Our In-Progress Trailer-Mount, Reverse Flow Smoker Build
 

Hello everyone! JayBirde here from Limp Brizkit BBQ. I have been lurking around the site for a couple of months now and thought it was about time I posted some pictures of our build! We are a brand new competition bbq team from North Idaho (no, I will NOT ship you any potatoes). Our first competition is May 15th (Rib King cookoff - not sanctioned) and the first big event we are entering is the Smokin' The Coeur d'Alene's Inland Northwest Barbeque Competition on June 19th & 20th. This is a sanctioned event (by the PNWBA) and winner goes to The Royals.

Please keep in mind that this is a work in progress and we have many aspirations in regards to this trailer. I also want to thank everyone who has helped us out so far (you know who you are!). Enough BS....time for the pics:

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Humble beginnings. This was a tent trailer that was donated to us by R'N'R RV.

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We stripped down the trailer first, then we started laying out our 1/4" plate steel for the decking of the trailer.




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This is an oil tank my buddy bought on a pallet with a bunch of other stuff at an auction. I gingerly removed the fuel gauge expecting the usual array of sludge at the bottom, but to my relief....only some black sawdust looking stuff in the bottom and not alot either! Also didn't smell like fuel oil but just regular old oil. Nice! Starting to cut out door here.

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Welding plate steel to trailer deck again.

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Had saved a bunch of oak pallets I got at work that some equipment came on. Pretty handy to have for this situation. We also threw about 2 bags of Red Oak Wood Pellets in there for good measure. Next 2 photos are more fire! Burn that crud! Ended up burning for 10-12 hours total.

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Trailer deck all tacked in place on the top. At this point we planned on filling the empty spaces with diamond plate steel (1/4") until I found out just how expensive steel diamond plate is ($215/4'x8' sheet here!) Looks like it will now be expanded metal.

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Trailer on end in this phot so that we can finish welding the plate steel from underneath. This baby ain't going anywhere!

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Welding our drain bushing in place. This is a 1-1/2" x 1-1/4" bushing. We just screw a 1-1/4" pipe nipple with a pipe cap on it normally. Then we will remove it when we need to wash out the smoker.

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In this lovely photo, we have the smoker body welded in place on the deck of the trailer. We decided to add 1 more sheet of plate steel to the back end so that we could push the smoker back as far as possible.

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Cutting off the 1" overhang on the side of our firebox so that we can snug it up to the smoker nice and tight. This is a Kuma woodstove that was donated to us. We also had to cutout some reburn tubes that were at the top rear of the inside of the firebox. These are designed to burn up all the smoke from the fire to produce a relatively low amount of smoke from the chimney...not what we're aiming for here! Took about 2-1/2 hours to cut those out (5/16" steel). If you're ever in the market for a well-built woodstove, I can honestly recommend the build quality of a Kuma Woodstove!

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And here we are at our firebox door. That is our custom taphandle firebox door handle (props to the IPA!). At this point, we have our hole cut through the right hand side of the firebox. Also, note the piece of plate steel we welded to the backside of the cast iron door. I was puckering during the whole weld! We stitch welded the door turning it several inches after each weld so as not to heat up one area more than another. We went around about 4 time to put a solid, airtight weld all the way around the perimeter of the door. We will also be adding some rope gasket to seal her off. We will be using the damper that was already built into the firebox to control our temperatures.

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This is a shot of the trailer currently. We just set the firebox next to the smoker for this picture. Here is what is currently on the list:

• Cut hole in smoker body and marry firebox to smoker body.
• Weld in smoke baffle.
• Weld in angle iron on back side for grates to sit on.
• Fabricate and weld grates.
• Roll door (just got done on Thursday...WooHoo!:clap2:)
• Install hot water coil in smoker body (that's right...we are gonna have a sink with hot water on our smoker!)
• Cut out hole for exhaust stack and weld exhaust stack in place.
• Pressure wash entire trailer down and prep for paint.
• Paint trailer with Black Acrylic Enamel.
• Paint firebox and smoker body with high-temp paint.
• Start a fire and smoke some meat!

If you have any suggestions or guidance, please feel free to PM me or post here. We are complete noobs at competition bbq, but quite experienced in my backyard on my Weber Performer!

Awesome!!!!

Looking good so far, did I miss where you welded in the reverse flow baffles?

Those wood stoves are the PERFECT thing for a firebox. They are super efficient and you can see the fuel burning differently. What a great Idea!

I want one now.

Looks good!!!
I think that IPA tap is going to melt would it be better suited for the door on the smoke chamber?

Hot water coil- I have toyed around with this idea too but haven't found a way to install a pressure/relief valve. Once it get's hot she's gonna make steam and it's gotta escape. How are you going to plumb it and are you using a steel holding tank for the heated water?

Mmmmm I can already smell them pretty pigs smoking in that offset! Keep us posted.
Doc

Looks great! Much more ambitious than I could do. Have you considered the amount of heat put out by the firebox and it's conduction to all the steel attached to it? Either that floor is a big heat sink or going to get freaking hot. Can you elevate it a bit? Scott

Nothing better than seeing a new rig getting built.

I find the heat coil interesting as well.

Can't wait to see the finished product.

Nice build. I look forward to seeing more progress and pr0n.

Nope. Still on the list of things to do. Probably going to happen this tomorrow.

I am hoping that it won't get too hot. There is about 2" of airspace around the actual firebox (between exterior of woodstove and firebox) where combustion air flows. I haven't ruled out elevating it off the trailer yet, but there is a dual purpose to setting right on the deck...I am trying to block off another combustion air inlet (only need 1) that is on the bottom.

OK...here's my plan: I am going to put a hose fitting through the side of the trailer. Right behind the hose fitting will be a tee, with one side of the tee going directly to the cold water side of the faucet and the other would continue on to my hot water coil in the smoker. I am going to put a ball valve at the inlet of the hot water coil so that if I am not using the hot water for an extended period of time, I can just shut it off before it enters the coil. At the outlet of the coil I am going to put a tee with the tee side facing down. I am going to screw a T&P Valve (Temperature and pressure, like you would find on a water heater) into the end of the tee. This will let off at either 210 degrees or 30 PSI (for safety). I will plumb the drain from the T&P through the trailer deck. The downward side of the tee will continue on to my hot water side of my faucet.

I hope I explained it clearly (should make a drawing!)

What do you think?

P.S. I hope my tap doesn't melt!! I will be monitoring the temperature in the area of the tap. It is mostly made of wood (except for the hammer head)

Wow, that's Awesome

I think the heat is going to radiate to to cold side it would be bettor to run the separately.

The Tap- I think you're going to have a problem . The heat at the top or that box is going to be high PLUS that's where it exits into the smoke chamber so it will have hot air passing all day long. Radiating heat will not be your friend, is the handle golssed?

The heat may want to travel that direction (heat always goes to cold). Was thinking about putting in a spring check valve so the water can only flow one direction. Also, may want to put an expansion tank on the cold water side somewhere.

Yes, the handle does have a gloss to it. I think you may be right about that not being a good spot for the taphandle to go. Doggonnit! Might have to look for an all metal taphandle.

Thanks for all the comments everyone!

I also need to add that we will be implementing a propane burner underneath the log rack to aid in starting the fire. There is a nice propane tank holder already on the tongue of the trailer! We will also be adding a swivel out Weber Kettle grill holder so that we can grill stuff too!