New 120 Gal Grill / Smoker on Small Trailer

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randya

Meat Mopper
Original poster
SMF Premier Member
Hello All,

I am starting a new project. This will be my first shot and building & posting this type of project on the forum. It will be made from a 120 gal propane tank and be both a Grill/Smoker. I am going to mount it on a small (40”x49”) trailer I purchased from Harbor Freight (870 lb capacity).
Here is a shot of the trailer (have not mounted the fenders or lights yet). I placed a 4” wide flat bar (1/4”) down the center for the tank ends support to rest on, and give the trailer a little extra stiffening too. That was the only reason, not sure it really needed just wanted to add it.

I prepped the tank by filling with soapy water three times before I cut the valve holes out. This is where I fabricated the damper / clean out.

I am hopping to get more done this weekend and I will update as I go along for your feed back if you wish to. Thanks Randy
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Looks good so far Randy, good job. An idea for ya, swing on over to photobucket.com and upload some photos of your build, then transfer them to the posts. That way they will show up nice and large. We like pictures.
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Cant wait to see your first smoke of it. Keep us updated.
 
Wanted to share this. I Modified my cherry picker to pick up and move the tank to get ready to mount it. Worked great!


Welded a 6" pipe to position the tank on the trailers flat plate I placed.


Welded the corner brackets and good to go. Will start cutting the door.
 
randya- I showed my son your mod on the cherry picker and he said to pass on his thanks for the idea.

Nice work on the build thus far. Just a word of caution about those small tires on that trailer. Don't take the trailer above speeds of 45 mph or your trailer will bounce all over the road.
 
Dutch, 10/4 for on the tires. This one will is for just around here. Got the big boy (250gal) with the large tire for the longer trips and bigger cooks.

Thanks, Randy
 
When in need rig something and you did a great job with that cherry picker there oh yea nice start to a great smoker too.
 
I would have never thought about the cherry picker. I'll have to remember that in the future.

Looking great so far!
 
I need a refresher. I’ve seen post in the past about correcting a leak on the smoker door. I need to adjust the door on this one, does not close at one end. Is there a good way to get the metal to fit better or use the old heat and adjust method?

Thanks Randy
 
Since this is my first one from scratch I tried different ways to cut the door. I even purchased the dual saw you seen advertised on TV and for me my old B&D with metal cut blade did the best. The dual saw cut it, but would have burned the motor up if I would have tried to cut it all. Not worth $185 to me. Sent it back and will put the money on a plasma cutter soon.

I have fixed my little error on the right,, bi-focal error with my help,,


Put the trim around the door and welded the hinges (pipe and bar) on. Still have to make it seal a little better at one end. Will work on that later too.



Cut out for the smoke stack and welded it in with door stop. Will add the damper a little later. Only planning to have one stack, fire box will be at the other end.


Hoping to get a lot done over the long weekend. Everyone have a great long labor day weekend.


 
Points for the great looking build and for the cherry picker idea. Keep those pics coming.
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Going with a smaller tank for the firebox. As you will see in the pictures, I cut the cap off, shorten the tank, and welded the cap back on. I used a short piece of 4”x4” sq tube to connect it to the smoker. I have not built it yet but I am gong place a damper in the sq tube so I can close it off if I need to reduce the heat quickly.




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Will complete the welding, cut and hinge the door. Put in a clean out and damper hopefully this weekend, but bad weather is forecast and may not be able to, but will update if I do. If you see something going wrong, please speak up.
 
You're doing a great job. just one question, is 4" sq. tubing going to be large enough for heat transfer? 120 gal. tank will take lots of heat.
 
RE: Smoke chamber door, I would have made the cut across the top first, then welded the hinges on, (looks like you could have used one in the middle) then complete the cuts. It probably would have kept your door much straighter and does away with the need for a 2nd pair of hands to help you fit the door. Just my opinion.
 
Looks like it is starting to take shape...
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I agree with bbqhead the 4" sq tubing is going to be too small for heat transfer...
 
Bbqhead thanks for the catch, You are correct. It appears I entered data wrong in the Smoker Ratio Calculator. When I re-entered it, it now tells me I needed 32 Sq. in. I have made the adjustments and hopefully will get to work on it this weekend.
Mikey, you are right too. I am redoing the hinges and will add the 3rd one too. You are correct stating it would have been better if I did it up front and completed cutting the door.

Thanks to both of you for the feed back. I will post updated pictures during the weekend. Tks Randy
 
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