Bottomless Pits
Feed it all night. It’ll keep up. Will you?
Hand-cut US steel, made one at a time, with your name, your brand or your team cut clean through it. Pile on the wood and it keeps right on burning. The ash falls through, so there’s nothing to shovel out. Nothing to plug in, no password required, nothing to charge. Just steel, and wood, and fire! No smoke.
Custom pits from $249. Made by hand in Tennessee. Built to be handed down.
Built to burn, not to brag.
Some may call it a premium outdoor wood burning experience. We just call it, Fire!
It never fills up
The ring sits atop a rebar frame and draws air from below. Ash and coals are knocked through with every stoke. When operated properly, there should be nothing left in the morning but fluffy white powder.
Your name, in fire
Send us your name, brand, logo or tribal insignia. We’ll cut it into the steel, and it will glow once the fire reaches cruising altitude. Spell it right the first time. We copy/paste mindlessly unless we’re paid to do otherwise.
Nothing to break
No fans. No batteries. No moving parts. No accessories catalog (not yet, anyway). Leave it out in the rain, toss it around in the back of your truck, talk to it like a stubborn mule. It’s not often in life you get explicit permission to run it hard and put it up wet!
Pick your pit
Campsite
An 8 to 12 inch tall ring. Plenty of fire for one evening without eating your whole woodpile.
from $249
Jobsite
A taller ring for people with wood to burn, or who need a serious bed of coals to cook over. Most folks can’t keep one fed. You might be the exception.
from $299
Want original artwork drawn from scratch? That’s $75 more. Pickup and local delivery available. Anywhere else, ask for a shipping quote. Nobody’s driving it to Montana for free.
Included with every pit
The F³ Guarantee
(First Fire Free)
A new pit needs one good fire to season the steel before it’s ready for company. So every pit comes with what you need to do it.
Fair warning: the first burn doesn’t smell great. Do it the day you set the pit up, outside, with nobody around you’re trying to impress. Not the night of the party. After that, it’s just a fire.
- Fuel
- One bundle of firewood.
- Ignition
- Matches. No app required.
- Instructions
- Light it. Let it burn out. Done.
How it goes
- Send your idea. A name, a logo, a photo of your dog. Today.
- Get a drawing. We send back a design and a price. You sign off on it.
- Pay half to start. The rest at pickup. Simple math.
- We cut and build it. Usually one to three weeks. Calling every day won’t make it faster.
- Light it up. Pickup or local delivery. Then go sit by it.
Where it came from
Every Bottomless brand fire pit shares its DNA with the humble HOBO Stove. Short for High Output Bedicle Oven, the HOBO is a 55-gallon-barrel firebox built to make coals for the West Tennessee whole-hog barbecue process. Somewhere between a rocket stove and a burn barrel, it looks simple… and it really is! We didn’t invent fire. We just quit overthinking it.
We still make HOBO Stoves. Drop me a line if you’re interested in a true original.
2 min
30 min
1 hour
90 min
2 hours
It’s every bit as much a process as it is a product built for the purpose.
A blazing fire doesn’t smoke. A smoldering one does. Three rules to running a Bottomless Pit successfully. Learn ’em.
Burn dry wood
Seasoned firewood only. Green wood is for amateurs. Light it about an hour before you want to sit by it. Start slow and add wood as the flames allow. It’ll smoke a little until the fire takes hold. By the time folks sit down, it won’t.
Cover three-quarters of the ring
Keep adding wood until about three-quarters of the ring is covered. Once bedicles glow all the way around, it draws air like a furnace and the smoke all but disappears.
Feed it with a thump
Drop new logs in from about chest height, like you mean it. It knocks the bedicles through and wakes the fire right up. Sparks will fly, so warn folks first. Learn that one the easy way.
Dirt, gravel or sand only. No exceptions. Keep it clear of buildings, trees and anything that burns, and never leave it burning unattended.
Questions folks ask anyway
Can it go on my patio or deck?
Nope. Ash and hot coals fall through the grate onto whatever's underneath. Dirt, gravel or sand, away from anything that burns. Your deck will thank you.
Isn't it just a burn barrel?
No. You wouldn't toast garbage in your oven, would you?
Seriously, no matter how strong the resemblance, a Bottomless Pit draws air like a furnace, and it can send sparks high into the air. Firewood sparks are small and usually burn out before they come back down. Paper and cardboard burn differently: they flake and flutter off in bigger pieces that fly farther and burn longer. Can you burn trash in it? Sure. Is it a good idea? No!
Is there an app for it?
No.
Is it hard to light?
People have been lighting fires for a few hundred thousand years without a tutorial. Dry wood, a little kindling, one match. Two if you're nervous. Light it about an hour before company shows up so it's done smoking when they get there.
Why does the first fire smell funny?
That's the steel seasoning. Every new pit does it once. Use your First Fire Free the day you set it up, not the night the neighbors come over. After that it smells like a fire, the way it should.
What if I can't keep it going?
Then you're not feeding it. Read the rules again, slower this time.
Can I cook on it?
That's what it was born for. The first one made coals for whole-hog barbecue. What you put over the fire is your business.
Will the smoke get on my clothes?
Burn it right and barely. Burn it wrong and that's what washing machines are for.
Does it come in other colors?
It comes in steel. Leave it outside a few months and it'll come in rust, too, no extra charge. Steel weathers. So do you. Ask about finish options when you order.
How long does it take?
Usually one to three weeks after you approve the drawing. Good steel takes a little time.
Do you ship?
Pickup and local delivery available. Anywhere else, ask and we'll quote shipping. Steel doesn't ship for free, but you'll get a straight number.
Can you match a logo or a photo?
Most of the time, yes. Send what you've got and we'll tell you straight how it'll cut. If your logo has fourteen colors and a drop shadow, we'll need to have a talk.
Is it worth the money?
A burn barrel costs less. So does a hole in the ground. Neither one has your name cut through it.
I can only offer my word: this will burn better, last longer, and you'll clean it out less than comparable units costing three times as much!
What's a bedicle?
Bedicles are the little cubes of glowing coal that break off a burning log. (Bed of Coals + icicle = Bedicles)
How did Mark get started making these?
It started with a barrel stove built for West Tennessee whole-hog barbecue, and a little help from an old man in overalls. Pull up a chair.
Think you're ready?
State your business: a name, a brand, a deer camp, a dog. Mark will come back with a drawing and a price.
Most folks never get around to it. Don't be most folks.
After something besides a fire pit? See the rest of the shop.
Two ways to reach Mark
Email Markmarkhbradfield@att.net
Got a logo or a photo? Attach it.
(615) 364-1951
Rather talk it through? He'll pick up.