Trailer Mounted Reverse Flow with added Goodies

[yogurt99]

Just think of the rewards after its finished :-)

 

[dragons breath]

Been there done that! I had to reposition and weld my fire box door 3 times before it was right. Third time's a charm. And Murphy's law says you'll run out of something when you have to have it.

But you'll be cooking on it soon. It just seems like a long time because you're ready now.

 

[hogie]

Ive been working my ass off today (since about 8am, it is now 5pm).  Had a call from work so I had to come up stairs.  I got the firebox trim up, some hinges made for my super latches, got a load of about 150' of 1" angle iron, and 1" square tubing, and about 50' of some flat.

Have a helper working on getting the angles cut right now for the tray holders.  I am doing door trims (what a pita!).  Dampner is cut out for the main chimney, I just have to get it mounted and the rod bent.  Also need to put a chimney in the warming box (oops!) and get that where it wont fall out.

I did get my mom to do some plasma cutting today.  I dont have very steady hands for it, but she did, and it looks nice.  the end parts to make it look nice are what's taking longest it seems:\  Anyway, back to work for me (about 2.5 hours of sunlight left).

 

[bubbonehead]

You're grinding out an ambitious pace my friend! "I did get my mom to do some plasma cutting today" Now how many people can make that statement? I have this picture in my head now!

 

[hogie]

Proof that my mom was using the plasma on Saturday:)

We did get stuff done today.  At this point, I think the only thing I forgot (I didn't have my trusty checklist handy today when trying to get it all done) was the 1/2" NPT couplers for my tru-tels.  Since I am going back tomorrow (if it isn't too windy) to test fire it before sending it off to paint.

 

[bmudd14474]

Looking good.

 

[fourthwind]

Use "Merchant Couplers" for your thermometer holes.  Typically Ace Hardware stores carry them. These are smooth like pipe, and are eaier to weld.  You can cut one coupler in half and have two ports for each piece.   Also keep an eye on location.  You want them fairly close to the meat level of the grates, but not so close as to cause them to hit the grates.  

Pretty kewl of your mom to pitch in!  The smoker is looking good!

 

[hogie]

I moved the trailer up to another city this morning to get the blasting / paint done... and there's a storm heading for it (with tornado already spit out of it).  The storms here in Dallas are REALLY bad right now.  There is a tornado reported about a mile or 2 north of my office right now moving away from me.  Lets hope everything is good today in Dallas.

 

[fourthwind]

watched some video of that tornado today!  Hope all is well with you all..   Saw tractor trailers flying through the air like they were toys! 

 

[bubbonehead]

watched some video of that tornado today!  Hope all is well with you all..   Saw tractor trailers flying through the air like they were toys! 

I saw that too! That is some amazing power just flinging them threw the air like toys. I would hate to see that smoker flying threw the air after all that hard work!

 

[cdldriver]

           Look I am  flyng   

 

[hogie]

Well, the smoker survived the weather down here in the Dallas / Ft Worth metroplex.  Infact, I got it back from blasting / paint on Thursday :D

Got a little work done today on the shelves.  On-call started kicking my ass though around noon.

Here is what it looked like when I got there this morning.  My uncle's work truck was in the way, but that was fixed quickly.

Built the shelf frames first and make sure they all fit:

Then started putting the expanded metal on them:

Unfortunately, that is all I got done today in 9am -> 5pm.  Just too many on-call issues I had to deal with.  Tomorrow, I should be able to finish the top 2 shelves, and build something for the wood to sit on in the firebox.  I did get some horse shoes to make into handles to grab those shelves and pull them, and some angle cut to weld in as anti-tipping stuff on the rails.  This is driving me crazy with my slowness now.

 

[michael ark]

Thumbs Up looks good!

 

[dragons breath]

Progress is progress and you're making it. You're almost smoking now. Looking good!

 

[fourthwind]

Paint looks good..  going to take a case of spray oil to cover the inside for the seasoning!

 

[hogie]

Well, got it seasoned today.  Had fire in it about 6 hours total.  Found out that the firebox door isn't going to work.  When it gets hot, it totally freaks the **** out and bows.  The middle of the door is probably about 1/2" infront of the edges of the door when its been sealed up and going.  Im not sure what I can do about that except build a new door, or have someone else do that for me.  I might just have to trim the top / bottom of the door so it quits hanging, but that warping looked really bad.  I do know it goes back into shape when it cools down (it just wasn't cool enough before dark to get a good look at it).  I should have it back at my house tomorrow (our Easter dinner is over at my uncle's where the trailer is, so it should be an easy ride back).

The BBQ guru kept it a steady temp the whole time.  I just had to add some wood every hour or so otherwise it would start to drop off.  It sure is greasy right now (wiped up what spilt out the doors when I had them open, but still, ug).

 

[rubbin butts]

You could weld some angle iron stiffeners on the inside of the door. Be sure they extend from the edge of the door to the opposite edge and when you weld them on, weld in 1" increments in different spots until it is completely welded to avoid warping. But of coarse you probably are aware of that.

Otherwise, great job, good looking smoker.

 

[hogie]

You could weld some angle iron stiffeners on the inside of the door. Be sure they extend from the edge of the door to the opposite edge and when you weld them on, weld in 1" increments in different spots until it is completely welded to avoid warping. But of coarse you probably are aware of that.

Otherwise, great job, good looking smoker.

When you say inside, do you mean tear the door apart (it is a double walled door, with a frame), or on the side toward the fire?  I was thinking of removing the outer wall, insulation, and welding some more framing to the inside.  Maybe some angle on the fire side would be easier...

 

[rubbin butts]

Was not aware it was a double wall door. Is it the entire frame warping or just the shell? Probably just the shell if it returns to its original shape. The problem is the plate shell will expand with heat but the frame around it (that it is welded to)  will not expand nearly as much, therefore causing the warping.

About the only cure would be to go with a one piece door, but with much thicker plate, allowing room around the outside of the door for expansion when it heats up.

 

[hogie]

That is also what I was thinking.  The problem I am going to have though is getting it hinged correctly.  It was originally hinged when I could put the firebox on its back and set it in.  Now it is immobile, so getting it held up with correct spacing is going to be a P.I.T.A....   I do have the trailer back here at the house now.  I'll probably end up running to the steel place tomorrow morning (if I dont get called early like I did today for on-call), and find something like a 1/2" piece of drop and get it cut down to size.