trailer idea for smoker...need input!

[backwoods bbq]

ok so building a smoker on a trailer. I have a long bed pick up truck trailer that was made WELL! it is very well balance it is from a 1 ton axle (7500 lb axle) it has new 14 ply 16 inch tires the bed dimension is 8 feet long 6 feet wide i hauled almost a full cord over 600 miles with it NO PROBLEMS! here is my question would i be wasting my time to take the bed off and weld around the current fram to make a good support for my smoker? or should i buy a trailer? i would plan to weld an extra foot onto the frame making it 6' wide 10' long total. I plan to do a 250 gallon tank and a 2'x2'x18" fire box putting a tool box, firewood holder closer to the tongue to balance it out and maybe have a 160 gallon tank on the opposite side for a charcoal grill with propane flumed in as well. I realize i will have to buy sheet metal square tubing etc but this thing is a beast and would haul anything i put on it as (my father gave it to me also would like to make something nice out of it) what do you guys think? anyone been down the same road as me? thanks again! 

 

[pops6927]

The advantage of a separate smoker is you can leave it set up.... if you're in the middle of  smoke and the wife needs a gallon of milk at the store or if you're in comp and need sanitation supplies, what you going to do other than bring two vehicles?  Something to consider; your brisket will get all ash and cinders if you drive with it half-cooked, and many counties and cities have laws prohibiting moving an active hot smoker.

 

[backwoods bbq]

pops,

   what are you talking about? was this response meant for another thread? I have 3 seperate smokers and yes for competitions i bring 2 sometimes 3 vehicles 1 RV, 1 truck to tow trailer, and my friend shows up with his truck to run errands. Im not going to take the trailer with me to the grocery store while smoking...even if you only had one vehicle why not unhook and go?

 

[smokin-aces]

What if you just built your smoker on the truck bed trailer? Leave the bed and tail gate and all on it, just add smoker. I'm sure if you took your time and get creative you could make it look nice. But then again, it may end up looking like a truck bed hauling a huge tank. I think it would be worth thinking about anyways.

 

[backwoods bbq]

if i did that i would have rto cut the side of the bed off as it is a 1 ton and already sits up high with the bed and wouldnt be able to lift the lids easily (I'm 5'7") that is an interesting idea, another thing that keeps me from doing that is the bed is rusted through in places and not sure if the old metal would hold up with welding as it is pretty thin. I will consider it though...Thanks!

 

[smokin-aces]

Just a thought. It depends on what you are going for and how much work you are willing to put into it. You could lower the trailer by using an axle flip kit. This puts the leaf springs under the axle instead of on top. That would lower it the width of the axle ~3-4". But if the truck bed looks rough, it may not be worth the work. And without a doubt you would have to brace the smoker tank.

What would be pretty unique would be to turn the truck bed itself into a smoker. Seal the tail gate so that when you shut it no smoke gets out. Build a rack that would span the entire inside of the truck bed. You could sit your rack on top of the fender wells and build braces to level it off. Then you could make a lid that when shut would look like a truck bed cover with a hinge down the center of it. Make it so you can open half of it at a time from the side. 

For the fire box, you could build a wall inside the bed that is three or so feet from the back of the truck bed. You would be able to drop the tail gate to put more wood in. Then finish it off with a big chrome diesel stack coming out the front of the smoker bed. 

That would be one AWESOME looking smoker! It would take a lot of work, but I would be willing to bet that nobody else in the world has a smoker like that...

 

[smokin-aces]

But like I said, this would take A LOT of work. But no guts no glory...

 

[smokin-aces]

You could use two 4" pipes with dampers as your fire box intake and put them under the bumper to make it look like exhaust pipes for the truck.

 

[backwoods bbq]

dude,

   that is a knarly idea! I like it but to much work for me. If i dont build it i will buy one.

 

[smokin-aces]

dude,

   that is a knarly idea! I like it but to much work for me. If i dont build it i will buy one.

Yeah that's what I was afraid of. It would be too much work for me just because I'm one of those guys that want a functional smoker that looks good, but I don't to build a smoker that only looks good. It would take ALOT of man hours to convert a truck bed into a functional smoker. But then again maybe not.... 

If you could figure out the bed cover/door, the rest would be easy. Get the doors on there and convert the back 2 feet of the bed to a Fire Box and all that's left is the intake, exhaust, and cook surface.... Maybe it would be simple after the top door is made.