Air tight front

[TunbridgeDave]

I just finished installing our new custom air tight front on our old Small Bros 3x10. I went with a Leader model because they had the air injection around the door. I was wondering if anyone else has replaced theirs before. My biggest concern is making the ash pit area nice and tight so there are no air leaks. I bricked it as best I could all around the floor and under the grate supports but with all the expasion and contraction I know it's not gonna stay tight. Some fiberglass insulation may help.

Any suggestions?481548164817

[sugarmaker43]

I added an air tight front 2 years ago and wish I had done it earlier along with the leader grates. I also have a small brothers 3x10. My only advise after using it for the first year which I then changed was to direct as much of the air as you can to the front and less under fire air. The air jets on the front must give a lot of restriction and the more air for turbulence and over fire the better. It sounds like you did a good job sealing up the ash pit area. You'll be shocked how great it will boil.

[Potters3]

looks great, with the air blowing up thru the grates, there should be a pretty consistant temp under grates which should keep it solid. Added a under grate blower to a old arch 6 yrs ago and the bricks still look like they did when we did it

[TunbridgeDave]

We had the blower for about 10 years and finally burned up the old arch front. There is a pic in the Member Gallery area. It actually split the front in half this last spring. We burned up stacks about every 5 years as well, so next year we'll go stainless. We were boiling at about 110gph with the preheater and blower before so hopefully we can beat that.