Used to go through a grate each year in my fireplace burning wood just for ambiance. I am on year three with no issues so very pleased with the durability!

I bought this house three years ago. The fire burns non-stop from November through March. So far I've melted two cast iron grates. The last one cracked within two weeks and eventually just crumbled into dust. It had raised sides, which kept wide logs from settling down. They'd burn through the middle, fall over the sides and roll out of the fireplace. Nevermind that there was so much metal the fire couldn't get any air.

Determined to find something that would last for more than one season and not burn the place down I ignored the budget and went looking for a steel grate that would remain intact, contain the logs and let enough air through so they would burn.

THIS is that grate. I can't say enough good about it. It's been in service more than a month and shows no sign of warping or cracking. Even the two center legs are stiii not resting on the base of the fireplace. (And I consider that 1/4" of space below those center legs to be a stroke of genius.)

The only log which has fallen out of this grate was one I stacked too high. The only aspect of the grate that I needed to learn to work with was the height off the floor...4". That means that until the fire in the grate gets rolling you need a small fire below it for starters. Once the grate logs start burning down, the pieces will drop through the BIG spaces in the grate and form the perfect base below.

And you know that budget I figured would be trashed? Nope. Less than a hundred dollars and worth twice that much.

One note...be sure to measure not just the width of your fireplace but also the depth. I had to bend the bars on one side up so it would slide far enough back to keep it from interfering with the ash curtains.

Best of all...it's made in the USA.

Edit, three years later. Same grate, still intact after three winters of daily fires. The center back leg now rests on the floor of the hearth. The front one has an eighth of an inch clearance yet. This was a grate purchase.

Super nice fireplace grate. Heavy and solid. American made. Well worth the extra money.

Reasonably priced. Good fit for average size fireplace. Sturdy. So far just like the day I bought, about 2 years now. Very pleased with this purchase.

My old grate came with my house - it was low, with bolt-on legs that kept coming loose, and not enough vent slots for good air circulation, so my (hardwood) fires were always smoky. This grate is the opposite: a little too much vent, not quite enough iron to keep hot embers near the wood... so my fires were still smoky and required a lot of those little starter bricks to create embers from the kindling and keep the wood hot enough to completely burn. My solution was to buy a couple of fireplace bricks at my local hardware store and put them under the grate (with about 2" between them for air circulation) - then put the starters and a good pile of kindling on top of those, about 1" under the grate. The bricks keep the embers up close to the wood and keep the firebox hot (as they're designed to absorb the heat). So when deciding on a grate with large spaces like this one, keep in mind that too much air circulation can be as bad as not enough. Overall, now that I've figured out the optimum fire formula, I'm very happy with the grate - it's easy to clean and holds a big stack of wood for a long-burning fire.