positioning of the reciprocating grate bars thereby protecting the softer cast iron grate beams against sliding wear and abrasion the removable bearing pads are received inside shallow recessed seats and retained in place by the adjacent stationary grate bars application_number US 63323984 A description fig1 of the drawing gives a section through a furnace or incinerator which is equipped with an inclined furnace grate supported on a furnace substructure 3 the inclined furnace grate comprises a plurality of parallel horizontal grate beams 4 which are oriented transversely to the arrow 5 indicating the direction of advance of a layer of solid fuel not shown which is being combusted as it moves downwardly along the grate structure the grate beams 4 are arranged at different levels and carry a succession of downwardly stepped banks of grate bars 6 giving the furnace grate structure an inclined though uneven upper surface as can be seen in fig2 each grate beam 4 with the exception of the first and last one supports the lower end portions of a first bank of grate bars 6 on an upper tier and the upper end portions of an adjoining second bank of grate bars 6 on a lower tier the grate beam tiers being so arranged that the lower end portions of the first bank of grate bars 6 form an overlap with the upper end portions of the second bank of grate bars.