Double Deluxe Pitmaster Mod

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kcbluesnbbq

Meat Mopper
Original poster
Aug 7, 2010
252
10
Kansas City, MO
I wasn't sure what to call this thing, so I guess I will call it a Pitmaster Double Deluxe Reverse Flow. Decided I needed more smoke chamber area so I sliced in half and adding 12" section. This way I can add an upper rack.

According to the calculator, fire box is big enough, but chimney will need to be longer.

Here are some pics of what I have gotten done this weekend. Thought I would have it mostly finished but neighbors car needed some work on Saturday, so I didn't get started till late afternoon.

Putting a bend in reverse flow plate.

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 The before pics.

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Sliced in half.

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Top half off.

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Adding in the 12" sections.

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Getting pieces lined up.

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What I cut it with.

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Crappy shot of reverse flow plate being test fit.

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Under reverse flow plate.

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Reverse flow plate after some 3lb hammer work on sides.

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Still need to get front piece cut and fit. Going to have drop down door.

It is just tacked together for now. Don't want to weld solid till every piece fits perfect.

Will try to get some work done on it this week after I get home from work each night.
 
Thanks Matt. Got a little done tonight. Fit the front panel and got the door cut out.

Wife was out of town all weekend so I thought I better quit early and spend a little time with her. She is the one that always gets me the unusal little tools that I would never think of getting but seem to come in handy. Lucky to have someone that buys me tools.

Don't feel that I got enough done tonight, so no new pics.
 
Had a meeting at the Eagle's tonight so I ddn't get any work done on the major modification, but I have some pics from last night.

I spent a lot of time trying to keep things squared up. You move one piece a fraction and check it and every thing else has moved. I finally got it lined up and was able to fit front panel good enough that I could lay out door for the cut.

Made the cuts and put the panel back in and guess what, it warped on the bottom edge. Had to get physical with it and put some muscle into it by standing on the left end and pulling on on the right end. Kept fitting it to the door and finally had even gaps all around. Put the panel back in and with a little persuasion got things squared up and tacked in placed.

Here are a few pics from last night.

First panel fit with front shelf to see how much clearance would be for door.

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More clamps to hold things square.

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Panel squared and tacked in placed after door cut out.

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Now I need to weld up seams on all joints and keep square, then put reverse flow plate back in and weld it. I will top off till I get reverse flow plate welded in. I hate having to weld in tight places where I can't maneuver the gun.

I will probably bring home my new Snap On hood so I can see better when I weld. It has 180 degree vision.

My new Snap On welding hood.

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This thing has has an outer lens on the sides that is is about a 10 or 11 filter and allows you to have side vision when welding. The only bad thing I can say about it is I wear bifocal glasses and you have pull hood down all the way so I can see out of bottom of glasses. But overall, it is the best hood I have ever used. I am a body man for a living so I do a lot of tight welding and this is a really snug to the face and head hood.

I plan on getting a lot done Wednesday night, so stay tuned.
 
I have one of these too.  Subscribed.  Are you going to move the chimney to the other end?
Hello Alaska, yes I am moving the smoke stack to the end above the firebox and will have it at the lower grate level. Have not decided how to rework the firebox lid yet, since the smoke stack will be in the way. I might space the firebox back enough for clearance or modify the lid. Plan on putting a door on the end of it so it will be easier to clean out the ashes.

Got some work done on it tonight. The middle section is welded up and got the lip put on the end of the reverse flow plate. Plan on getting drain tube fabbed and installed tomorrow night, and maybe get plate welded in.

Should have some more pics tomorrow to.
 
The evenings after work are just not long enough. Got a little more done tonight.

Here are some pics from last night and tonight.

Welded on the end to the plate. Used a couple of scraps so it has a seam in it now.

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Ground the weld on the front smooth so hinges will go on easier. Think I will leave corner welds visible.

Need to make a tapered transition from new corners to the old round ones.

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Drain tube tacked in place to bottom of smoke chamber.

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Crappy weld on tube. Couldn't get my head down inside to see the weld. At least the reverse flow plate will hide it.

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Set the plate back in and it lined up perfect. I was worried the weld might have warped the metal and been off a hair or two.

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I need some one to answer a question I have run in to. The firebox lid will interfere with the exhaust if I put it in the middle

of the side plate. I want it to exit at grate level. Will it make much of a difference if it is mounted at the back edge of the

side, or will it cause a temp change at the front to rear on that end?

Need some help quick, I want to make a test burn this weekend.
 
KC,

Just found this thread.

You're doing a fine job on that---can't wait for the final smoker pics & the Qview!

Thanks,

Bear
 
I need some one to answer a question I have run in to. The firebox lid will interfere with the exhaust if I put it in the middle

of the side plate. I want it to exit at grate level. Will it make much of a difference if it is mounted at the back edge of the

side, or will it cause a temp change at the front to rear on that end?

Need some help quick, I want to make a test burn this weekend.
Can you move the exhaust to the side and off the lid all together?
 
 
KC,

keep it in the middle and raise it up so the fire box door will miss it, and drop it down on the inside.
I was thinking about doing that. I was concerned about the draft. I know I read on here some where that only the part exposed to ambient temperature worked to create the draft. If I go this route, I would just make the chimney taller, which would be okay

 
Can you move the exhaust to the side and off the lid all together?
 
That is one of my concerns. Will it create a hotter area near the chimney and a cooler area away from it if I move it toward the rear of the side? It might not make that much difference since the reverse flow plate will be holding heat from the fire box at that end.

I was also thinking about making the firebox door into a sliding door that would just roll up and around the fire box. Wouldn't be hard, make some raised strips around the edge. Wonder how to seal it though.
 
 
Did not get any work done on the double deluxe Friday night. Got up Saturday and chased down more material. Got the expanded steel for the racks and some exhaust pipe for the chimney. Blew most of the morning on that. Just started making some headway on the hinges for the front door and my mom stopped by. Visited with her for a couple of hours. Got back to work on the hinges and a friend came by with a broken tail gate pivot. Spent an hour fabricating a piece out of some old pipe, and got the gate working. Managed to get the hinges welded and my wife came home wondered why I didn't make more progress on it today.

Have a few pics of what I did get done.

Decided I wanted to be able to remove door if need be. Will drill and pin rod.

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A shot of the hinge open. Door works realty smooth with no play Looks like I need to pick up the mess before start taking pictures.

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A little filler piece. The opening from firebox was to high compared to the the reverse flow plate, so had to make a part

to fill in the gap. Will be lowering the fire box so it sets below the reverse flow plate.

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Tomorrow maybe I can get some work done without interruptions and make some progress.
 
Looks like your making nice progress. I really like the looks so far.

I would like to make a suggestion from past experience, this is not exactly the same situation but close.

On my trailer RF I built a sliding door, flanged similar to what I think you are talking about for yours. Mine was on the bottom as an ash door/air vent, with just a little weather it got really tough to open and close.

If it were me, I would either go for a door on the end of the FB, or remove the hinge and flange the lid you already have. Making it a set in place lid. You would be able to slide it under the stack into place and still be able to access the fire from the top. My lid has since been welded back in place and I now have the vent hole in my door on the end of the FB.

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I was pretty sad after I made the mod which changed the location of my stack and the FB door would not open any more. Its all good now that the old lid is welded back in place and the door is on the end. I also do not have any rope of sealer on my FB door, but it has not caused a problem yet.
 
Thanks for the idea Tom, I like to use the fire box for a hot grill so I want to keep the door. I was planning on a door on the end just to make it easier to clean out and add fuel without opening big door on top and loosing heat.

I never thought about lift off door. I like that idea a lot.

Talked to a guy yesterday at Independence Complete Auto service at 23rd and Noland and he has some large tanks for sale. A 250 gallon and a water tank off a cement truck. The water tank already has the door cut open and few other things done to it. Didn't know if you were looking for a tank.
 
I've been thinking of making an expansion ring like that for my small offset smoker. It would allow me to do a full size turkey for the holidays. I used to always do them in the Weber grill but I got rid of the Weber when I got the smoker so now I need to do something before Thanksgiving rolls around. 

I was going to make it a temporary and removable thing however and just use it when it's needed for over sized items. It's good to know that I'm not crazy or at least someone else has the same sort of idea.  
 
I've been thinking of making an expansion ring like that for my small offset smoker. It would allow me to do a full size turkey for the holidays. I used to always do them in the Weber grill but I got rid of the Weber when I got the smoker so now I need to do something before Thanksgiving rolls around. 

I was going to make it a temporary and removable thing however and just use it when it's needed for over sized items. It's good to know that I'm not crazy or at least someone else has the same sort of idea.  
Hey Dick, I too am glad to see some one else has the same idea. This way I can have two racks, an upper and a lower, so I can get plenty of meat in it. Plus by making it a reverse flow, I can control temps easier and eliminate the dreaded hot at one end and cool at the other end.

Jump right in and get started building yours.
 
Got quite a bit done today, that is till I ran out co/argon mix. At least I got the top section fully welded and the reverse flow plate half welded. Went ahead and tacked the angle in for the racks so I could at least them fit. Still need to frame them so they won't sag. Need to finish the chimney, but was getting late and thought I better stop the noise so the neighbors will be happy.

Plan on doing a test burn tomorrow to see how the temps run. Won't be able to finish welding till I get some gas Tuesday, but the nasty gasless tacks should hold till then.

I put the door flanges on the inside so I could get a cleaner look.

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The racks cut and fit.

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Made the lower rack slide out so it would be easier to tend the meat. The top one will lift out in case I want put something big in there or lay some rods across the upper rack supports and do some sausage.

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Fire box back on and lower about an inch and a half.

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Harbor Freight latches and the start of the hole for the chimney.

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A holiday weekend and no ribs. I got to get this done so I can smoke something. Might throw some brats in it when I light it for temp check.
 
Thats lookin fantastic. Its looking like a miniature bulk oil tank/fuel oil tank.

Thanks for the tip on the tank, I just wish that I was ready for another.

I think having both doors is a pretty nifty idea.

If you don't want to wait till tomorrow to finish welding, I have a bottle of co2 sitting here in the garage. I keep it for back up, just incase I run out on the weekend. If your interested shoot me a PM and I'll hook up with ya after while. I would over my c25 but its getting low and I would hate for ya to run out again.

If you ever run across any bottles pls let me know, I would like to find a couple that are a little larger then the ones I have. Right now I go out here to airgas on Truman rd, and there is only a few brands that they wont take on trade.

Very Nice Work. BTW.
 
Tom, thanks for sharing your gas.I use Air Gas on Truman also. Have been wanting to get a bigger bottle but have a hard time parting with $200 for one. I went to harbor freight this morning and got a 2lb spool of inner shield wire. Changed the polarity on my Lincoln, made a few nasty welds till I got I got it dialed in. I have to give high praise to those of you that use the inner shield wire.  Reminds me of stick welding The welds are not my best but I got good penetration. I had to weld it in the driveway because there was so much smoke I couldn't breath, I couldn't see, and the wife would be thinking I was trying to gas her out.

I did get it use able today, not done, but use able. Found out the upper lid leaks really bad at the top edge now. The temps are kind of bizarre, not what I was expecting. Did not get my thermo moved lower in the top door yet, I was wanting to get a burn in before I ran out of time today.

This has to be my most Murphy's Law project ever. If it can go wrong, it most definitely did on this. Cut one of my probes wires into tonight, so I was short on reading lower cook chamber temps. I put the good one in the middle of the lower grate.

You all have read enough so far, I know you want pics, so here are some.

Well I guess it doesn't want me to post any pics tonight, so I will submit this post and try another with the pics. I just keep getting the please wait pop up. Tried it several times and it pops up and goes back to where i was typing. Oh well, another digital glitch. At least the spell checker works.

Now it says I don't have permission to reply to this thread. WTF! I guess I can't post to my own thread!!
 
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