My New (to me) Gravity Fed Smoker!

[alwaysntraining]

I am a welder/fabricator and would love to fix it for you if you were closer. If you are not, the easiest way to fix that since one end is welded to the bottom and the other end has the foot on it is to cut the tube in the middle and get a sq. tube that slips inside both ends and bolt through both tubes. You could also find a tube that slips over the outside of your leg. Just depends on what you find first. Later you could always weld all three pieces together if you wanted. Using the tube inside a tube method lets you get the length perfect before welding or bolting. Just one idea. Good luck with your new smoker.

 

[pc farmer]

Wow. Great find. Glad you found what you wanted.

I agree, keep the wood leg. Makes it different.Thumbs Up

 

[seenred]

Wow nice score with it in Red even! Hope you get to enjoy it soon!

Yeah how about that...my favorite color!  Thanks B!

You gotta go to a place that sells manaquens and buy a sexy leg!!

  LMAO!  That mannequin would have to have the body of an Olympic weight lifter to hold this thing up...not sure what it weighs, but its HEAVY!

 
Red.. That smoker is epic. Its built like a tank! b

Hey Brian, thanks Brother!  Haven't hollered at you in a few...how ya been!  Hope that newest grandbaby is still doing well.

Thanks for stopping by!

Red

 

[seenred]

 
I am a welder/fabricator and would love to fix it for you if you were closer. If you are not, the easiest way to fix that since one end is welded to the bottom and the other end has the foot on it is to cut the tube in the middle and get a sq. tube that slips inside both ends and bolt through both tubes. You could also find a tube that slips over the outside of your leg. Just depends on what you find first. Later you could always weld all three pieces together if you wanted. Using the tube inside a tube method lets you get the length perfect before welding or bolting. Just one idea. Good luck with your new smoker.

Hey man, I appreciate it!  Good ideas...if we lived closer to each other, I might take you up on that.  I've got a family member who's a pretty good welder and fabricator.  He and I have been putting our heads together, and he's willing to bring his welding rig over weekend after next.  The legs are 2 x 2 steel tubing.  Don't know for sure what the gauge or thickness is, but it's pretty heavy stuff.  He thinks we can just cut the foot off of the short leg, then square-weld a length of new tubing onto the existing piece to make that leg the same length as the other 3.  If we think that the new welded joint isn't strong enough, we'll fabricate and weld a sleeve around the joint to reinforce and brace it up.  Might not look as pretty as a factory job, but hopefully it'll get the job done.  Does that sound doable to you?

Thanks for the advice...it's really appreciated!

Red

 

[seenred]

Wow. Great find. Glad you found what you wanted.

I agree, keep the wood leg. Makes it different.

Thanks Adam!  Sorry but I'm afraid the wooden leg has to go...I want to store the pit in my garage, so it'll have to be mobile.  The darn thing is so top heavy, if the peg leg ever gave way while I was moving it, there'd be no way I could keep it from going down and tearing something up.

Now if i were gonna set it up on my patio and leave it...then the wooden leg would be OK because the pit wouldn't be moved around.

Red

 

[four20]

hey I bought a new smoker that had 4 different length legs.

 

[seenred]

 
hey I bought a new smoker that had 4 different length legs.

What'd you do about it?  

 

[grillmonkey]

I enjoyed reading all the comments about the wooden leg. But you are right to fix it properly to make it safe to move. Maybe paint the leg repair up to look like a cast? Maybe cristen it "Ol Peg Leg" and break a BBQ sauce bottle over the bow? Oh, it doesn't have a bow. I'll stop now,,,I have a million more comments popping up in my head. I don't want to turn this post into 2 pages.

 

[smokin218r]

Awesome Red!!

I'll still be looking for some great Rec Tec cooks from my fellow bull horn lifter!

Nice that they both match and will look great together.

 

[seenred]

 
I enjoyed reading all the comments about the wooden leg. But you are right to fix it properly to make it safe to move. Maybe paint the leg repair up to look like a cast? Maybe cristen it "Ol Peg Leg" and break a BBQ sauce bottle over the bow? Oh, it doesn't have a bow. I'll stop now,,,I have a million more comments popping up in my head. I don't want to turn this post into 2 pages.

Thanks GM!  Yeah its been fun laughing about that wooden leg...but I'm more interested in ending up with something that doesn't look like $#%!, and that's sound and sturdy.  When I'm finished, it might not look like a factory job, but i hope it'll be close...

 
Awesome Red!!

I'll still be looking for some great Rec Tec cooks from my fellow bull horn lifter!

Nice that they both match and will look great together.

Thanks S218R!  Yeah I'll still be cooking on the RT...probably just for hot and fast cooks and grilling steaks and burgers.

And yeah...its pretty cool that they're both RED!  That was a happy accident...

Red

 

[1967robg]

Nice cooker, I was going to build a vertical and now I'm thinking gravity feed. Looking forward to seeing it in action. Congrats

 

[seenred]

Nice cooker, I was going to build a vertical and now I'm thinking gravity feed. Looking forward to seeing it in action. Congrats

Thanks Rob!  For a while, I was considering a build myself, although I'm certainly no welder/fabricator.  Started putting a materials list together and realized it wasn't gonna be cheap, although certainly still cheaper than buying a new factory cooker.  If I hadn't stumbled across such a bargain, I might still have given the build a try.

I did realize that the plans for building a gravity fed are fairly straightforward, but quite a bit more labor intensive than a regular vertical build.

Red

 

[alwaysntraining]

 
Hey man, I appreciate it!  Good ideas...if we lived closer to each other, I might take you up on that.  I've got a family member who's a pretty good welder and fabricator.  He and I have been putting our heads together, and he's willing to bring his welding rig over weekend after next.  The legs are 2 x 2 steel tubing.  Don't know for sure what the gauge or thickness is, but it's pretty heavy stuff.  He thinks we can just cut the foot off of the short leg, then square-weld a length of new tubing onto the existing piece to make that leg the same length as the other 3.  If we think that the new welded joint isn't strong enough, we'll fabricate and weld a sleeve around the joint to reinforce and brace it up.  Might not look as pretty as a factory job, but hopefully it'll get the job done.  Does that sound doable to you?

Thanks for the advice...it's really appreciated!

Red

Great, that would be the best. If he is a good welder you won`t need a sleeve. 

 

[seenred]

Great, that would be the best. If he is a good welder you won`t need a sleeve. 

Thanks man...its good to know I'm on the right track.

Won't know how it goes for over a week...he can't bring his rig til next weekend at the soonest.

Red

 

[four20]

hey I bought a new smoker that had 4 different length legs.

 
What'd you do about it?  

I installed the legs and measured each from the base of the smoker to the correct length. I then cut the legs and bent the metal and re-tacked the welds. I did take it a step farther and installed 2 casters on one side, and 2 adjustable feet on the other so it could be rolled in and out of the garage.

This is the link to my current progress. It will be used for Easter to cook a 15 lb packer.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/243465/sows-ear-to-silk-purse#post_1540521