I am looking to start my own 500 gallon RF build which will be my first, so this is all new to me. As such, I have been reading through this thread intently over the past week or so and I have to say it is incredibly helpful! This will definitely be my blueprint.
My only concern is that the tank I found is pretty old (built in the 50's) so the dimensions are not what you typically see in the more modern 500 gallon tanks. It is a short/fat design (see attached pic). This tank is roughly 48" OD and about 6.5' long, whereas I believe most 500 gallon tanks are narrower/longer. Yours, at least, seems to have the more typical dimensions you see in a 500 gallon tank. Does the short/fat design make it less conducive for a RF smoker? I would hate to invest a bunch of time and money into this thing just to discover that it doesn't have proper airflow because of the dimensions.
I suppose one of the perceived benefits of having a CC of these dimensions is that it certainly lends itself to having multiple cooking shelves because it is taller. But one thing I haven't seen much of is discussion around the effectiveness of having multiple shelves. Does it create airflow problems? do you get inconsistent air/smoke flow on the upper/lower shelves?
One more question I have has to do with placement of the CC doors. Is there a general rule of thumb in determining how low/high to cut the doors? Ideally it seems the bottom of the door would be about where the lower cooking shelf is. But in order to accomplish this it seems like I would have to run the numbers using Dave's calculator for the FB/CC opening to see where the height of the RF plate will end up and then just go a few inches above that? Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!