Fireplace Grate keeps melting

Does anyone know of a fireplace grate that doesn't melt? For the past 10 years, I have had to replace the grate in our FireplaceExtrordinaire about every 3 months, during burning season. The firebox temps must be "Extrordinarily" hot.
Home Depot grates melt. Tractor Suppy Inc grates melt. A castiron grate I got from a fireplace out of an old house, Melted.
The only thing I can think of is a grate out of a coal stove, with a Shaker. That would be nice.
The FireplaceExtrordinaire will accept 30" logs. I use a 24" grate, which gets narrower (tapered) towards the back.
My brother once built a grate for me, that was made out of 1 1/4" rebar. I used it for a full year, and it did not melt. It didn't even sag. The problem with that one is I lost alot of firebox wood space, and had to add smaller batches of wood more often.
I was hoping to find a stainless steel grate out there somewhere, made out of 1/2" wide x 1" deep bar stock.
Anyone else have the same issue?

Chris F.

You need a good cast iron grate like that of a mark series harman. Stainless will warp up like a banana after the first burn atleast the stainless that is readily availiable. The only stainlees that can take that kind of heat is type 310 stainless and it would cost at leat $1000 to buy the material. No I didn't get to many zeros nthat stuff runs 3-4 times as much as 316L stainless however the working temp rating is 2400* F the same as good cast iron.

jpen1 wrote:You need a good cast iron grate like that of a mark series harman. Stainless will warp up like a banana after the first burn atleat the stianless that is readily availiable. The only stainlees that can take that kind of heat is type 310 stainless and it would cost at leat $1000 to buy the material. No I didn't get to many zeros nthat stuff runs 3-4 times as much as 316L stainless however the working temp rating is 2400* F the same as good cast iron.

Thanks jpen1, yeah I noticed the cost diiference between the diiferent alloys. I even priced Titanium. Talk about too many ZEROS!
I have 'burned' thru (no pun tntended) two store-bought cast iron grates over the past two years. They last a little longer than the wrought iron and bar stock grates, but they still melt. My brother tells me cast iron has the same melting point has the bar stock grates?
This Fireplace Extrordinaire burns wood with a blue flame, sometimes with white tips, similar to a coal fire, so I know it gets hot in the firebox. Once the firebox heats up, the flames even detatch themselves from the logs, and seem to "float' or 'hover' near the top of the firebox.

I'll check out the grates in the Harman Mark series, and see if I could use one.
Thanks for the tip.

Chris F.

I had the same problem too,kept buying those cheap $30 grates at lowes and home depot,they would last
for about 5 fires and i had to throw them out,this year i decided to get a good one,i got it off the internet
from i think it was northline,they sell all types of fireplace acc,it was $99.00 and i have used it all winter
and it looks like brand new,it has a lifetime warranty.

fireguy wrote:I had the same problem too,kept buying those cheap $30 grates at lowes and home depot,they would last
for about 5 fires and i had to throw them out,this year i decided to get a good one,i got it off the internet
from i think it was northline,they sell all types of fireplace acc,it was $99.00 and i have used it all winter
and it looks like brand new,it has a lifetime warranty.

Fireguy, Do you know what kind of material yours is made out of? How thick are the bars? There is a "Lifetime" grate being sold on ebay for about $100. It has 1"wide by 1/2" thick bars. Soft Steel, not cast. Still, I am concerned about testing it.

The bars are about a 1/2" thick and about 1"wide,im useing it right now,i don't know what its made of but i have very hot fires in my fireplace
and this grate is like brand new,i bought it back in october for about $100 and that included the shipping,go into google and punch in fireplace
grates thats how i found this website,it was northline something,look for there lifetime grates,they have all diff sizes,its a good one,no
warping or anything.

DVC500 go to http://www.northlineexpress.com fireplace grates i got the model # 5CF-DF20 like i say lifetime warranty.

fireguy wrote:DVC500 go to http://www.northlineexpress.com fireplace grates i got the model # 5CF-DF20 like i say lifetime warranty.

Thanks Fireguy, I went to their website, saw the different sizes, and bought one. Free Shipping! Ya can't beat that! I might get a chance to try it out this year. The cast iron grate I purchased from Tractor Supply Inc in Dec08 has already melted away. Nothing left but the legs and the frame around the outside, holding the legs.

No problem DVC500 let me know how you make out with it,mine took about a week to get here,maybe you won't get to use it this year,
im hoping tonight is the last night of the season that its going to be this cold,im not too far from you so im sure its not too much warmer
where you are.

fireguy wrote:im hoping tonight is the last night of the season that its going to be this cold.

HAHAHA, you never met my wife. The FP will be running thru march, into April. The warmer, the better. If the Living Room falls below 80F, I better throw more wood on the fire, or else!

Hey DVC500 same thing here,she likes it about 75 degrees too,coal stove going downstairs and the fireplace going upstairs.

fireguy wrote:coal stove going downstairs and the fireplace going upstairs.

It appears we have the same setup. Thank goodness for Coal! I can let the FireplaceXtrordinaire go out, during the day now. After 30 years of burning wood, I'm getting tired of lugging it into the house. But the wood is free, and I am HAPPY not to be paying the Oil Man

The new grate just arrived. Time to throw out the old one, which is 3 months old. Check out below pics.....