"Baron Von Schwein" 120 Gallon Horizontal Tank RF Build. QVIEW!

gmasterpfautz · Nov 13, 2011

Rubbin Butts said:
You might want to think about putting some x-braces between the front and rear legs.

As heavy as it is, if you need to apply your brakes hard on the tow vehicle, the legs will have a tendancy to fold up.

Thanks for the advice Rubbin. Initially that was the plan but once I got the legs on I found that its surprisingly rigid. Once its bolted on to the trailer (with its added supports) it should hopefully be fine. But we will see once its on there. I understand the need for the x-braces but I'd like to keep the weight as low as possible. If extra support is needed I was thinking of adding another leg on each pair. This would go from the bottom plate on the legs at an angle to the bottom of the tank. This should help strengthen from horizontal forces applied by breaking if necessary and keep down weight.

picobrew · Nov 14, 2011

Your fire box and door are not going to be the same diameter after the first fire.

You might bend a small piece of angle (1/2") to fit inside the firebox to minimize warping from the heat.

It does look good!

thomas spears · Nov 14, 2011

Hey, welcome to smoking addicts.Wish you all the luck in the world, its not hard just a time learning curve. I have been smoking all kinds of meat and veggies for 40 years. I in your question about the door size, make as large as possible with a lip inside to help prevent as much smoke escaping as you can. it's hard to do with home made smokers but the bottom edge about 1 inch above your bottom rack, belive me you will be glad you did.I'm including 3 articles and email address to this smokers regular emails. These are 3 steps to smoking a whole pig. They also manufacture a variety of large smokers like you are going to build. Good luck and have fun, smoking is addictive. PS you will need to go to the email to get the 3 steps. I didn't have your email or would have forwarded them.

thomas spears · Nov 14, 2011

PS:PS my email is [email protected], If you will send me your email I'll be glad to forward the 3 email with instructions to you. Tom

hdflame · Nov 19, 2011

Thomas Spears said:
Hey, welcome to smoking addicts.Wish you all the luck in the world, its not hard just a time learning curve. I have been smoking all kinds of meat and veggies for 40 years. I in your question about the door size, make as large as possible with a lip inside to help prevent as much smoke escaping as you can. it's hard to do with home made smokers but the bottom edge about 1 inch above your bottom rack, belive me you will be glad you did.I'm including 3 articles and email address to this smokers regular emails. These are 3 steps to smoking a whole pig. They also manufacture a variety of large smokers like you are going to build. Good luck and have fun, smoking is addictive. PS you will need to go to the email to get the 3 steps. I didn't have your email or would have forwarded them.

Where's the links you were talking about?

gmasterpfautz · Nov 19, 2011

Had another productive day. Got the stack welded on. It probably wont stay that tall but we didn't want to cut it until we knew the proper height. Any stack height advice? Also added some re-enforcements to the bottom of the trailer. Specifically I added 2x2x1/4 angle where the smoker will stand. The smoker's legs will later be bolted onto these angles.

I would love to get it fired up soon. Now that the stack is on I'm thinking we just need to add the firebox baffles and we should be able to fire it up. Obviously it won't function ideally but it would be great to get him burning. Any advice?

Thanks for all the feedback everyone! Cant wait to get some meat into this thing!

frosty · Nov 20, 2011

Man o Man, it just keeps looking better! Gonna be beauty, but we already knew that.

subvet · Nov 20, 2011

Just a few thoughts...

1. It is looking great.

2. With the cooker mounted on the trailer, it might be harder to prep for painting.

3. I would just spray some Rustoleum on your fresh welds and any bare metal to prevent the initiation of rust. This can be removed easily later.

4. I don't see your air inlet yet, be sure to investigate having the proper elevation in relationship to the fire and remember, air in = air out.

5. Question...How are you going to seal your fire door? You probably don't want to flames licking out of the top edge of the door, not to mention the lack of efficiency due to heat loss.

6. Just for cosmetics, the ring on the bottom of your fire box tank is probably just held on with 3 or 4 small welds and can be removed easily.

I am fully aware that this is your project. I have built several cookers of different varieties and have had to learn the hard way. I am a pipefitter and I understand thermodynamics but making these kinds of projects is very different. I wish I had built mine while being a member of this forum to get some feedback. You guys are definitely doing a great job and are avoiding several pit falls (pardon the pun) asking and taking counsel from the group.

Here is a link to my facebook page that has several of the cookers I have built. There is even a video tour of my bbq trailer where I give a brief explanation of the thermodynamics of to of my cookers.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Out-of-the-Pit-BBQ/107699842601791

gmasterpfautz · Nov 26, 2011

Cut the notch out of the trailer so the smoker could sit closer to the side then did a lil fab to make it look cleaner. How does the location look. As of now that's where it will sit once its bolted down. I also started thinking about the firebox inlet. I'm thinking a 12x12" plate which will be attached to the firebox using the square piece shown below. That plate will have two rows of slots cut into it. Then there will be two 6x12" adjustable plates with offset slots cut into them corresponding to the rows of slots in the main plate. Ill try to draw something up when I have a chance to give a better visual. I'm thinking I will have to relocate the break lights since the left one is so close to the firebox.

gmasterpfautz · Nov 26, 2011

This is what I was thinking for the firebox inlet.

goodtobeking · Nov 27, 2011

You can kiss that tail light goodby the first time you fire it up!

gmasterpfautz · Nov 27, 2011

Goodtobeking said:
You can kiss that tail light goodby the first time you fire it up!

Yea thats what I was thinking... anyone ever play around with shielding? Im thinking I could move the bracket its attached to all the way to the back of the trailer and then make a sheet metal plate that would hang over the light.

frosty · Nov 27, 2011

My firebox inlet is very similar and works great. The Baron is looking beautiful! The shielding is the first thing I would lose and then I would have a problem.

But I guess it would work, so long as "the man" could see it rolling on the highway. Perhaps a heat sink of some sort, to prevent the heat from affecting the tail light. Probably doesn't make sense.

gmasterpfautz · Nov 27, 2011

Frosty said:
My firebox inlet is very similar and works great. The Baron is looking beautiful! The shielding is the first thing I would lose and then I would have a problem.

But I guess it would work, so long as "the man" could see it rolling on the highway. Perhaps a heat sink of some sort, to prevent the heat from affecting the tail light. Probably doesn't make sense.

Thanks Frosty. I'm really happy with how its coming together.

Oh I'm sorry... I meant heat sink when I said shielding. I'm thinking a bent piece of sheet metal that covers the top and side of the light.I'm kind of skeptical as to if that will be sufficient.

thomas spears · Nov 27, 2011

I emailed the links and info both direct to you and into here, if you didn't get them email me direct again anf I will forward them to you. Tom

subvet · Nov 27, 2011

I like your idea for the air inlet. Be sure to put stops on each end so they don't vibrate out when you are going down the road. As for your tail light issue...you could simply move them to the rear of the trailer. They are mounted in the current position to prevent you from backing into something and smashing your lights.

I'm also interested in your drafting program. What is it and where did you get it?

gmasterpfautz · Nov 28, 2011

Thomas Spears said:
I emailed the links and info both direct to you and into here, if you didn't get them email me direct again anf I will forward them to you. Tom

I never got anything. PM me the info.

gmasterpfautz · Nov 28, 2011

subvet said:
I like your idea for the air inlet. Be sure to put stops on each end so they don't vibrate out when you are going down the road. As for your tail light issue...you could simply move them to the rear of the trailer. They are mounted in the current position to prevent you from backing into something and smashing your lights.

I'm also interested in your drafting program. What is it and where did you get it?

Thanks subvet! I plan to add stops once I have a better idea of the handle configuration. For now I will take your advice and just move the lights back. They will still be within a foot or so of the firebox but not right under it as they are now.

The drafting program I use is SolidWorks. It is a very expensive program but I if you have a student that you can purchase it through its like $100 or $200 for a 1 year license. I believe the only difference is that all parts/assemblies made in the student version are flagged as such and drawings will be watermarked with something designating that it was made in a student version. I currently have a class in ProE but in my experience SW is easier to learn. But I could just be stuck in the ways of how SW does things. I believe ProE also has a student version similar to SW. There is also Google Sketch up which is a free solid modeling program. I have played with it a little and think that it could be a great tool for DIYers like most people on this site. I would definitely give that a download and see what you can make with it. With all programs there are tons of tutorials available on the web, especially on youtube. Whatever you end up using send me some pics of what you have made. Or give me yell if you have questions, I love helping others to learn this kind of stuff.

smokin - k · Nov 28, 2011

I love checking back in on this thread and your progress! It's like I'm building a sweet a@# smoker but without all the burn holes in my pants or any of the nasty gray welding bugers... Great job...! Smokin - K

smokin - k · Nov 28, 2011

P.S. My dad just built a new drift boat trailer and he recessed his break lights. You could do the same by putting a 2 x 4 steel tub across the back of your trailer and cut in some oval / oblong LED lights (tottaly move them). I'll see if he will take a pic for me.. Smokin - K

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