It's Finally Done, My New 300gal RF Trailer

[meateater]

I am truly amazed at the smoker ya built, I have a concern. Ya might want to get them kids a drivers license first if there gonna tote that grill around past the yard.

 

[matts]

Got it fired up right now.  I am loving this wood thing. LUVIN IT.

I have been smoking most of my life with my dad's homebrew smokers.  Most of them have been electric and that is all I knew.  Last year I bit the bullet and switched to propane and thought that was awesome.  Now I have my first wood smoker sitting outside puffin an awesome scent all over town. (burning hickory). Got it up to 300-315 and let it cook a fresh veggi oil bath for a while now I am playing with setting lower temps.  Got a nice fire going and holding around 240ish.  

I found out a couple things on this first fire up.  One being I got a couple gaps I need to work on to seal things up a little more.  Two, I am already extremely happy I put propane on this thing.  Getting the fire lit was a breeze.  But the one thing that the propane saved me on was easily giving the fire a little boost.  After I thought the fire was going good, I noticed the temp was slowly dropping and I didn't know why.  I checked on the fire and it wasn't really going that good.  So I cranked on the blue flame for a few minutes and got the fire going good again.  

I am very excited and can't thank this forum and everyone here.  

Here is my first smoke coming out the duels.  This was at around 270 degrees.

Sorry for the poor video, cell phone........But you get the picture.

 

[pandemonium]

Very nice rig you made, too cool

 

[jbg4208]

Matt, it looks like some rugrats are trying to steal your smoker... LOL... Very nice rig you got there. It is nice to be able to cook all the meat and sides you want. You will find out real quick you have a lot of friends needing something smoked. 

Do you like those latches?? Do they lock down pretty good?? I am needing to get some for mine and I like the look of those. I will have to turn them down like you have there. I don't have enough room to turn them sideways.  

Oh Thumbs up BTW

 

[matts]

jbg,

They work fine during a smoke and storage, but I am still not sure how well they will hold up on the road.  I will find that out in a few days.  That is my main concern. 

Those rugrats look for any chance they can get to ride around on the quad.  If it is just moving 10 feet, they want to go along for the ride.  They had to ride along while I pulled the smoker out of the shop into the yard.

 

[thunderdome]

Awesome!!  Thumbs Up

 

[sqwib]

Awesome build, that is something to be PROUD of!!!!!!

 

[tom37]

Another thumbs UP !!!!!!   Looks great Matt.

 

[johnnybigsmoke]

Hey Matt,

I checked out your other string, "All kinds of first for me, with a lots of QView", I thought that you had spent a fortune and bought your smoker. After watching you build it from scratch, I am in awe. That has to be, by far, the most awesome project I have ever seen. I needed to let you know that you have inspired me to build my own!!! I am going to check out a couple old hot water heaters tonight and see if I can get started by this weekend.

If you had to give some advice on a project like this, what would it be? Your input would be greatly appreciated!!!
 

Cheers and thank you for the inspiration!!!

Johnny K. aka JohnnyBigSmoke

 

[matts]

Johnny,

thanks for the compliments.  My only advise is to look back at all the awesome builds on this site and find the bits and pieces that you think you will want on your build.  If you see something you like but your not sure how it was done, go ahead and ask.  Everyone here is always willing to share their tricks.

 

[ballagh]

matt....did you decide to do the two stacks instead of 1 - 6" for looks or did you do it for size?  I am building one similar and thinking of doing 1 - 6".   although yours looks pretty cool. :) 

 

[matts]

I did the two stacks because thats all I could find laying around.  I originally planned one 6" stack but went this route instead because it was free.

 

[ballagh]

dont blame ya there.  one thing i did find with the 6" is they cant bend that size pipe and i would have to use a fitting to get the bend.  i do like your propane addition, and would like to hear more about it, and maybe give ya a call sometime.

 

[ballagh]

matt - where did you get your spring door clamps?  having a hard time finding them locally.

 

[Bearcarver]

That looks outstanding Matt----another thumbs up point to you!

Better be careful with the thin blue smoke signals----Indians will soon be there to smoke the peace pipe & help eat the great food!

Bear

 

[matts]

matt - where did you get your spring door clamps?  having a hard time finding them locally.

The only place I was able to find them was harbor freight.  They had four different sizes in the store.

 

[werdwolf]

[h2]

Thing of Beauty 

[/h2]

 

[ballagh]

matt - do you know what the technical name is for them? or better yet do you have a link to it?  I am in dyer need of this part, I am almost done with it and it is one of the last pieces I need. :)

The only place I was able to find them was harbor freight.  They had four different sizes in the store.

 

[matts]

They are Toggle Clamps

http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result/?category=&q=toggle+clamp

 

[deannc]

That's an awesome rig you got there Matt!  Sounds like the path I'll likely follow.  Started out with the gasser a couple months ago which along with the great information from SMF it has allowed for early success and confidence after my failures 20 years ago with my Brinkman that caused me to give up...I'm already watching the build sections and starting to learn the different type stick burners to move in that direction eventually.