Hobo Mods!!!

There was a tiny bit of sun during the day, but this morning we got bupkis. So it was the perfect opportunity to fire up the hobo stove with a little upgrade; a pellet basket! The holes in the bottom of my stove are big enough for the pellets to fall through when pouring them in. Being able to place a pre-loaded pellet basket potentially reduces waste, at least on initial startup. All I did was punch a bunch of holes into a tuna can.

Seeing how well they burn in the pellet stove that heats our house, I had high hopes for this set-up. But I didn't get the little inferno I was hoping for, except when I went ahead with the usual dried leaves and twigs. I'm trying to go as natural as possible, aside from newspaper and a lighter, but I think I'm going to need some gel starter if I want to burn pellets. I'm going to give it a try, because the pellets theoretically should give a more sustained burn without having to constantly feed it as with twigs and leaves, allowing me to sit back and sip my coffee. Back to the lab!