my first 250 gal reverse flow

[smokinginmo]

I gotta say I am pretty envious of that work space.

 

[dragons breath]

I took a day off from the build and fired up Breath yesterday.

Keeps you warm when it's chilly.

We're loading her up.

Actually we were using the grill for a warmer. There was so much food we had to triple stack the pans. I believe there were 26 turkeys involved. We had mostly smoked and also deep fried. This is a smoking forum, but baby there's nothing like a deep fried turkey. Everything tasted great! Sorry no Q-views, but I was only warming the food.

 

[dragons breath]

Got the sides of the fire box cut out and ran out of oxygen. I'll have to make a trip tomorrow. The sides are 1/4" plate and the bottom will be 3/8" plate for added strength and durability.

It's going to be tight between the frames of the trailer. I'm going to have the fire box against the inside of the frame. I think half the fender has to be removed to allow the door to open. I can insulate the fire box to keep the tire from getting too hot.

On the grill side I plan on having about 12" clearance and insulate to keep it comfortable while cooking.

At this point the top of grill level will be 36" off the ground and the fire box will be in line with the bottom of the axle. I could raise the smoker a little but would rather keep it where it's at for easier access. I'm winging it here and changing things as problems come up. If you have any good ideas I welcome them.

 

[solaryellow]

I love the soapstone hieroglyphics on the door. Brings back not too far distant memories of working out problems as they were encountered. At a glance, I would hold off on ordering any insulation. My rear most tire is about 12" from the firebox and the heat has not radiated far enough out to be an issue and I have been keeping an eye on it expecting a very loud boom at some point. The tire doesn't even feel warm after a 28 hour cook.

 

[dragons breath]

I should be working on the fire box but I got to playing around a little.

I cut some letters out of 1/4" plate and welded them on. This tank was over rolled when it was manufactured and I thought a little welding on the surface might flatten it out a little. Trying to get old Mr. shrink to work for me.

 

[sunman76]

LLOKS GOOD DID IT WORK OR COOL OFF AND GO BACK TO WHAT IT WAS?  sorry CAP LOCK was on

 

[dragons breath]

Good morning sunman. Nice looking rig you built. Looks like you build just about everything into it. I don't know if the welding worked yet because the door is fitted down and welded shut while I fit on the fire box. I don't think I'll get much pull out of the welding, because it's just tig tacks and not much welding

I read in one of the threads that these propane tanks used to be painted with red lead. Bummer. This one is a 1955 vintage and red, so the chances are good or bad that it's a lead based paint. I spent a few hours sanding off the paint where the fire box meets the tank. I don't want to introduce any lead to the meat while smoking! I will have to remove the outside paint to get the VHT flame proof red, which is suppose to be heat resistant 1300 to 2000 degrees, to stick to the tank.

I'm going to get the air dampers into the fire box done before welding it up. I'm thinking about putting holes on 3 sides of the fire box. There's so many things to consider when building one of these units. Don't want to tube lock myself.

 

[dragons breath]

I got the fire box grate support welded in and the 3/8" plate bottom fitted. This is beginning to get heavy!

This build has turned into slow motion, but one step at a time. I hope to be smoking by Christmas. ha ha

 

[raptor700]

Looking good

This build has turned into slow motion, but one step at a time. I hope to be smoking by Christmas. ha ha

             

 

[sunman76]

Thanks,  yours is looking great

 

[bubbonehead]

Very well thought out and great attention to detail. I really like the letters! You're making me think.

 

[michael ark]

 

[dragons breath]

Had a build stall.  The air intakes for the fire box had to be redesigned 3 times before I could even get it to work. Have you ever hole sawed through 1/4 plate by hand? Should be avoided. I burned up 2 3/8" drill motors before I went to Harbor Freight and bought their heavy duty slow speed 1/2" drill motor. Luckily it was on sale. Went through easier. The bottom line is I went with the wrong design in the first place. My first design call for 18 2" holes. After the first hole I had to regroup. Went back to forum and got a better idea. I don't know what was going through my brain. But we're back track.

 

[dragons breath]

Made a little progress today.

Got her up in the air.

Here comes the trailer.

Got her set fit and welded.

There's still quite a bit of work to do. I may have to rethink the fire box opening. It will create a hot spot in the smoker with the way I set it up. I wanted easy access to load fuel and right now I have that. I could put a plate a few inches down and extend the walls up the smoker tank and make a warming box. 

That door is heavy. It's gotta go over a 100 pounds. I'm going to come up with some kind of counter weight.

My hat is off to everyone who has built their own smoker. It's a roller coaster ride of wow that looks good to dang what do I do now. But it is fun to work your way through problems with the help of all the good folks on this forum. And the moral support is worth a million bucks.

 

[raptor700]

Looking good

You're right, it's a roller coaster ride, at best 

 

[nekramp]

Looking good Dragon,

If you get a chance you should try to weld with 7018 rod.  It gives a little cleaner weld and the flux removal is alot easier.

 

[JckDanls 07]

Looking good Dragon,
If you get a chance you should try to weld with 7018 rod.  It gives a little cleaner weld and the flux removal is alot easier.

make it 3/32 instead of the 1/8... a little less build up.. If you have your temp right.. the flux will just about pop off when it cools

 

[danvan]

Looking very good.... I'd call this a work of art.

DanVan

 

[shoneyboy]

Fantastic post!! I have been wanting to build one similar for a while now...If everything goes the way I hope, we will be working on one in the spring....a couple questions:

• How did you cut the door? (I have access to 2-3ft x 7ft propane tanks and I have some concerns about cutting in the doors. You know the whole propane and fire thing….)
• I know we are in different areas, but what would be a ball park cost I would be looking at. (Material only, we all know that we can never recoup the labor. It would be so expensive we would have never started it….if that was the case…LOL)

                         Thanks ShoneyBoy

 

[raptor700]

I spent $1500.00 in materials on my build