This is long y’all...
So we’ve got this old Oklahoma Joe grill that seldom gets used anymore. I got it form my best friend, it belonged to his Dad, and his dad was a real griller/smoker/cook that used this thing a lot!!! Tom Sr. (that was my best friends Dad) had cancer, and it was everywhere so he had to sell his house and move in with his daughter. To get the house ready there was a lot of work that had to be done and Tom (my best friend Tom Sr.s son) needed help. When All was said and done he (Tom) asked what he owed me? I said I didn’t want anything that wasn’t why I was there, I was there to help him, his Dad, and everyone involved! He insisted and at the time I only had a gas grill so I said if he didn't want the Oklahoma Joe and his Dad wasn’t going no to take it I would give it a good home.
That was 12 years ago, my how time flies!
Since then there has been a lot of water under the bridge. Tom Sr. Is long gone and Tom and his family are now in Utah.. Opal is still here and got us started in real cooking (no propane.) She (Opal) has cooked a lot of meals for my family and “Smoked the best bologna I’ve ever had” according to my Dad (Who is now gone.)
So when the patio began to get a few too many cookers I said the least one used is gone! I made the announcement one morning that Opal was out and instead of passing her on or trying to sell her I would just recycle her and move on with my life! That’s when Mrs. 4ever3 stepped in and said “Opal is going nowhere! Absolutely not!!!” Sooooo I thought some casters would make it more user friendly but they wouldn’t work on the legs. Time to do a little rework...
The OK Joe lid stop had to go so I welded these bars on
I took off the nameplate and polished it. Sent a pic to Joe Davidson who is “Oklahoma Joe” and he said according to the serial number it was probably built by him in n his garage in 1988-89
Cut and welded some new legs
Had to make a template for the radius of the legs to set the cooker in
Had to cut the legs off
That’ll do!
Got them tacked in and I said to myself “Only an idiot would TIG the legs on when there’s a MIG machine sitting right there!”... I’m an idiot...
Do you see what I see
The front shelf is level but the inside grates fall about 5/8” from the back front to the front!!! Gotta cut the back support and lower it! Buuuut that can wait a few days!
That’s all for now, I’ll update as time allows me work on it.
Thanks for looking!
So we’ve got this old Oklahoma Joe grill that seldom gets used anymore. I got it form my best friend, it belonged to his Dad, and his dad was a real griller/smoker/cook that used this thing a lot!!! Tom Sr. (that was my best friends Dad) had cancer, and it was everywhere so he had to sell his house and move in with his daughter. To get the house ready there was a lot of work that had to be done and Tom (my best friend Tom Sr.s son) needed help. When All was said and done he (Tom) asked what he owed me? I said I didn’t want anything that wasn’t why I was there, I was there to help him, his Dad, and everyone involved! He insisted and at the time I only had a gas grill so I said if he didn't want the Oklahoma Joe and his Dad wasn’t going no to take it I would give it a good home.
That was 12 years ago, my how time flies!
Since then there has been a lot of water under the bridge. Tom Sr. Is long gone and Tom and his family are now in Utah.. Opal is still here and got us started in real cooking (no propane.) She (Opal) has cooked a lot of meals for my family and “Smoked the best bologna I’ve ever had” according to my Dad (Who is now gone.)
So when the patio began to get a few too many cookers I said the least one used is gone! I made the announcement one morning that Opal was out and instead of passing her on or trying to sell her I would just recycle her and move on with my life! That’s when Mrs. 4ever3 stepped in and said “Opal is going nowhere! Absolutely not!!!” Sooooo I thought some casters would make it more user friendly but they wouldn’t work on the legs. Time to do a little rework...
The OK Joe lid stop had to go so I welded these bars on
I took off the nameplate and polished it. Sent a pic to Joe Davidson who is “Oklahoma Joe” and he said according to the serial number it was probably built by him in n his garage in 1988-89
Cut and welded some new legs
Had to make a template for the radius of the legs to set the cooker in
Had to cut the legs off
That’ll do!
Got them tacked in and I said to myself “Only an idiot would TIG the legs on when there’s a MIG machine sitting right there!”... I’m an idiot...
Do you see what I see
The front shelf is level but the inside grates fall about 5/8” from the back front to the front!!! Gotta cut the back support and lower it! Buuuut that can wait a few days!
That’s all for now, I’ll update as time allows me work on it.
Thanks for looking!
