Built a new toy....Introducing "The Contraption"

DDT, Yes, there is steering with a T bar, which is also used to hold up the fold down shelf on the side. I am away from home until next Monday or Tuesday, so I can't get you a pic until then but I can probably explain it to you.

I used Go-Kart spindles on the front wheels, fashioned some tie-rods from some flat bar and attached them from the spindles to a point above the pivot point off of the center of the cook chamber frame. The pivot point like this.

There is a piece piece of 1/4" flatbar connected to the frame, the other end has a half-circle of 1/4" steel bolted to it (but the half-circle is able to spin on the flat bar). The Pivot point is at the base (bottom) of the half-circle. The tie-rods attach at the top of the half-circle, when you turn the half-circle around the pivot point, the tie-rods move left and right, thereby turning the wheels.

The T-bar handle is made from 1" square tubing and attaches to the half-circle between the pivot point and the tie-rod point. It is bolted there to a U shaped bracket (T-bar is between the U sides) welded onto the half-circle. Moving the T-bar right, turns the wheels right, etc.

I made the T-bar just long enough so that when I fold down the shelf, it can rest on the top of the T-bar handle.

There you have it. If you still need a few pics, just let me know, and I'll get them next week.

Jorge said:

Are you planning to add some angle above the shelves so that you can pull them out without them dropping?

Click to expand...

Yep, there are several things I need to do before painting. There's the angle above the shelves, handles on the shelves, handles for all of the doors, etc.

I was just ready to fire it up, since I haven't used a gravity-feed before and I haven't seen a 2-piece unit like this, I was concerned about how it would work. I've been very pleased with it. It's pretty nice not to have to mess with the fire every 20-40 minutes. With some luck, I'm thinking that I'll start to miss that aspect of cooking.

Thanks everyone. I appreciate all of the comments.

Rodsboots said:

I want one of those, I have an uncle who is a welder.. all I need is a set of plans to show him.. I'm trying to draw some up now. Congrats!!

Click to expand...

Well, I don't have any plans, or I'd sure send them to you, but if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me. I'll tell you anything you want to know about it.

Oh, BTW, if you haven't seen the completely finished version (except for the optional stickburner firebox...coming soon), here it is all painted up like a french whxxre.