New build in Upstate N.Y. (now with pictures)

[squish]

Good morning from chilly upstate N.Y.(17above at 9am).I am gonna start my trailer smoker build soon,hopefully in the next ten days.I have lots of questions for the experts.First question, the smoker chamber is a 375 gal. fuel tank,for the firebox i have a 120 gal.propane tank,what my thought is to cut the propane tank  lengthwise,then i'd like to weld a divider about 3/4 quarters of the way across so i can have a firebox on one side,"warmer/oven" on the other then weld a flat steel plate across the top for a "flat top" also for cooking.If i used the feldon caulculator correctly this won't work but i have seen 275 gal tank smokers with small fireboxes.Any and all help is greatly appreciated.I will try to post pics as we get started with the build,have just about all my parts/pieces collected and should have @ $400 in materials and most of that is steel for legs/racks,motor etc.as this will also include a 275gal fuel tank pig rotiserrie on the other end.

 

[shoneyboy]

 

[DanMcG]

Welcome Squish, I can't help ya with the build but will be interested in what you end up with. sounds interesting and big.
I'm south of you in Cicero

 

[squish]

Need help with the firebox dimensions.

 

[LanceR]

Hello from Sennett,NY

I can't help with the firebox dimensions as I am sure not a subject matter expert but I suspect that some kind of a drawing to help visualize the layout and dimensions is going to be helpful for anyone who is.

I haven't been to Lowville in years but will be there for a meeting tomorrow morning.  From the weather radar it looks like you are getting a pretty good dose of snow today.

Lance

 

[squish]

i'm gonna try to post a pic of the drawing i have of basically what my build will look like,any tips or advice would be great.

 

[squish]

IMG_20130324_145656.jpg

• squish
• Mar 24, 2013

 

[daveomak]

squish, morning and welcome to the forum.....   are you planning on using the one firebox to heat all three cookers/warmers ??  If so, that is very ambitious, and I wouldn't recommend it....  For your smoker, a 125 gal firebox is the correct size...  the propane tank may not have the best dimensions for providing great heat... closer to square would be better....   Below is a link to "oil tank" builds....  I searched smoker builds using the handy search bar....  check these out.... see what others have done.... if there were any pitfalls.....  

I'm not saying your design won't work... It is involved and directing heat to 3 different chambers is very involved and could pose some problems... I know it poses a problem for me, as I don't have any solutions for adequately heating 3 chambers with one firebox....  

Dave

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/ne...ll&containingforum[0]=197&type=all&advanced=1

 

[squish]

Dave, my plan for the firebox is to use approximately 3/4 of the tank after it is cut in half the long way as my firebox,the other 1/4 would be used as a warmer/oven it mainly be used to heat the smoker which is the tank on the right in the picture,the tank on the left is going to mainly be a self contained pig rotisserie.

 

[daveomak]

So, a 120 gal tank..... 3/4 of that and 1/2 of that..... = 45 gallons for a firebox....  that won't be large enough when you need approx 125 gallons for a firebox....  A proper firebox needs height for ash removal under the fire grate, width and length for fire wood...  without all three of those criteria, your firebox will give you headaches, until you rebuild it....  or suffer through countless smokes being unhappy with your design...

You are welcome to build the design you want, but others here have taken the strain out of building a great smoker by working through all the designs that don't work already.... 

Look through the builds on the link in post #8.... PM the members that built them and see what they say about their designs and if they would do anything different....    

Dave

 

[squish]

Dave so i basically need the whole tank for a firebox for my smoker?if that is the case i will scrap the warmer/oven idea and instead of cutting the tank in half so i have a flat top i will leave it whole and weld a plate of steel across the top for a "flattop"cooking surface.

 

[daveomak]

http://feldoncentral.com/bbqcalcula....81&fi=0,0,6,86.86,3.07&fc=17.18,24.28,231.62

Above are the numbers I used...  The firebox air inlets, may be built using a similar box like the FB/CC and FlatTop inserts and add slide gates ?? Add one small intake above the fire grate to allow for moving heat etc to the CC..

I don't know what to do about charging the firebox with wood, or a FB clean out for ash....  I don't like tanks for fireboxes for that reason.... they are not easy to work around and get stuff right...   for me anyways.... 

Is this plan close ??? The numbers I used are not correct..... I guessed at a lot of stuff.....    Dave

              ........click on to enlarge........

squish 1.jpg

• daveomak
• Apr 3, 2013

 

[diggingdogfarm]

Cool, we have a camp up there near, Lowville.





~Martin

 

[squish]

Digging where abouts?up on tughill i assume? snowmobiler? let me know next time your up maybe we can get together and talk bbq!

 

[squish]

Dave i will try to post a pic of my new plan tonight.

 

[squish]

trying to decide if i wanna go reverse flow or tuning plates? any thoughts?

 

[squish]

 

[squish]

IMG_20130404_181512.jpg

• squish
• Apr 13, 2013

 

[squish]

IMG_20130402_181111.jpg

• squish
• Apr 13, 2013

 

[squish]

IMG_20130402_181128.jpg

• squish
• Apr 13, 2013