I'm thinking of building a wood-burning hobo stove soon. What is everyone's experience with these? What works/what doesn't? Any design tips to make it work better?

I was planning on using a round can for the stove, maybe a large coffee can. I was thinking of cutting the can so that there are bent down flaps to hold the pot (maybe a rod going across just in case), cutting the bottom out and raising it about 1" with flaps, drilling holes in the bottom for airflow, and a port on one side to feed wood in without having to remove the pot.

They are better if you don't cut the bottom out.
Punch airholes around the bottom and at the top back for a chimney effect.
I usually just cut out a square hole near the top back. You can add fuel through it and it lets the smoke out away from the side you are cooking from. Leave a bit of metal between the hole and the rim for support.
Having the smoke hole on one side and just punched holes for air around the bottom lets you turn it so that you get the best draft if there is any breeze. It also lets you bank dirt around the bootom holes if it is getting to much draft.
Tin cans burn out fairly fast so hobo stoves are short lifetime items, no need to get real fancy with them.

If you are trying to keep it off the ground to prevent burning stuff underneath it throwing some sand, clay or small rocks into it before fueling it helps. Move the bottom holes up to match.
The sand also helps keep the bottom from burning out quite as fast.
Setting the stove up on rocks or sand is good for safety.
A friend of mine uses an upside down cookie sheet under his.
He figures that keeps it more stable and acts as a heatshield to the ground.


If it is done right a hobo stove will burn almost any fuel including oils. The Bengazi burner is a close relative.

It's hard to explain what I'm picturing in my head.

What I was going to do with the bottom was actually cut out the bottom, drill holes or make notches all the way around the bottom 1" of the can, drill holes in the bottom that I removed, bend tabs in the side of the can (maybe 2" above where it originally sat, and reinsert the bottom so it now sits higher.

I guess my thinking was that if I notch or drill the bottom all the way around, then more air would get to the fuel by coming up from below through the holes (kind of like a grate).

I know it sounds fancy for something so simple, but it's just an idea I want to experiment with.

Mine is here. I've since added two ends from coffee cans, a spare set of the cross wires (still not sure I have them right- fidgety things), and a couple of screens of 1/8" hardware cloth to serve as an ash screen (pack a few, they burn through in a few hours). Most of it fits into a pouch made for a Nalgene, but I carry a Guyot in there these days, along with some 1mm thick craft foam to keep it from rattling. The screens and spare wires go in by my firestarting materials.

I made one with an extra large Campells soup can. Screwed 3 metal shelf brackets around the top (facing inward) as a pot support. Left the bottom in. Only concern is how much weight the brackets will support before collapsing inward. Guess I'll find out soon enough.

I leave the top and the bottom rims in tact.

holes on the bottom, normaly I like to have a littl "door" to add fuel but the idea of a chimney seems even better (thanks to SCAFOOL for that idea)

A while a go, I got into the idea of making these and seeing how they worked. one large soup can is prity impresive as to what it can cook and heat.

thanks for the awsome fourm topic

OK, now I see what you and Ironraven are up to. You are trying to make a firegrate in the bottom for increased air into the base of the fire.
I might try punching a few holes in the bottom of the next one I make and see if they make it burn any better.

My camping pots were always large enough that they covered the top of the can, so support wires or grills on the top were not needed, but an opening for smoke was.

One thing about tin cans is they are cheap enough to play with and you can still recycle burned out ones.
Too bad so many of the things that used to come tinned in large cans are now in cardboard or plastic.
If this keeps up I might be using old SS pots from the thrift stores to make hobo stoves out of soon.

I found it best to avoid burning pine cones and stuff like that because they were to resinous. The crud they put on the bottom of a pot is very sticky, get on other items, and is hard to clean off.

If your looking for a cheap route , I went to the grocery store and purchased a big can of tomates , emptied them out.

I used three large screws for legs with a nut on top and one on the bottom...the inside nuts keep my screen and coals from touching the bottom of the can.

I evenly spaced air holes all the way around the can and placed a feeder square at the top of one side.....medium size twigs will self feed. and the feeder hole doubles as an air vent for when you use a big cooking pan.

I bought one of those wire mesh clam shell things with the long handle on it from wal mart , cut the bottom half of it off and trimmed it to fit inside on top of the screws , it holds all of the fuel and allows air to get under it.(the fuel)

I used the top half of the ( I think its for toast )wire thing with the long handle as the grill surface and it has a long handle on it as not to burn your hand I think I paid 4 bucks for the tomatoes , 2.95 for the 4 screws , and the wire toast thing was on sale for 3 bucks.....10 bucks and I have had the ugly duckling for well over a year...I did paint it camo for the fun of it recently.....I know on long kayaking trips it has served me well , very well and people laugh at it until it warms them.
Thanks for reading my first post.....

Welcome to the fire. I assume by you screen name and location, you enjoy jumping out of perfectly functioning aircraft for a living?

Stay safe...

I saw a post on ZS where a guy did just that, he bought a set of SS pots that nest. He cut up the larger one for the stove and just uses the medium one for the pot.

If you go to the local hardware store you can buy new, empty paint cans in various sizes. They have very strong rims and make good stoves, and seem to last longer than ordinary tin cans.
My very favorite stove is the Little Dandy design by Nimblewill Nomad, www.nimblewillnomad.com, which is cut out of sheet metal and so takes down into a flat compact package for transport. The design can be upscaled or downscaled to suit your size needs.

That reminds me of the one John D McCann had in his book that used a quart paint can as sleeve, a NuWick 44 as the heat source, and a coffee can as the pot. He used a couple of pop rivets to keep the pot off the bottom of the stove and the candle- put them a little higher up and it might not make a bad wood burning set.

Neat! Google books has his book. Or at least the portion in question.