Horizontal USD Build.

[jdrautoworks]

Sorry for no pics but here is the finish build. The build cost $80 including a acetylene (135CF) refill the rest I had laying around. I've used twice now and boy does it like to eat wood. Hopefully I'll be able to post some pics of what comes out of this bad boy!







I'll add these pics in hopes that I'll have atleast one here soon to put on the smoker.... It's a danger to game coming into my yard!

 

[grizandizz]

Very cool man, you should have many fine meals out of that!

 

[bman62526]

Looks good! I like the idea...and it didn't set you back too much money.

 

[rbranstner]

That is an AWESOME looking horizontal UDS!!!

 

[thunderdome]

Great job. Can you tell us more about the build?

What did you use to cut the drum w/o any warping?

Do you have any mods to to control the level of heat across the main drum?

 

[caveman]

Just a thought: There should be a sign that says, "Nevermind the Dog. Beware of THE SMOKER!!!"

Nice rig.

 

[jdrautoworks]

First off thanks for all of the great comments guys!

Next the build... Well the main drum was a 55gal that held hydraloic oil and the "side box/drum" was a 20gal grease drum. All of the cutting on the drums was done with a 5" high speed air sander/grinder with a .045 cutting wheel and a air saws-all with a bi-metal blade. Warping was next to none and with the .045" cutting wheel and thin blade in the saws-all there was very little material waste and resulted in closer gaps. The welding was done with a oxy/ace torch and that was where the warping came into play and boy did it warp. I used my body hammers and dollies to get as much out as I could but this would of been much better done with a MIG or TIG.

The firebox has a screen basket in it and the thought was to keep "fire" off the barrel to give it a longer life span. It has a 4" square adjustable damper that is place so the it provides air to the bottom and top of the bottom of the basket. Thinking was the fire needs air under it to feed a bit better. The 20gal drum is IIRC 14" in diameter and I installed it 6" up on the 55gal drum.

The smoker itself was quite a chore as warping when welding was a big issue. I went ahead and did all of my welding first thing and then went around with my body hammers. The lid was cut along the sides to that it would maintain it's shape and it worked quite well. I cut 1" around the end of the drum seam that way I could maximize space inside for my racks. The exhaust stack is a 5" stainless steel heat duct (don't use galvanized as it is toxic when heated). Inside I installed 1x1x1/8" angle iron in the sides to hold my racks and used self tapping screws to hold them in place. Reason for using screws was due to the warping. These angle irons also helped reinforce the sides and made them much more rigid. The racks were made from 1/2" rebar and #9 flat expanded metal. The hinges are 1-1/4" hinge stock from the local hardware store and are installed with screws again due to warping if welded.

You can't tell from the pics but below the bottom rack there is another about 6" off the bottom. This helped a bunch as I wanted a way to incorporate water/steam into my smoker. This rack sits just at the top of the opening for the fire box as well. What I do is take a 14x10" baking pan and fill it with water and set it to the far right of the smoker right over the fire box opening. This boils the water and now have a water smoker. I wanted this because that is what I've always smoked on in the past, the old little round ones and man I've made some great meat on those so that's my reasoning behind the water. I also have a second 14x10" pan I use to catch my dripping. What I found out is you can also use these pans as a half-assed tunning plate(s). If you move these pans around you can create diffrent temp zones and or cool down or hold heat in the entire smoker.

I burned these barrels three times... First before the build for about 3 hours, then again after it was finished before paint, then I used soda ash and cleaned the entire setup and painted with BBQ paint from the local hardware store and let dry overnight. Next day we decided to do up a few butts so I fired it up and let it burn from about 4 hours before putting the meat on just to make sure it was seasoned and all the "bad stuff" was absoultly gone. Must of worked because I'm still here!

Well I hope I covered it all (most likely not) and if there are any questions feel free to ask!

Thanks,
Jerry

 

[thunderdome]

Excellent detail. Take some pics of your next smoke so we can see some Qview off that thing

 

[rbranstner]

Yep we need more pictures of this smoker.

 

[acemakr]

Jerry, great build. Now all you have to do is figure out how to get one of those hogs into the smoker. It's pretty much open season here in TX for feral hogs.

 

[jdrautoworks]

As soon as I get my bow back from PSE I know exactly how to get it in there providing I can get another one trapped in the yard!

We've also been thinking of a run to TX for some hog slaying as some family of mine out there seem to have a over population problem. I am more than willing to help them out with it!

I'll try to get some pics of it "in action" next weekend. If anyone has any questions on it, again feel free to ask. I've had a overwhelming response on a few other forums to what I thought was a el cheap o smoker to get me by until this summer. Seems there is a lot of interest in the horz. UDS. I've built a few others in the past that were a little different. I'll try to dig up some pics of those also and post them up. Who would of though those ole nasty drums were good for something!

 

[mballi3011]

Man oh Man thats a good looking smoker you have there.

 

[jdrautoworks]

Thank you sir!

I'm hoping any praying that I'll be getting a 40"x70" Co2 vessel next weekend and start in that as soon as the weather clears up. There is also a very good possibility that it will be stainless steel (I'm keeping my fingers crossed).

I just may be able to fit an entire cow in that bad boy! Just gotta figure out how to get it in there.....

Also will be getting my 100amp sub panel into my shop/shed so I can finally hook up my 220v outlet and fire up the MIG. If this vessel comes through I'll be sure to take pics of the entire build.

 

[pit 4 brains]

If you are in az, whack one of them javelina and give me a call. I have an un-filled tag here and today was the last day of the hunt!

Otherwise nice build! I would think the thin skin of a drum has alot to do with fuel consumption..