Heat question

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iowabbd

Newbie
Original poster
Jan 6, 2010
14
10
Des Moines,IA
Heres the deal. I got a side firebox smoker given to me. It needs a little tlc but the guy did a little welding for me before he delivered it. The fire box is a good size in comparison to the tank. (its a 350 gallon tank, my fire box is 20h x 20d x 30w, the opening is only 5 inch pipe). My problem is... I dont think the opening from the fire box to the tank is even close to big enough. I think it is enough to give me my smoke but the heat is the problem. How do you guys feel about putting charcoal under the cooking surface for the heat and use the fire box for the smoke.

I don't have a welder. And don't know anyone that does. Otherwise I would just fix it.

I am wondering because I am cleaning it up and going to paint it but if I need to do a bunch of cutting and welding I will wait to paint.

Otherwise it is a great build.

Also is there any advantage to stack on the top of the lid vs. the side of the lid?
 
Sounds like you have a pretty nice rig, but we need some pics. If you can, get some shots inside the firebox looking at the entrance to the main chamber, as well as the main chamber where it connects to the firebox.
And maybe a shot or two of the unit from the outside so we can what it look likes. A 5" opening from the firebox to the main chamber seems a bit small for a tank that size.
If there's welding to be done, there a few members on here from your area, one of them may be able to help in that department.
If you don't already, get yourself a photobucket account, its free, or one of the many free photo hosting accounts so you can post larger pics.

By putting charcoal under the grates, you basically have then a grill, which you certainly can do, but its a smoker. Get us some shots of that thing to see what we have to work with. We'll get it going right
PDT_Armataz_01_34.gif



Can't wait to see this one.....
PDT_Armataz_01_34.gif
 
Thanks for the replys guys...

Due to the fact that I don't have access to a welder, I might be out of luck.

I also started thinking about it and I acually do more cold smoking so it might work out well. I may just end up with a huge cold smoker/grill. Might not be bad since it was free.

My whole intention with this was to use it and decide what I liked and disliked so I can build a new one the right way sometime soon.

Iowa
 
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