My first reverse flow build

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beanyray

Fire Starter
Original poster
Dec 22, 2011
32
10
murfreesboro tn
This is not only my first RF build, but my first build in general.  I've been creeping around SMF for several months now looking for ideas and playing with the online calculator and finally decided to get started.  A friend gave me an old propane tank that someone had made a homemade trailer for so I had a head start on my design.

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She's a jewel ain't she? haha 

I decided to do a RF design with the firebox at the rear of the trailer with a warming box above the firebox.  Originally I wanted to make my RF plate completely water tight so that I could put 3 or 4" of water on the plate to not only get radiant heat from the plate but the steam as well.  As anyone knows that takes on a project like this, things change and I'm not planning on doing it just like that anymore, but I thought that was worth mentioning now so that maybe the method to some of my madness may make a little more sense.

As far as my tools for this project, I'm using a 110v Lincoln MIG welder and when I started didn't own a cutting torch so I used a 4.5" angle grinder and a sawzall to make most of my cuts. But I've got some pretty cool friends that give me access to better tools if I really need them.  For materials I'm trying my best to use as much scrap as possible that I can pick up at my local metal scrap yard, they are really good to work with and I can buy scrap steel for $0.25/lb.

First order of business:  Cutting the doors. 

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I bought these awesome stainless steel hinges from our local scrap yard

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I decided to screw them down using self tapping screws trying to hold off on welding until I got the doors completely cut to prevent as much warping as possible.  That was a good idea until I realized that the doors are a lot more likely to warp when I welded the flat stock around the edges later on.  Live and learn haha.

 
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Both doors cut.

Now to cut the end off the rear of the tank:

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I took the end of the tank that I cut off and welded 3 legs made of 1" tubing to the bottom and presented it to my wife as a heavy duty fire pit for the patio.  .
 
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WAR  EAGLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry had to do that. Im originally from Auburn/Opelika hahah

Shes gonna be a nice on when you get done
 
A great start beany.......
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     You might want to find a 220v mig welder with some .035 wire. You'll have to max out that 110v and wont get much penetration on the 1/4 inch plate steel for the firebox. just a heads up

Joe
 
wow looking good i second the motion on the 220v welder but use what ya have is a rule i have just test it out on some scrap pieces to get your best weld setting
looks like it will be heavy duty enough to last a lifetime and good work on the fire pit Great idea
 
A great start beany.......
icon14.gif
     You might want to find a 220v mig welder with some .035 wire. You'll have to max out that 110v and wont get much penetration on the 1/4 inch plate steel for the firebox. just a heads up

Joe
Thanks for the heads up.  I'd love to have a 220v mig here at home!  I've got access to one at a buddies house, after I get everything "built" I'm gonna take it over there and beef up some of the welds.
 
WAR  EAGLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry had to do that. Im originally from Auburn/Opelika hahah

Shes gonna be a nice on when you get done
War Eagle mr500!!!!

I'm hoping that this rig will be doing a lot of tailgating down on the Plains!
 
that would be awesome!!! If im ever up there on GAME DAY  Ill have to look you and that smoker up !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Great start on a awesome project.  Your gonna love the RF cooker.  I had thought about making my RF plate as a water pan as well, but went away from that idea also.  I have been using foil roaster pans under my briskets and ribs, working just fine.  I am hoping one day I will come across a stainless steel pan, maybe 2" deep, by 20" wide and 48" long.  That would be perfect for my water pan. Hint..hint...if anyone runs across one.  Keep us updated on the build.    
 
Love watching these builds. I think there is something inherently cool about saying you made that when everyone is drooling over it as the smell of some good cooking is happening.
 
I got the flat stock welded around the outside of the doors and as I mentioned earlier that's when the doors started warping some.  It's not terrible but I'll have to wait and see how bad it leaks and deal with it later.  I bought an electric hoist that I hung from a long piece of heavy angle iron that I laid across 5 of the rafters in my garage.  I'm using that to do my heavy lifting for me. The garage hasn't collapsed so far haha.

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With the tank off of the trailer I realized that the trailer springs had been bolted directly to the frame of the trailer with no shackles, which made for  a rough riding rig.  Also, the trailer hitch/tongue is basically a mess and sits about 6" higher than it needs to be to make the smoker level when hooked to my truck. I'm going to cut the current hitch off and I've ordered a piece of "C" channel that is made for adjustable hitches that is long enough to drop the hitch down 6" or so.  After the trailer is level I'm gonna have to change my jack too, because it won't be able to even touch the ground.  If my math is right, the center of all the weight for the smoker without the trailer should be where the firebox will meet with the cooking chamber(tank) so I've decided to move the axle back on the trailer as far as possible. 

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And before I get swamped with requests... this gem of a trailer ain't for sale lol  
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That is one nice trailer set up you have there but it's the propane tank that's really going to set her off. Betcha we won't even recognize her when you get her done.
 
I didn't take a picture of it, but my original design as mentioned earlier was to make the RF plate water tight, so I welded a big piece of angle iron at the end of the plate. But, I couldn't get it to seal as good as I wanted so I scrapped the idea and decided to just use disposable aluminum pans to fill with water to get the moisture I was looking for. 
 
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This is the first piece of the firebox/warmer.  I decided to build the firebox/warmer as a separate piece and weld it to the tank later.  At the top of the pic you can see the insulation that I used.

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As you can see, my sheets of steel weren't all straight but It worked out OK.  This is the point of this project that I realized that insulating the firebox means that you basically build it twice
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.  I also chose to weld the exterior sheets of steel first before putting on the inside sheets, I figured if I could get a better weld on the outside plates then even if the inside fell apart going down the road it would all be contained.  Needless to say, I'm not that confident in welding these 1/4" plates with my small MIG.  Eventually I took the rig to a buddy's shop where I had access to a big welder and I felt good about it.

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One of my buddies made this awesome prep surface out of old oak hardwood floors from an old music venue in Nashville, I think that it's got character!  Good job Adam! 

I got the firebox insulated on the sides and bottom, now to build the front.

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While I was welding away late one night, my Chocolate Lab Lucy decided to make a bed out of the remainder of my insulation, It looked comfortable, can't say I blame her.

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Above is before insulation, I used the same hinges for the firebox that I used on the cooker doors.  Below is after insulation:

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I changed out the hitch to level the trailer, moved the axle back and added shackles and got the tank welded directly to the trailer:

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Putting the firebox on:

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Got the air inlets cut, I used angle iron to line the inlets to keep the firebox insulated.

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Got the chimney on.  This thing is just begging for a paint job!

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It's amazing what $15 worth of rattle can flat black can do haha!

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We had a BBQ competition at our church this weekend and my goal was to be able to cook on this thing for it, and with help from my buddies we got it done.  That's the only reason it got the crappy paint job (which is flaking off after having 2 fires in it).  Late Friday night I got the grates finished and the latch for the firebox:

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I burnt it out on Thursday night and got it up to over 500 degrees, I don't know if that was smart or not, but I wanted to burn out anything bad.  Friday night I coated the grates with PAM and burnt it out again but basically just built a good fire and left it overnight.  Saturday morning at the competition was the first time I tried to maintain a temperature and the first time it saw food. I built a small fire and was busy getting everything else set up, went back to check the temp and it was:

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I thought maybe I just got lucky and checked on the temp just as it was passing 225 on it's way up, so I came back 10 minutes later and it hadn't moved!  I can not believe how constant the temp stayed all day.  I used all hickory wood and not near as much as i thought I would use.  I followed the online calculator very close and am a firm believer in them now.  Because I'm nowhere near finished with this thing and didn't even have a way to adjust the air inlets on the firebox, although I did put a $4 stove pipe damper in my chimney, speaks even more to the magic of the online calculators.  I only picked up one thermometer so I don't know what my temp difference is from one side to the other, but I'll know soon and will let you know.

We had a blast at the competition and came in 4th in Chicken and 8th in ribs, which makes me happy happy happy!

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