Burch Barrel Beginnings

Roby Burch's simple yet innate primal desire to gather around a fire with friends, drink some beers, and sink their teeth into juicy grilled steaks was his sole desire leading to inventing the Burch Barrel.

In college he tended to the weekend fire, basic BBQs, just didn’t work as he wanted. Visions of a barrel came to life which led Roby to sketch up a bad-ass barrel that doubled as a fire pit and a BBQ. His vision was much more than just a fire pit and a grill—It was a gathering place, an event for the whole evening that would bring friends and family together for quality time and a feast.

Roby spent summers on his family’s ranch in Big Timber, Montana working cattle, equipment, and even building what the ranch needed using resources that were readily available around the property. His mind worked like a well-oiled machine, he knew how to create and this innovation stuck with him.

This resourcefulness is what drove him to invent the Burch Barrel one cool Sunday afternoon in the fall of his senior year at Gettysburg College. Roby didn’t want to waste money on a cheap grill that would die by the end of the school year. So he turned his drawings into an amazing plan that would be built to last. He headed out to the tractor supply store and local scrap yard to grab supplies, then worked all day to create a haphazard version of today’s Burch Barrel.

Roby built the Burch Barrel to fit his needs yet never imagined that it would be something that others would crave as well. Yet people asked him all the time to build them a Barrel.

After graduation, he realized his first job was not as satisfying as he had hoped so he turned his attention back to his passion project, the Burch Barrel. His heart was still in Montana and Roby realized pursuing the building of Burch Barrel would take him home. So he jumped at the chance to pursue his college invention.