ok.. thanks Gents... will give it another try tomorrow... making summer sausage and snack sticks today... will hang in smokehouse tomorrow and then play with the smoker the rest of the day...
120 Gal. Reverse Flow (not your normal build) "DONE"
- Thread starter JckDanls 07
- Start date
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Evening Keith.... May I suggest one more test run.... Exhaust wide open... Upper air inlet wide open.... lower air inlet wide open.....
Get a good fire going... maybe 8-10 of those hunks of firewood you've got in the picture..... get them burning well so they are starting to glow like turning to charcoal....
Start closing down the lower air inlet... about 1/4" at a time... follow the temps... If you can, have a couple extra remote therms to follow the temps... The temps "should be" close to the same across the meat screen... When the temps get down to maybe 200 ish, start closing the upper air inlet and see what happens.... You need good air flow to get even temps.. Lower air inlet adjusts the heat... upper air inlet moves the heat through the smoker body... It is similar to the fan and ductwork on a home furnace.... You need a large bed of coals to make these smokers work... skimping on the wood makes temperature control difficult.... When all is working correctly, the firebox temperature should be close to the CC temp... that indicates you are not burning wood needlessly .... soooooo, lots of air flow from the upper air inlet while the wood fire is idling along just doing what needs to be done to maintain temp....
Oh yeah, leave the Guru unplugged......
Can the meat probes for the "Smoke" and the ET 732 be used for chamber probes... successfully ???
Yes... It's been suggest to poke them through a spud or something so they are registering the air temp and not the meat rack temp... I've never tested it but it makes sense to me... leave the tip exposed to the air... sticking out a couple of inches.....Evening Keith.... May I suggest one more test run.... Exhaust wide open... Upper air inlet wide open.... lower air inlet wide open.....
Get a good fire going... maybe 8-10 of those hunks of firewood you've got in the picture..... get them burning well so they are starting to glow like turning to charcoal....
Start closing down the lower air inlet... about 1/4" at a time... follow the temps... If you can, have a couple extra remote therms to follow the temps... The temps "should be" close to the same across the meat screen... When the temps get down to maybe 200 ish, start closing the upper air inlet and see what happens.... You need good air flow to get even temps.. Lower air inlet adjusts the heat... upper air inlet moves the heat through the smoker body... It is similar to the fan and ductwork on a home furnace.... You need a large bed of coals to make these smokers work... skimping on the wood makes temperature control difficult.... When all is working correctly, the firebox temperature should be close to the CC temp... that indicates you are not burning wood needlessly .... soooooo, lots of air flow from the upper air inlet while the wood fire is idling along just doing what needs to be done to maintain temp....
Oh yeah, leave the Guru unplugged......
Can the meat probes for the "Smoke" and the ET 732 be used for chamber probes... successfully ???
OK Dave... so I did as you suggested... burned great... temps were only about 5` different from end to end ... for the first 3 hrs.. then I had to make a trip to store for ice (beer was getting warm)... when I got back temps were high (300) ... I could never get it back right after that... but all in all.. it was better
Closing the air lower air inlet and the temp would not lower ?? WERe there any air leaks ?? did you leave the guru hooked up... was that hole sealed well.... somewhere there was an air leak....
The FB door must not seal perfect.....
The FB door must not seal perfect.....
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Thanks Brian.. I'm having a blast with it...
on a side note.. you should come to the spring S. Fl. Gathering... If not hopefully Jerry will get to feeling better next year and we'll see you at his place...
on a side note.. you should come to the spring S. Fl. Gathering... If not hopefully Jerry will get to feeling better next year and we'll see you at his place...
Id love to but not sure i would be able too. Not sure I would of made it to Jerry's this year either do to my employment status.
orlandosmoking
Smoking Fanatic
Glad to hear you finially finished . Very cool build!! Wish you could of brought it to the gathering to show it off in person. Wondering if you have worked out the kinks in your fire management.
Also wondering how is Mini?
Also wondering how is Mini?
Wow, what a great build! I guess I'll look to find other threads to see how it turned out smoking meat. Why rust? I'd paint it black, so it'd feel pretty! RAY
Thanks Ray... Can't say I've ever seen an old rusty antique tractor painted all pretty... plus it cost to much to have it sand blasted...
Yeah Jack, I didn't consider the sand blasting aspect, hell with that. I tried to look up some cooks on it to how it came out, I bet you can do a smoke for quite a crowd. Really a great piece of work! RAY
yea.. I'm not big on taking pictures (no cell phone) so I rarely post any cooks ... I had 13 slabs of ribs on it last year for the superbowl.. still had room for a few more...
I got my first smart phone a few months back after jumping into our pool with my flip phone in my pocket. Come to find I'm not smart enough to own a smart phone, I hate it. RAY
Wow! Now that takes talent! I think it looks awesome . Unique for sure. Paint it like a John Deere tractor. Happy New Year!!!OK... So after reading GEOThernal's (George) build.. I asked him If I could copy his design... He said"GO AHEAD"... His Build .. http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/166551/20-pipe-rf-smoker
SO this build started nearly 2 years ago with this 120 Gal. air compressor tank ...
(click on any pic to enlarge)
Removable reverse flow plates
2 slide out grates
Firebox and vents (before handles)
a look inside...
This is what it looks like now...
made a tow bar for it... easy to move ...
Taking it for a test ride...
This is where the vents like to be to run 225`
And finally ... ribs were the first cook ... they were really thick ribs.... So at 6.5 hrs of running at 225` I had people yelling they wanna eat... "ARE THEY DONE YET"... NOOOOO they weren't quite done... so unfinished ribs is what they got...
here's the radiator cap.. kinda hard to see it...
So that's it for now.. gonna sand blast and let it rust again (evenly)....
Also... the wheels... I made these myself (home made)
one eyed jack
Master of the Pit
I know that this is an older thread, but I just saw your link in a response to a current thread. First time I've seen your great looking smoker.
She's a beaut!!!
She's a beaut!!!
Thanks, I don't use it as much as I would like as it's just the wife and I ... It gets a lot of looks when I have it out though ...
one eyed jack
Master of the Pit
Hey Keith,
You did a great job on the tractor design and build.
I don't have a big smoker for the same reason you don't get a lot of use out of this one, not enough people to cook for.
You did a great job on the tractor design and build.
I don't have a big smoker for the same reason you don't get a lot of use out of this one, not enough people to cook for.
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