150 Gallon Propane tank build

Bgcoop8784 · Jun 9, 2013

Started on my smoker Thursday night, and here's where I'm at so far in the build. Hopefully have her smoking this weekend. I know most reverse flow's have a plate in the bottom but I wanted to try something different, If it doesn't work out I'll just cut the pipe and add the plate in. Still need to mount the exhaust, weld up a couple holes and start on the trailer. She ain't pretty but that's ok with me.:mrgreen: and yes I know my shop is a mess:sad:

Tank cut in half

Box welded up

Box completed...let my wife do some of the final welding

Inner frame welded in with a good seal

Hinges made and welded on

Box welded on

Pipe welded in for reverse flow

Cooking grate and handle welded up

Grate for the wood, still might build a charcoal basket

Another pic of the cooking grate

One more pic of the whole thing

pmad · Jun 9, 2013

Excellent work

davefan360 · Jun 9, 2013

looks good, different design. what about the gap at the end of the tank? why did you cut it all the way like that, and not just cut a door? seams like it will be a heavy lid and loss some cooking space? hope it works well for you. and that is cool your wife helps you with your builds.

Bgcoop8784 · Jun 9, 2013

I like having more space when I'm putting stuff in and out of the smoker, not really that much of a loss of space, most of the one's I've seen with doors don't use the curved space anyway. The lid is heavy, but I'll add a counter-weight. For right now the gap at the end will stay there, I'm going to add a couple pieces of plate to block off the big holes at the end so no heat/smoke escapes. She's had a blast helping me out with this one.

HookedOnQ · Jun 9, 2013

Awesome build! Little bit of a diff design but i see no reason why it wont work. I would get those ends sealed up or you may have some temp control issues

Bgcoop8784 · Jun 11, 2013

new pics

Ok, got some more pics, not quite finished but should be able to have her done and painted tomorrow after work. fired her up today with just some cardboard to see how she held smoke and everything looks great so far, we'll see how she does after I get her painted and start to season her in, and I know it looks weird with the gaps on the ends, but they are sealed internally and loses no smoke/heat through them.

Bgcoop8784 · Jun 15, 2013

First run

Ok...I know she's ugly, and not what like how most people build them, but it went from start to finish in less than a week and that was after work...here she is, I wouldn't say 100% complete, but she's done for now. I had only 4 10lb pork butts on it with enough room for about 12-14 more easily. She ran from 4:00 pm till 6:00 am on 28lbs of lump charcoal and about 10 pieces of split oak and apple wood. I never had to adjust anything on the smoker other than adjusting the intakes when I first started her up, in fact, the only time I even touched it was to throw a piece of oak/apple in the fire box and to spray the pork down with some apple juice/ cider vinegar every couple hours. Extremely happy with how it ran for the first time. The only time the temp dropped below 230F was the one time I had to add more charcoal, and it only took about 15 mins for the heat to recover, I will say I went through a whole bag of cowboy charcoal thursday night just trying to figure out where to set the intakes to keep the temp steady, but after that I couldn't believe how well she ran........and here's pics

Corky · Jun 16, 2013

Looks good! Enjoy it!

Speaking of enjoyment - any more pics of the wife?

HookedOnQ · Jun 16, 2013

Looks great! Glad too hear its working well for you.

Richard_ · Jun 16, 2013

looks nice

dwfisk · Jun 16, 2013

Looks like it's gonna cook great. I see the counter weight; looks like the frame for it extends about 24" - how much weight did you add to balance the lid? One observation, if you have the lid balanced, you might want to add some latches to keep it down when trailering.

Packmanjim · Jun 16, 2013

Nice idea running that pipe along the bottom instead of a griddle with smoke chamber below it. Do you have a drain on the bottom for grease? Let us know how she cooks, the smoker not the wife ;-)

jimdogyoung · Jun 16, 2013

very cool design. where did you get the idea to run the pipe from the box? looks as though you are guaranteed to have plenty of smoke cover the meat.

J-Rod · Jun 16, 2013

Interesting build. Curious about excessive heat loss when opening the lid though, since it's a clam shell design it might let a lot more out than just having a door. Like the "smoke pipe" idea, and firebox looks nice and heavy. Let's see some cooking!!!

kylefisk · Jun 16, 2013

cool design for a revers flow. How does it hold heat across the two ends. Ours actually ended up hotter on the opposite side from the fire box. Do you have something on the inner circumference of your cut door to seal it up...it looks like there is a gap after adding the hinge but I don't see excess smoke coming out.

Bgcoop8784 · Jun 16, 2013

Yes the inside is sealed with the angle iron frame top and bottom, I actually don't lose much heat when the door is opened, the door only opens about half way at first, the counter weight hits a stop on the back, then if you want to open the door completely you push up a little and the counter weight pivots upwards and allows the door to be completely opened for loading/unloading the food. The pipe actually works out great. Every piece of steel on this is 1/4" thick or thicker..the tank is actually 0.300 thick, so almost 5/16", the pipe running across the bottom is 3/8" thick and the exhaust is 5/16". The counter weight was 123lbs. My wife has no problem opening and shutting the smoker, so it worked out ok. I'll get some more pics today of how the counter weight and lid works..and how the ends are sealed, my wife may be in them.

Bgcoop8784 · Jun 16, 2013

Ok here's some pics...

Counter weight all the way open..

Counter weight when the lid is half open...

Lid half open...

Lid full open....

exhaust inlet into tank...

intake inlet into tank...

how the ends are capped off...

another pic of full open....

another pic of half open..half open is where i check my temps, full open is for loading/unloading...

and one pic of my wife for good measure...

dwfisk · Jun 16, 2013

That's really amazing, lots of innovative thought & adaptive design/build ideas! It looks like you are already getting a good patina & seasoning. Congrate to you & your bride!

Bgcoop8784 · Jun 16, 2013

I sprayed the insides down with peanut oil the first couple times I fired her up to get the seasoning started good..so I kinda cheated, lol

150 Gallon Propane tank build

Bgcoop8784

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pmad

is Blowin Smoke!

davefan360

Take a breath!

Bgcoop8784

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HookedOnQ

is one Smokin' Farker

Bgcoop8784

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Bgcoop8784

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Corky

is one Smokin' Farker

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Richard_

is Blowin Smoke!

dwfisk

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jimdogyoung

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J-Rod

is Blowin Smoke!

kylefisk

Got Wood.

Bgcoop8784

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dwfisk

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