1st Smoker Build - 300 gallon Reverse Flow

[mschilling57]

Made a lot of progress today. I got the food grate constructed (just need to weld on some expanded metal) and I also got the frame built to lift up the smoker so the firebox can stay at trailer-level. You can catch a glimpse of my firebox in some of the pictures (blue barrel), I believe it is an 80 gallon tank so it's pretty close to the right size.

I purchased some hold down clamps as I mentioned before, however I had a brain fart and forgot I will have that frame holding the tank up in the way of the middle clamps. My door is bowed out a good bit, does anyone have any tips on how to bend it so it sits tighter agains the CC? I will still be able to put the two clamps on the ends of the door, but just need to figure something out for the middle. Thanks guys!

 

[mschilling57]

Today I got the counterweight constructed, got the firebox mounted to the cook chamber for the most part, and also got the reverse flow plate installed. Now all of the big stuff should be about done, just tons of little things to tie up now! Hoping to get most everything wrapped up by the end of next week and hopefully burn it out for the first time. Happy with the progress so far! There have been a couple of hangups here and there but that's to be expected with your first ever build I suppose.

 

[ahumadora]

You will find the little things are more time consuming than the big things. Nearly ready for food pics

 

[mschilling57]

Yeah, I agree with you there! Been fighting the little things more than the big, but I'm making pretty decent progress. My last big hangup is getting that door sealed up. Any ideas on how to get that thing bent back so it sits more flush? It's not really out of shape any other way than just needing to be curved more but I can't think of a ton of ways to fix that at the moment. Any suggestions are welcomed!

 

[daveomak]

Place a hunk of pipe or 2x4 under the door where it appears it needs bending... use a chain binder to force the door closed.. check the clearance, move the pipe, bend a little more..
FIRST, check the barrel hinges... welding them on can cause the door to not close... if the top of the door hits, before it is closed, cut the barrel hinge loose and check the door for curvature to see that it fits... if it does, you will have to modify the way you installed the barrel hinge... Clamp the door prior to welding.. Welding shrinks the metal.. allow for that...

 

[ahumadora]

I would probably just cut the hinges loose and take the door right off. The top of the smoker has more waves in it than the bering sea. clamp and weld angle iron to the inside aof the smoker and also another to the top of the door to get it all straight. While the door is off use a bottle jack and chain to put some curve in it. Be patient Measure twice cut once.

 

[mschilling57]

I got my door bent into shape and it fits much better now. I also installed the two toggle clamps on each end to hold it tight, I don't think I'll need any in the middle. These worked great for this project and they were only $7 a piece at Menard's: (https://www.menards.com/main/tools-...g-500-lb-horizontal-clamp/p-1444421224067.htm). There are still some minor ripples and waves within the door frame and opening, but with my nomex gasket I think it will all seal up just fine! I got the thermometers test fit today as well.

 

[ahumadora]

Yep, lookin much more refined. Good work

 

[mschilling57]

Thanks! Hoping to get quite a few more of the little things done this week in hopes to burn it out next week! Really getting anxious to get this puppy wrapped up. Really hoping to find a chrome exhaust stack, but may just have to end up buying some metal pipe and constructing my own stack.

 

[bgingras]

Made some pretty good progress today. I got the fenders welded on, cut the hole for the FB to enter the CC, and also fabricated and welded in the guides that the grate will slide on. This way I can pull the grate nearly all the way out and it will still stay relatively flat and not fall forward. Next step will be getting the CC and FB to mesh together and get them mated and welded up!
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How much space do you have between the tires and the fenders? I ask because the picture makes it look close and you don't yet have much weight on the trailer. With each piece you will set lower and lower and the first good bump on the road could send the wheel into the fender, maybe? I built mine using the same style of axle and noticed a decent drop as components were added. I also see a decent amount of travel in the wheel when going down the road over a bump.

 

[mschilling57]

There's about 2-3 inches of travel for the tire before it hits the fender. I've pretty well got all the weight on it now as it will have, minus a few smaller things, so I should be good to go. I weigh about 230 and if I stand on a fender and jump up and down, it still doesn't hit the tire so I'd say I should be in the clear. Good eye though!

 

[bgingras]

There's about 2-3 inches of travel for the tire before it hits the fender. I've pretty well got all the weight on it now as it will have, minus a few smaller things, so I should be good to go. I weigh about 230 and if I stand on a fender and jump up and down, it still doesn't hit the tire so I'd say I should be in the clear. Good eye though!

My smoker started as just the smoker. Soon after I added a warming oven a grill, hand sink, storage etc and the weight just added up. The added weight was planned for. I figured I'd point it out since you may want to add features down the road.

 

[mschilling57]

Yeah I appreciate the input! I'm going to put a prep table on the back of the trailer as well as a wood box, but after that it's going to be about quits for this build. I would definitely love to have a grill, warming box and all that good stuff, but I won't ever do it with this build. When I have more cash to throw at a project sometime I will build another smoker using a propane tank and thicker firebox and add all of the goodies to that one. This was just a cheap first build to learn some things and have a decent cooker at the end of it.

 

[mschilling57]

I now have the food grate, exhaust stack, FB door and FB air inlet completed. Ended up using 6" pipe that is about 40" tall for the exhaust since that was the easiest to get ahold of for me. It will be 1130 cubic inches in volume instead of the 1500 I had calculated for (Dave's calculations), but I think I should still be good to go seeing as Feldon's calculator only asks for 935 cubic inches...should be a happy medium between the two. I just need to build some wood grates for the FB and do a LOT of finish grinding on various items, then I should be ready to burn it out. Getting real close!

 

[fatbastard09]

Very nice job so far! Apologies if I missed it above, but what are the dimensions of the rack surface and are you going to back and add a smaller rack above that one?

Thanks,

FB

 

[mschilling57]

The total cooking grate size is 53" long x 34" deep. I don't think I'll be adding a top rack to mine. I had originally planned on it, but after measuring it out I realized that it would really limit the height of things that I could cook inside (chickens, turkeys, etc.). Also, I really don't see myself ever even filling that main grate all the way up. To be honest, I probably could've built a smoker half this big and it would've fit my needs, but I wanted to build a bigger one on a trailer for S's & G's.

 

[mschilling57]

Finally got it burned out and seasoned. Everything seemed to operate fine when hot and all my welds and hinges held together fine. Definitely going to need practice and pointers on maintaining a constant temperature with my fire. I got my Nomex gasket installed and ended up putting one strip on the CC itself, and then a thicker strip on the door. Didn't have any leaks anywhere and it withstood the heat very well so I'm real happy with that, works great! I also got my prep table built on the back. Now I've just got to grind some final things down and I'll be ready to paint.

 

[mschilling57]

Well, it's officially done! I'm sure I'll have some more improvements and small things along the way but the project is finally complete. At some point I will be building a plywood box underneath that back table to hold wood, but the bed of my pickup will do for now. Planning on doing my first cook this Friday, going to be doing about 40 pounds of Boston butts. Hopefully I can maintain a good temperature and get a good finish on them! Food pics to come...

 

[mschilling57]

Well I pulled the smoker about 4 hours down the road and completed my first smoke over Thanksgiving weekend. The smoker pulled great behind the pickup and seemed to smoke pretty well. I used quite a little wood, but it was a real windy day so that didn't help anything. I smoked about 50 pounds of pork butts and tried to maintain an even 275 degrees throughout the cook. I still need to work on maintaining my temperature better as my smoker was generally bouncing between 250 and 300 instead of staying steady at 275. Overall, very happy with my first smoke. Surprisingly, the 10 pound butts only took about 7.5 hours to smoke which was much faster than I had expected but I know this can vary greatly with each piece of meat. My thermometers aren't the highest quality so maybe I was smoking hotter than I thought, but they still turned out really good and didn't dry out. I hope to get a digital thermometer soon such as a Maverick for more consistent smoking. Anyways, looking forward to the next cook; hoping to smoke a bunch of venison jerky on it in a couple of months after I have filled all of my deer tags.

Thanks for following this thread and I hope I have helped anyone that is building, has built, or is planning to build a similar smoker! Seems like it was just yesterday when I picked up the trailer and fuel barrel, but I'm already planning my next build!

Pictures from my first smoke:

 

[daveomak]

If I may suggest... An air adjuster directly across the FB/CC opening... That will allow you to adjust the air flow through the smoker without having to add more air to the fire... Many folks have found the 2nd air inlet very helpful... It should be about 4-5 sq. in. opening with a slide plate or some type of adjuster....

Dave