120 gallon RF trailer build

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socalcooker

Meat Mopper
Original poster
May 12, 2014
229
41
I picked up a 120 gallon tank about a month ago, a 5x10 utility trailer a couple days ago, and today I went and got a 4x8 sheet of 1/4" plate sheared for the FB and RF plate. I'm doing a 24" square FB. Got the plates tacked up today and framed the door opening. I'll be doing a wood stove style door that will be flush with the bottom of the FB so ash can be pulled out the door. Still a lot of work to do but it's a good start.

Thanks for the look
 
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Finished up the FB today. Vent is finished, latch is finished, and I fabbed the charcoal basket today. Still needs some grinding and cleanup but it's basically done. Sometime this week I'll get the tank leveled and start laying out the cuts on it. Once the CC and FB are welded together I'll cut the opening between the two.

Kyle





 
I've made some progress recently. The tank I planned on using was just a touch to small to get the size door I needed, so I took a longer tank of the same diameter and cut about 2 feet off of it. This got me the extra few inches I needed for a 48" door.

The piece I cut off will work as a firebox for the tank I was originally going to use. I used an 8" wide sanding belt to wrap the tank and get a straight cut. I've capped the open end and put the tank on blocks. Next step will be to figure out the door cuts, then mark the cut for the firebox, and join them together.

Kyle




 
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I got the tank and firebox welded together. The cap I welded on the end had a pretty good bow into the tank. So I had to fab a little bar that I pulled with a clamp to get it flush with the firebox. I just tacked the one end to the CC. Should have the CC door cut this week.

Kyle



 
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Cut the door yesterday and the FB to CC opening. The door sprung pretty bad, close to a 1/4" along the entire length of the bottom seam. Not sure how I'm going to approach that yet. It pulled into the tank I expected it to try and unroll. For now I'll just focus on the RF plate and grate.

Kyle



 
Cleaned up the inside of the tank under where the RF plate will be. Looked like it had dirt and at some point water that sat for quite a while. There was thick cakes on rust and clumps of dirt. I scraped it first then wire wheeled it and finished it off with a grinding wheel. I was completely covered in black dust by the time I was done. Thank god for respirators.

Kyle


 
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Reverse flow plate and drain are finished. I put the rails for the grate in today and tacked the frame for the grate together. At this point I think I'm going to start figuring out how I'm going to straighten the door. The top and bottom of the opening on the tank went out. And the door seems to have pulled in. Anyone have any ideas on how to fix that?

Kyle

 
Got a bunch done today. Door flange is on and welded. Hinges are on. And I put a counter weight on there. Not sure I like the look of the counter weight yet or not. The door opened up a little bit on the bottom. There's about an 1/8" gap all the way across the bottom of the door, and up the side about 4 or 5 inches. I think I can put a bar across the opening where it needs more curve. Close the door on it and weld a bar or something on the door to get leverage and force the door down. Hopefully that will work.



 
Coming along nicely. I like the detail on the hinge mounts.

Where in SoCal are you? No need to answer if you want to keep it private; or you can PM me.
 
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