Pit building WIP: "Suzie Q"

Howdy...


I´m new to this forum, and in my introduction i was asked by trp1fox to tell a little more about my WIP Pit.

Here we go :

I gave the Pit the name "Suzy-Q" on the first day of building it. While the grinder had a break, the old CCR tune "Suzy-Q" played on the radio, and it fit right in.

I was inspired to this kind of pit by a Backyard Chef from Dave Klose.
I´ve never seen a huge pit like that in person over here, but the internet and a couple of guys from around other forums were a big help.

The size is

20" x 48 " Main chamber
20" x 20" x 40 high vertical smoker
20" x 20" x 20" square firebox with grill on top

Its made out of 1/4 " Steel, except for the vertical wich is 1/3".
I ordered the plate the other way around to make the firebox out of 1/3 but the guy who arrange the steel for me got it wrong. Anyway, it was dirt cheap so its not that bad. The main chamber is made out of Pipeline Tube.

Heres some pics from different steps of development :








































This is the current state, it only needs to be sandblasted and painted.



























Somewhere in development i decided to mount it on a trailer, so im doing that right now as i got a perfect trailer last week :





Right now im wondering how to mount the pit onto the trailer.

I originally wanted to have the firebox go beyound the tail a little, so it can be at a comfortable working height.


This way, the firebox top and main cooking grate would be at about 36" from the ground. Trouble is, the trailer would be way too heavy at the back and i would have no tongue weight.

The other option would be to mount it on the middle of the trailer, the balance would be fine then. The grate height would be at about 40" then, wich seems a little high to me.

The last option would be to mount a counterweight, in this case a
slide out grill, on top of the trailer.





What would you guys suggest ?

I´d rather have the pit in the middle of the trailer for best balance and tongue weight, and that way i could also mount a Char Griller Outlaw on the oppsite side of the trailer. I´m just worried that 40" might be too high for the grates.
I´d really appreciate if you could measure the height of the firebox and main grate of your smoker and tell me what you think about having it at ~40".

Thanks,

DM

Dakaty said:

Just cut a square "notch" into the floor at the back of the trailer so you can move the pit forward if you need to. (Of course you will have to reinforce that area) I see lots of trailer pits with the fire box at the rear.

Click to expand...

I would have to re-certify the trailer in that case, and it would cost money and nerves i´d rather spend on something useful. 8)

Could you guys please tell me the height of your grates and fireboxes ?

Thanks,

DM

Here we go again.

I decided not to mount Suzy on the trailer stationary because that would have ment too much work , trouble and $$$ for recertifying and so on.

Instead she was put on her 8" Heavy Duty lockable casters and we put some rails on the trailer, added two more rails as ramps and i ordered a winch that will be mounted to the trailer.

Off course mounted to the trailer would have been way cooler, but this way im more versatile and can get into almost every backyard to do some BBQ catering.

Today, we loaded her up for the first time, and it was not too hard even w/o having the winch yet.

I brought her to the sandblaster and right after that she will be painted.



Cant wait to get her back.

DM

VGuilford said:

Good looking setup. You don't even have to unload it if didn't want to.

Click to expand...

True, i can also cook on the trailer and enjoy the view :mrgreen:

DM