video? So ganz kapiere ich es nämlich nicht. Danke!
@@wolfgang4468 kann ich machen... Wenn ich wieder im Lande bin.
@@MrMinimatze Dann danke schon mal!
Hi Mark. I'm a fairly new sub and just wanted to take a second and say thank you for your indepth look at these stoves. I'm also in the Halifax area (Hi neighbour! 👋) and am just getting back into camping and bushcraft after a long hiatus. I am currently researching and comparing different twig stoves (Firebox, Honey Stove, etc) and wood gasifiers like the ones you just demo'd. As always, your videos are very informative and enjoyable to watch. This video has given me some things to think about, so thanks again. ATB from E. Passage.
Hey neighbour. Glad to be of service. Any help I can give, just ask
Thanks Mark, I now understand how these types of stove work, might invest in one soon. As ever, thanks for sharing 👍 🙂
Glad to be of assistance. Thanks for commenting
Thank you for covering this topic Mark, that is what I was talking about back then when I noticed its not completely gasifying through the ports. I also have that lixada silver scout clone and solo stove and it burns anything top lit or not through the ports. Now what I think about the tower stove not completely gasifying is maybe the outer holes on the bigger can are too big and the inner can is too thick since it cooled down way faster and you can really feel that its a bit thicker that other stoves(forgive me, i don't know whats it called). Now I hope you could try partially covering the outer holes of the bigger can with aluminum foil so heat wont escape right away. I cant test it on my end since I can only do it when camping. Thanks Mark, great topic as always.
Interesting observations. Something to think about. Thank you for prompting me to re-test the stove.
Thanks for sharing, Mark. I’m looking forward with great interest with your further experimentation. I suspect it may lead to something like the Pyrolino stove out of Greece which has variable air input.
Glad you enjoyed the video. I was not aware of the Pyrolino stove. I will look it up. Thanks for commenting
Great video and explanation. I have both stoves and always choose the tower stove over the other. It never fails to light and tends to accept damp wood better than the other stove. Once it's up and running I find that the smoke is very minimal and the stove is easier to feed. The only drawback is that it's a little more unstable... But I don't mind that when you take into account the difference in weight the ability to also use the stove as a pot stand and windbreak for an alcohol stove. I would be interested and may test myself wether blocking some holes in the base improves gasification and will that inturn improve the stove or not.. problem would be build up of ash in the base. I tend to tap the stove regularly to clear the ash and this allows me to use the stove for much longer in one session before it becomes blocked..
I also tend to take the Tower stove more often than the Scout stove. It is just a great working piece of kit. Thanks for commenting
Perhaps you could rig some sort of shutter on the bottom of the tower stove's burn chamber, one that would allow maximum air flow while starting the fire, then allow you to meter back the air flow from below to attain more efficient gassification.
Interesting idea. I will have to give that some thought. Thanks for commenting
Good rundown. Wondering for that stove that it is a bottom feeder to make use of the vents.
Great stove.Especially for the money. Thanks for commenting Jim
Thanks for the demonstration.
I don't pre-load the stove (solo) at the beginning and burn top-down, instead I start a small fire inside, then feed more wood as needed.
This propably is not as fast, but it allows me to conserve fuel and simmer if needed.
Why conserve wood-fuel? I hike above the tree level from time to time (Swiss Alps) and have to bring the wood.
I could carry an alcohol stove and use it inside the solo stove, but prefer not to!
Good point about conserving wood in the absence of available fuel. Thanks for commenting
Thank you very much for the demo! So far working very well and I can sustain a fire for a good while. Thx bud take care.
Glad you found the video helpful. Thanks for commenting
Thanks so much for this video Mark. Very Helpful.
I just purchased 64 of Tower Stoves and had my logo etched on the side. I have been selling them and incorporating them as takeaways in my courses. I really like the stove for how well it nests with the pots, and still has some room in it for a compass, para cord, and a few other items.
Your videos are a great help for me in dealing with teaching people how to correctly fire the stove.
I am wondering where the Tower Stove sits in your top 10 wood burners with regard to how well it works and also how well the kit packs into a nice size for realistic cooking?
Keep up the great work.
Take care
Hey Dale. Great to hear from you. As far as bang-for-buck, this stove probably sits at the top of my list. It may not be as versatile as the Firebox stove but it costs just a fraction. It is not a true wood gas stove but it does burn quite clean, depending on wood type and quality of course. I like the depth of the burn chamber and the ease of feeding. The relatively narrow, tall aspect of it can make it a bit tippy and hot coals can fall through the bottom. Of course, safe fire protocols negate that risk. It does burn hot and fast so the challenge is slowing it down by feeding it fewer sticks to control heat better. Hope this helps. Thanks for commenting
Great video. Your description of wood gasification was very good. I believe a secondary burn is great; not having to dodge smoke while cooking is a benefit whether or not it’s more efficient. That said I’ll see if I can find some stainless flashing to make a damper for the tower stove. If so would you like one?
Glad you enjoyed the video. Actually, I found something all pre-drilled that I am going to use for the test. Thanks for the offer
Hi mark. As allways, a very good video. The Toaks tower stove has smaller holes in the bottom and is very near to the ground. It might be intentional to achieve true gassification. I have tried mine with woodpellets and i could see glowing embers several hours latter.
Interesting. I was wondering if the design of the Toaks would help it work better that way. Thanks for commenting
Thx for the effort you put into this. Nice insights for me!
Glad you found the video helpful. Thanks for commenting
Very informative and educational. Thank you very much
Glad you found the video interesting. Thanks for commenting
Great Explanation & Test Mark ! Can't wait for the next post. Happy Thanksgiving Weekend to You & Gina. ATB T God Bless
Thanks Terry. Happy Thanksgiving to you as well
I am interested to see how it responds with the pellets and charcoal. Or even other types of wood. I'd speculate different fuels burning at different temperatures will affect gasification. Just a guess.
I agree with you regarding fuel differences. Damp/cold or frozen wood, soft woods, etc all burn differently. The hardwood I used gave it the best chance of working as designed. I will likely report in from the woods on their performance as well. Thanks for commenting
Excellent and thank you for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for commenting
good stuff.
Question, which one would boil my tea up quicker, that's "efficient" to me.
keep them coming Mark, always a pleasure, thank you.
When its time for tea (or coffee) then quickness is important. Thanks for commenting
Mark , thanks for sharing, God bless !
Thanks for commenting
Another excellent video!
Thanks for commenting John
THX Mr. Young
Most welcome. Thanks for commenting
Love your videos, Mark, and love the tower stove. I was wondering if a slightly larger one is made, as is the case of Toaks?
Yes there is. I don't have a link for it but it comes with four cross pieces for a pot stand.. Thanks for commenting
I think tower stove is better because you can constantly feed it for a long time and it burns all wood. Old lixada stove quickly gets choked by unburnt charcoal.
Dmitry Olyenyov I agree, I can get the scout type stove to run for about an hour before having to empty the burn chamber out. A few days ago I received the tower stove, I've got some mod ideas already!
@@connosaurus & Dmitry Olyenyov - You both make an excellent point and one I hadn't considered - and that is after the wood has released most or all of it's combustible gases and it's burned off to the point of no longer being able to support gasification, you then have to empty the burn chamber of the charred wood. To me, any efficiencies that may be gained by a true gasification stove in this case, would then be made pointless if I have to empty the chamber halfway through cooking my meal and start over again. Additionally, if you're practicing minimal trace camping, (which I try to do), there's the issue of now having to deal with largely intact, charred wood instead of fine grey ash. Not a huge deal as you could simply just burn it but then, what would be the point of the stove if you now have to make a fire to use up what's left of the spent fuel? In that sense, I think the tower stove is ultimately overall more efficient. Thanks to you both for pointing this out. I'd be curious to hear about your mods, connosaurus.
The more I use the Tower stove, the more I like it. It may not be a true gassifier but it has other qualities that are more efficient as a user. Thanks for commenting
BigRed BikeRider I have some spare stainless steel DIY bush pot parts that fit the tower stove components very well and with some cutting I could make a taller base and burn chamber. I also have a mini "ikea stove" type pencil holder that I can swap with the tower stove burn chamber. Lots of testing to do!
BigRed BikeRider Another mod I'm planning is a "Weber charcoal bbq lid vent" for the bottom of the burn chamber, so you can adjust the airflow.
THX Mark, nice interesting Video
Glad you enjoyed. Thanks for commenting
If you take off the
Top and drop the burner into the silver
Base and fill the burner 3/4 of the full
Mark it dose gasifi
thanks again Jim
do you mean dropping ash box into the base and dont use the top at all? then you cant use the 'x-things' to get your pot onto it and you only can feed it by lifting up your pot,not good :/
Would be different if you stacked wood in the stove horizontally father than vertically?
Yes, it would. My experience tells me that horizontal stacked wood should slow the burn down some as it slows airflow. But it also means a lot more wood processing to get the shorter pieces to fit the stove properly. May be worth a comparison test thought. Thanks for commenting
Funny, but Ikea is the commercial for this video.
So the only stick stove I used that claimed to be a gasifier was the Biolite. I knew it was getting secondary combustion, because when it was running well, there was no smoke. I never knew about it turning the wood into almost like charcoal.....I hated the Biolite btw. That's one reason why I love my firebox so much. Interesting video.
Hey, have you ever done comparisons on alcohol stoves?
You can't ever go wrong with the Firebox. I have tried a few commercial stoves made a number of DIY alcohol stoves but have settled on just two that I use with any regularity. The Trangia (knockoff) or the Fancy Feast. Don't think I am the person to compare them but I might talk about why I chose those two. Thanks for commenting
Mark Young So no review series on alcohol stoves? It's something that I have very little experience with. I got a little super light one a few years ago, but have no idea if it's particularly good compared to others.
Want to know a secret? How to make the flame highly visible?
Hi Mark. I really liked your last video but never got a chance to comment. It wasn't hard to tell you were really enjoying yourself. Back later, I've been tasked with an early morning honey-do.
Hi Mark,
Another nicely done video!
And another opportunity to get me thinking about how much I enjoy working with portable wood and alcohol stoves.
It would be very interesting to learn more about how the tower stove would operate with the airflow holes in the base being restricted.
💡 Perhaps, if you were to add a screen like material, such as hardware cloth and utilize wood pellets as fuel, the density of the pellets may sufficiently slow the airflow to possibly allow for gasification to occur? 💡
Thanks for continuing to make such great videos!
Thanks Jim
A new test will coming up soon...I hope
Yet another interesting video, thanks Mark. Being a pedant, however, I feel obliged to say that there is no such thing as a 'volatile gas'. It's a term which is banded about by many but it's totally meaningless. Only liquids and solids can be volatile, gases cannot vapourise as they are already gases. The gases given off as a result of pyrolysis can be combustible but definitely not volatile. Please don't take this as criticism, I truly enjoy your videos, but technical terms should be used in a technically correct manner. All the best.
The term "volatile gas" is actually used by chemists, physicists, and other scientists.
chem.libretexts.org/Ancillary_Materials/Demos%2C_Techniques%2C_and_Experiments/General_Lab_Techniques/Condensing_Volatile_Gases
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S174396711730421X
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27415416
phys.org/news/2018-01-method-rare-volatile-gas.html
Good point and no offence taken. I should have used combustible as the correct term. Thanks for commenting
@@darthkek1953 With reference to the 'New Oxford Dictionary for Scientific Writers and Editors' 2nd Edition. 'Volatile (adjective) - Applied to a substance with a high vapour pressure which passes readily into a gaseous phase.'
www.answers.com/Q/What_is_a_volatile_gas
@@gordonmurdoch3811 dictionaries are forever behind the curve, forever catching up with the evolution of language. That's why they need updating so frequently. Those are some pretty high-flying papers, scientists and departments using the term.
@@darthkek1953 Just call me an 'old fart' who doesn't believe that 'the curve' is pointing in the correct direction or even necessary. All the best.
I've often suffered from mental pyroliisis, probably from too many beans. Cheers
Observation, not criticism, but a pot on top changes airflow so gasification needs to happen when pot is in place. Peace
And here I thought it was just my advancing age. Good point on how a pot changes airflow. Thanks for commenting
👌👍✌️
😊
The dragon scout is safer, better built and a good deal in it’s deluxe package offering.
Thanks for commenting
A plate with holes in it.
Coming soon. Thanks for commenting
When things get real technical with technical terms my brain inside my blond head kind of zones out. I guess that's the girl in me. I would like to see a burn with a small holed plate covering the large open bottom. I like the idea of gasification for stealth reasons.
I hope to test out the modified stove shortly. Thanks for commenting