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My first build... 60 gallon on a trailer

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Firebox was added on 10/26/14.... a month goes by... weather and other obligations keep me busy.  On 11/22/14 I cut into the firebox and add trim and hinges to door and do my first burn.
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After more than a year it is great to see smoke coming out!!!! 
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If you look at the last post you can see where I added a new tongue on the trailer with 2 1/2" tube steel and 1 1/2" angle on each side. This did the trick to balance the trailer out.
 
So during the month of December I added the rails for the cooking grate. Built the cooking grate. Then I built 2 wood storage racks. One I filled with cherry. The one I have pictured........ the other with oak and hickory. Somehow I forgot to take pics of the grate and rail build

.
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So between 12/29/14 and 1/4/15 I worked on some minor details... finished up the cooking grate and did a seasoning burn. Unfortunately still a lot of little things to do but trying to get ready to smoke a brisket for my son before he leaves. After my seasoning burn I decided to smoke some ribs. I used the 3-2-1 method I had read about here. My neighbor came over when I was seasoning and wanted to know what I was cooking. I laughed and said nothing.... I was cooking ribs the next day. He asked if you could throw on a rack and I said of hell yeah! Mine is in the back and his in the front.

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About 2 hours in.

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Right out of the foil.

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Minutes before they came off the smoker. They just fell off the bone.

Smoked with Oak and hickory.
 
Sure I worked on a few more details but not sure what. On 1/17/15 I decided to try a long smoke. Smoker seems to hold temps well... I know the 4X8 is a little restrictive but I had to smoke for my son before he left. I am thinking I may buy some 1/4" plate and build a square firebox and increase my firebox to cook chamber opening. All in all the smoker seems to work well. I went thru about a wheelborrow load of wood and 2 chimneys of charcoal smoke on a 9.5 hour smoke. How much do others go thru. We ate the brats for lunch and the pulled pork for supper.

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I know this is a quick thread.... but a long time coming. Almost 2 years. I am now into Feb. Feb 1, 2015. Only 9 days before my son leaves now. Time to add a few details. A shelf on front. I knew from my first 2 smokes that this would come in handy. I also purchase a maverick digital thermo and need a place to set the remote unit. Handles on the firebox and cook chamber.
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Welding is still not great but has improved a lot. I replace the Hobart handler 140 with a Lincoln pro mig 180. All welding has been done with flux core as I do not have a place to weld inside.
 
During this time I also shortened the chimney...  added a damper.... and a counter weight on the CC door.
 
4 days later it is time to get the brisket ready to smoke for my son. 2/5/15

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Unfortunately there are no pics of meat after cook... I will get better in the future. Just a lot on me with my son shipping out. I have one about 2 hours in I sent to him before he arrived at the house.

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So here is where my smoker stands today. These photos were taken 2/7/15.... same day as brisket smoke. Yes I worked on the front wood storage box while smoker was smoking 
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This is all I have to date. All seems to function well. Does anyone have any thoughts on changing firebox to 1/4" plate steel and increasing opening? Any changes I make I would like to do before taking to sandblasting and painting.

A huge thanks to everyone on here who has posted their build and help inspire mine.
 
Looking Good, I was wondering about the Cu Inches  between the FB and CC  ?   

Gary
 
It is a little choked down. I kind of got in a hurry trying to use materials I had on hand and getting to a point where I could smoke something for my son before he left.. Now I am trying to decide if I should just scrap the round firebox and buy 1/4" plate and build one and increase the opening that way or figure a way to increase what I have now. Any thoughts?
 
For it to work properly a lot of things have to sized correctly for proper air flow, heat distribution, even cooking temps, fire management etc. Your call on the firebox, but to enjoy you smoker and not fighting to maintain temps take time to read and research the proper sizes for everything in regards to your cook chamber size. Check Dave Omak's RF calculator

Gary
 
So I have crunched some numbers today. My tank is 35" weld to weld and the end caps are 6" each. So inside tank I am 47'X24".

My FB is 34" weld to weld and the end caps are 3" each. 40"X15" 

If I calculated correctly it looks like using Dave's formula I need about 74 square inches of area for my CC to FB connection. Does this sound right?

Thanks

Steve
 
Your CC is fairly short and fat (a good thing) and you are within ten percent of ideal. Does it cook good like it is? You may want to just run it until it the FB rusts out and modify it then if it cooks good. You won't have to do anything for several years while you gather materials and build the firebox separately making the changeover quicker with less downtime. Something to consider if it cooks good for you now.
 
It does cook good. I could easily cut the top out of 4'X8" connector now and add an additonal 3" with materials I have now. This would give me approximately 56 sq inches. 
 
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