"Stand-Back" Campfire Log Tongs

"Stand-Back" Campfire Log Tongs FARM HOME Miscellaneous 26-4-13 Dave Kindig, Roanoke, Ill., solved the problem by building a set of log tongs that allow him to stand back away from the fire. "I use it to throw in firewood whenever our family is camping out and burning wood. When the fire starts falling apart, I can reach in and pick up the burning logs and throw them closer to the fire without worrying about burning my hands ," he says, noting that you could also use them to stoke a wood stove. The tongs consist of a 4-ft. long, 3/8-in. dia. steel pipe with a pair of stationary tongs welded onto the bottom end and a metal guide welded about halfway up. Inside the pipe is a 7/16-in. dia. rod that has a handle on top and a single curved tong welded onto it at the bottom end. To pick up a log, Kindig holds the guide with his left hand and twists the handle clockwise with his right hand, which rotates the single tong sideways toward the two stationary tongs. "I can use it to pick up logs from 10 inches in diameter all the way down to 1-in. dia. sticks. So even if the logs burn down small, the tongs still can pick them up," says Kindig. "It works better than conventional log togs that work like a big scissors. The problem with them is that you have to practically stand over the campfire, whereas I can stand well away from the flames and smoke. "It doesn't take a lot of pressure to clamp the log, because the single tong is rounded which allows it to pinch in and get under the log." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dave Kindig, 1367 State Route 116, Roanoke, Ill. 61561 (ph 309 367-9328).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.