My 250 Gal. side box build.

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shannonc

Smoke Blower
Original poster
Mar 5, 2017
76
66
Central Tx.




After smoking meats on a small NB Smoker for 2 years I finally decided its time for a bigger pit. With the price of already built smokers and my ability to build my own it was time to start getting all the material together. A buddy had a tank left over from a rental property and I scored it dirt cheap. $50.  All the rest of the material is scrap that I gathered up. The trailer is an old welding trailer with boxes and bottle racks on it.(don't have a pic of it yet) but a coworker gave it to me. Only money spent so far is the tank, hinges, and the seal strap for the doors.

Specs are 70 in CC, 30x30x24 FB, 6 in ex stack. Ill put a baffle where the CC meets the Fb and install tuning plates. Here's the pics I have so far. I put the legs on it just to get it up where its more comfortable to work on. I scrapped the fabricated  hinges I made for a better hinge. As of now I have the doors completely sealed and handle brackets fabricated. Will post more pics as I progress.
 




Got a little more done tonight. FB is on, heat baffle welded in between CC and FB, and I welded in diverter plates in the top corners of the FB. I guess I'm to the point to do a couple burn ins to clean out the tank. Then Ill get the rack slides welded in and start building the slide out cooking racks. Then on to the trailer and finishing it up. Probably another week or so till its ready for paint.
 
Watching as building a rf smoker is a goal of mine.
 
Thanks guys. This being my first build I'm ready to get it done and move on to the next one. I'm thinking a smaller backyard RF smoker next.
 
dude! Looks Great! Did you use the FB /CC cutout as a damper?? I've been thinking of doing so! Would be really nice to help choke out the fire when done cooking,
 
dude! Looks Great! Did you use the FB /CC cutout as a damper?? I've been thinking of doing so! Would be really nice to help choke out the fire when done cooking,

Yes I did. I welded it in at a 45 degree angle. I plan on putting the first fire in the fire box this weekend. We'll see how the temps do.
 


Spent about an hour and a half on the trailer and smoker this evening. Got the hole cut in the trailer for the fire box and the smoker on the ground to cut the temporary legs off. Now a little grinding to clean up some cuts and its ready for the trailer. Hoping all the fab work will be done this weekend.
 
Looking good..

Did you run all the calculations??   

Looks a little shy on the intake size.   Whats the diameter on the stack?

Toss some fire in and see how it goes.!!
 
 
Looking good..

Did you run all the calculations??   

Looks a little shy on the intake size.   Whats the diameter on the stack?

Toss some fire in and see how it goes.!!
​I ran the calculations and it looked like my intake and exhaust is plenty big. The exhaust is 5 inch inside diameter schedule 40 pipe that is 40 inches long. The intake is 8 inch diameter with 4 pie cuts in it about 2 inches wide at the top of each one. The FB is way more than the calculator called for.

I didn't get a chance to fie it this weekend, theres still a few small things to do. I don't have gauges yet and I have to fix the right side door that sprung a little at the bottom when I cut it. I'll get the fire brick and gauges this week and go for the seasoning by the weekend.
 
Don't think I ever seen fire brick in the fire box before. What's your reason behind this?
 
 looking great for a first build-might not need the fire brick,just clean the ash out regular -that's a big smoker
 
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