I use one of these myself. What falls to the bottom is big chunks of red coals and lot of embers. I have not had a problem with the rebar yet, although it is sagging a bit. But I welded mine to the barrel. So to sag much more means it will have to take the barrel with it.
The great thing about this is, I can light my logs before Church and when I get home, it's ready to start shoveling into the smoker. Before this barrel, I couldn't do long smoke on Sunday, because there wasn't enough time after preparing the wood.
I preburn my base wood, which is always oak. Then I add a stick of my flavor wood to the firebox when it's needed.
It totally eliminates creosote.
The great thing about this is, I can light my logs before Church and when I get home, it's ready to start shoveling into the smoker. Before this barrel, I couldn't do long smoke on Sunday, because there wasn't enough time after preparing the wood.
I preburn my base wood, which is always oak. Then I add a stick of my flavor wood to the firebox when it's needed.
It totally eliminates creosote.