260 Gal Build

ron petersen · Mar 14, 2017

Onto my next build and hoping to get finished before next cookout and competition.

Gotten a 260 gallon tank last year, been sitting on it for a while as I was collecting metal and working with Dave on the build calculations. Here is what we have so far:

Length of Tank 88"

Diameter of Tank 30"

Vol in CC 60147

FB-CC opening 241

FB Vol 19849

Air Intake 60

ESV 1316

Dia of Stack 7" ID

Segment area 241

Segment height 11.5

FB size I'll make is 30hx30hx32d

FB will have ash drawer, bottom inlet will be at bottom grate and top of door.

Stack 7" ID and 34" above the CC, may install behind tank with a plenum to get more cooking rack room.

Need some input on doors, like to make it one large 65.5" opening with 2 32.5" doors. My thinking is to save the heat when opening as well as not have a heavy door to lift. Assuming 1 opening will not mess up the structure of the tank and cause it to twist. Or leave 2" in between doors.

Like some input on pro's and con's of:

1 door vs 2 door

1 long rack or 2 split racks

On the trailer where I have to get on floor of trailer to cook vs off side of trailer where I walk on ground.

Thanks in Advance

Tank1.jpg

ron petersen
Mar 14, 2017

ron petersen · Mar 14, 2017

Have a question about the inlet vents. I am seeing a lot of vents below the wood rack, would there be an issue of ashes flying into the food? I am going to make the rack 6" from the bottom and would like to put in an ash drawer for easier cleaning. If drawer not worth having, then I'll just leave out.

imafishingfred · Mar 14, 2017

I too thought of building my 250 with one large door, but was afraid it would be too heavy without some sort of counterweights. I also thought of making one large opening with 2 doors, but to seal them I would need for a seal of one door to overlap the other door. Doing that would allow me to open one door by itself, but not the other. I also thought of two doors and a 3" strip between them that would also hinge in case I had a need to open the whole front up (whole hog). I went with 2 doors, a permanent strip between them, and 4 racks.

I have my vents below and on my trial burn I never noticed any ashes coming around the RF plate and into the CC. I do have a sacrificial pan in the bottom of my firebox made of 12ga material.

ron petersen · Mar 14, 2017

That was my thought was to make two doors and have a hinged strip in between the doors.

How did you make the racks to be able to hold a lot of weight without bowing?

smokin peachey · Mar 14, 2017

When I did my 500 gallon tank buildi I did 2 doors that overlap each. It gives you the best of both.

imafishingfred · Mar 14, 2017

Smokin Peachey said:
When I did my 500 gallon tank buildi I did 2 doors that overlap each. It gives you the best of both.

Like I said, if you overlap the doors there's one that cant be opened without the other being opened first. Defeats the purpose if you cant open them individually.

Ron Petersen said:
That was my thought was to make two doors and have a hinged strip in between the doors.

How did you make the racks to be able to hold a lot of weight without bowing?

You can look at pics in build here and see how I built mine, http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/171029/new-guy-and-this-will-be-my-1st-reverse-flow-smoker-build

smokin peachey · Mar 14, 2017

I'm not sure how overlapping the doors defeats the purpose. I think it works pretty good. They are lighter than having one door and you can easily side a pig in if you want. Sure is nice having big grates.

ron petersen · Mar 15, 2017

Talking to my boss whom is going to sponsor my first rib-fest. He was asking how many ribs can I cook on the smoker?

Does anyone have any input on how to calculate the rack size to how much meat per ??? Like for butts, ribs, etc.

As for ribs I want to make a rack holder to hold as many racks sideways as I can.

ron petersen · Mar 15, 2017

If I have one big opening (5.5' opening) such as one door or 2 split door, do I need to reinforce the tank somehow to prevent tank warpage? If so, how would I go about reinforcing the tank?

Working out all the bugs before I start cutting this weekend.

Looking for ideas on the FB door, thinking of doing the inlet vents on each side of the bottom FB and inlet top vent on the door.

The FB will have a warming box above it, curious if I can use the warming box at a steady 200-225 for when I do the foil wrap for 2 hours on ribs while I do second batch for the first 2-3 hour smoke?

Sorry for the many questions. I do a search but haven't come up with much answers, but a whole lot of great ideas for another project or cookout.

fatbastard09 · Mar 15, 2017

Ron, I was looking for a capacity calculator too and didn't see one so I'll add my name to yours on the list of people looking for it . I am trying to decide on 3 or 4 racks on my 200 gallon build, each rack should end up being around 45"x24" on mine. I see some event planning spreadsheets some guys posted back in 2012, but I am a little leery about downloading an excel file to my work computer (we've had network virus' issues with that before). I don't think those have the square inches needed per average size meat cuts in it anyway. If someone has some calcs they can share by pasting the formulas here, that would be great.

fatbastard09 · Mar 15, 2017

Ok, I am not a patient person I guess. I started on a spreadsheet of my own. I am going to finesse the format a little bit and start its own thread, I will put link back here when I do. I want to put together a list like the one below with averages for weight, length and width of cuts of meat that as a group we can come to some sort of consensus standard as a starting point for people that want to do this evaluation on their future builds (unless someone already has one posted here that I can't find). I need to do some research on that. The second picture is what I can do pretty easily in Excel to map out the total square inches (each square is an inch) of what I have to work with on the cooking grids and come up with the optimal layouts and give me a realistic understanding of what I can fit before I even cut the tank. Between the event planning spreadsheets that account of loss factors, etc we should be able to come up with a pretty good consolidated planning tool that can be customized for a build plan. Questions on "how many people will my build feed in one cook" seems like the first place to start when looking a an idea, that is what I am trying to get to.

Smoker Capacity Planning 03.15.17 2.jpg

fatbastard09
Mar 15, 2017

Grid Layout Example:

Grid Plan BB Shoulder.jpg

fatbastard09
Mar 15, 2017

imafishingfred · Mar 15, 2017

Smokin Peachey said:
I'm not sure how overlapping the doors defeats the purpose. I think it works pretty good. They are lighter than having one door and you can easily side a pig in if you want. Sure is nice having big grates.

I should clarify, if you have your smoker loaded, and you have to rotate or flip your meats, and you have to open one door (it remains open) to open the other, you are losing all the heat in the CC. That was a big part in my decision making. If you hinge that middle strip you have the best of both, single doors to open or open all at once if needed for a whole hog.

flippers · Mar 17, 2017

Totally agree with imafishingfred

[ATTACHMENT=3258]IMG_0233.JPG (1,265k. JPG file)[/ATTACHMENT]

I have 2doors and 2racks per side. It's almost to much to handle at one time. I think 1 door with a solid rack would be tough.

ron petersen · Mar 18, 2017

Nice, More info I got from here and thinking about the doors. I am going to make it 1 full opening with split doors and hinged trim in middle. That way I could smoke a whole hog if I wanted to. I am thinking that one door would be heavy and a huge loss of heat where 2 doors are manageable to work with and lose half of the heat.

Hopefully I'll be able to start on the tank today, need to add more soap and get the old propane out of it. Doesn't smell but I am not taking any chances when cutting it open.

I am still deciding on trailer setup. I think I'll block smoker on both trailers and get a feel of what works best. One trailer will cost money getting the axles redone, other trailer needs some mods.

Photos coming soon

ron petersen · Mar 19, 2017

When searching for build ideas onto a trailer, I have noticed that all the smokers I see have the warming box doors on end same side as the FB door. Is there any reason that I couldn't put the warming box doors on the side?

I am figuring if I am removing food from the CC to the WB I wouldn't have to walk around to the end and just go to the sides?

How do you set temps in the WB to where you want it? The FB will be hot enough to keep things warm or baking?

What steps do I need to take to make a good "Oven".

Looking for picture and ideas.

TIA

imafishingfred · Mar 19, 2017

Ron Petersen said:
When searching for build ideas onto a trailer, I have noticed that all the smokers I see have the warming box doors on end same side as the FB door. Is there any reason that I couldn't put the warming box doors on the side?

I am figuring if I am removing food from the CC to the WB I wouldn't have to walk around to the end and just go to the sides?

How do you set temps in the WB to where you want it? The FB will be hot enough to keep things warm or baking?

What steps do I need to take to make a good "Oven".

Looking for picture and ideas.

TIA

I haven't done a warming box but I would think you could do it to open on the side if you wanted. I have another tank and material for another build and may add a warmer box to it. I think I would like for it to open on the side same as my CC doors. My tank is another 250 so I'm thinking of a way to make it a vertical smoker and warmer for those small cooks.

jamessluss · Mar 20, 2017

20170320_172809.jpg

jamessluss
Mar 20, 2017

20170320_172733.jpg

jamessluss
Mar 20, 2017

This is how i make mine. No counter weight needed, easy on the back. I have another smaller one i did half and half but 3 racks but one does overlap. This one no overlap. Each door open to its own racks Extend it out another 10 inches on bottom and another 27 inches on the top. I made one side 57 inches on one side with 3 racks. Other side 27 inches with 9 racks all extend to 40 inches long. That way i can cook a hog plus whatever on one side on the other i can fit around 50-60 st louis ribs. Cooking temp stays 3 degrees from fire box to other end. 1/4 inch plate below grates for reverse flow.

ron petersen · Mar 21, 2017

jamessluss said:
20170320_172809.jpg

jamessluss

Mar 20, 2017

20170320_172733.jpg

jamessluss

Mar 20, 2017

This is how i make mine. No counter weight needed, easy on the back. I have another smaller one i did half and half but 3 racks but one does overlap. This one no overlap. Each door open to its own racks Extend it out another 10 inches on bottom and another 27 inches on the top. I made one side 57 inches on one side with 3 racks. Other side 27 inches with 9 racks all extend to 40 inches long. That way i can cook a hog plus whatever on one side on the other i can fit around 50-60 st louis ribs. Cooking temp stays 3 degrees from fire box to other end. 1/4 inch plate below grates for reverse flow.

Nice, like the idea of the extra room.

ron petersen · Mar 21, 2017

I am looking at some warming boxes and have noticed some CC to WB have flat ends and others are left rounded. If I left it rounded I would lose some space on that part.

Is there any pros/cons to cutting the tank rounded end off and weld flat plate for the WB?

This will allow all my trays to be same size.

jamessluss · Mar 21, 2017

Not sure about cons. I didnt just becouse i added my warmer on the one side and cut half of the round off to add my warmer box... Other end i left so i wouldnt loose any space good spot for the firebox. And for my exhaust atack to sit so i could add a wider racks for food

20170320_172744.jpg

jamessluss
Mar 21, 2017

plus after adding the warmer on that side i can make it bigger than on top of the firebox like alot ive seen aand also do not loose space for extra racks. Or choke out the fire becouse the other half of the rpund is still there for plenty of air flow

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