Transporting BGEs to Comps

K

KevinK

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I have three L BGE that I would like to use for comps that are all on homemade carts two of which have a concrete slab for the countertop (attached pic) which makes them very top heavy. Does anyone have experience transporting BGEs on carts? I've seen pictures of people transporting their BGEs without carts but not with carts. I've got an enclosed trailer with a ramp that would be very handy if we didn't have to take the eggs out of the carts. Thanks for any advice!
 

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I would definitely take everything out of the inside. I cracked my fire pot and plate setter during transport once....only once :tsk:
 
You left the BGE in the cart though? I thought about stuffing towels and around the outside and bottom. Good call on place setter and fire pot. Thanks!
 
Scrambled Egg = $342.00 for an XL base. Mine bit the dust going to Birmingham last year. Started backpeddling to figure out how to cook without it. 29th out of 30. Lesson learned. Egg nest history. I made a stand with 8" pneumatic wheels. Plate setter sits on trailer floor, inside components are separated by foam insulation for transport. As soon as the last piece of meat comes off shovel out the coals and leave the lid open so it will cool down for transport. It takes forever to cool down.
 
KevinK said:
You left the BGE in the cart though? I thought about stuffing towels and around the outside and bottom. Good call on place setter and fire pot. Thanks!
Click to expand...


Sorry I wasn't more clear...I don't have a cart for mine, just the nest.

Towels are a good idea or maybe some packing blankets wrapped around the eggs?
 
EMTTLC said:
Scrambled Egg = $342.00 for an XL base. Mine bit the dust going to Birmingham last year. Started backpeddling to figure out how to cook without it. 29th out of 30. Lesson learned. Egg nest history. I made a stand with 8" pneumatic wheels. Plate setter sits on trailer floor, inside components are separated by foam insulation for transport. As soon as the last piece of meat comes off shovel out the coals and leave the lid open so it will cool down for transport. It takes forever to cool down.
Click to expand...

I knew I should have put the pneumatic wheels on! I didn't like the look so I went with a smaller 4" wheel that has a smaller rubber coating on the outside. A pain in the butt to wheel around on anything but concrete. Thanks for the tip on the coals!
 
riblette said:
Hey Kevin,

These cats do it... http://155south.com/page5.php?view=preview&category=3&image=14 They're good guys, too. You could probably contact Matt or Bram via their web site and they could tell you how.

We have 3 LG BGEs that we load on and off using this deal http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002ECFFJ8...nd=14418201911610027713&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=

..best $25 I'm spent on gear.
Click to expand...


That's a brillant setup by those guys. I could build a transporter and leave the heavier tables with concrete countertops at home (another think I fear of eventually breaking when traveling!!!!). Going to order one of those pot lifters, do you lift everything with it or still take out the fire box?
 
My team has competed on ceramics grills for the past 5 years. Keys to not breaking grills we've learned in that time:
  • Use a trailer with a ramp
  • Custom carts built for travel, not style
  • Pneumatic casters filled with solid foam or green slime
  • Ditch the ceramic feet
  • Prevent internal parts from moving vertically, either with rolled foam or a half bag of charcoal on the main grate
  • Use straps to secure grill and cart against motion in any direction during transit, especially up and down
  • And most importantly - obtain factory sponsorship and use their grills
Be aware that though they make terrrific patio cookers, ceramic smokers make a team work twice as hard as steel cooker teams do to follow the circuit. While you are horsing your 300 lb carts up a slippery ramp in the rain, the guy in the next site will close the doors on his Lang and drive home. Only you can decide if it's worth it for you.:flypig:
 
You want to avoid ceramic-to-ceramic contact.... Use as much shock absorptive material as possible! I decided to avoid all of this and use a Backwoods and two barrel cookers for contests. My BGE stays at home.
 
I had 2-ceramics in a homemade cart that we had made. I bought a cheap roll of foam that was probably a 1/4 thick and 6" wide. I cut this into probably 6' long chunks and doubled it up. I then put this in between each layer of inside piece starting on the bottom of the cooker. I allways pulled my plate setter out and transported that in the back of the truck. I then strapped the handle to the bottom of my cart with bungee's and then straped the cookers to the cart with rachet straps. I never had anything break until the first time I di not do all of this. My fire pot cracked in 3-spots. This year I switched to a FEC as it was just a pain in the arse transporting these things all the time. Two in one cart = alot of weight to be manhandling at the end of contest even on large pneumatic tires. It can be done but it take alot of TLC to make sure they do not brake.
 
Trainwreck said:
I had 2-ceramics in a homemade cart that we had made. I bought a cheap roll of foam that was probably a 1/4 thick and 6" wide. I cut this into probably 6' long chunks and doubled it up. I then put this in between each layer of inside piece starting on the bottom of the cooker. I allways pulled my plate setter out and transported that in the back of the truck. I then strapped the handle to the bottom of my cart with bungee's and then straped the cookers to the cart with rachet straps. I never had anything break until the first time I di not do all of this. My fire pot cracked in 3-spots. This year I switched to a FEC as it was just a pain in the arse transporting these things all the time. Two in one cart = alot of weight to be manhandling at the end of contest even on large pneumatic tires. It can be done but it take alot of TLC to make sure they do not brake.
Click to expand...

Sounds like at some point we will need to transition off of cooking on exclusively on BGEs which our entire team cooks on if we start doing a lot of comps. We are only doing 1-2 this year.
 
I cooked for 2 years transporing multiple Eggs in nests. I just rolled them into the enclosed trailer and strapped them to the side wall with ratchet straps centered over the axle. Left all internals in the Eggs including plate setters. Never had a crack. I still transport a large egg in the back of the toy hauler and I just strap it to a med Spicewine. In a cart, i would strap the egg over the top to hold in the cart and then strap the cart down. YMMV
 
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