OMOSB - "One More Offset Smoker Build"

Zak said:

I used the same handle for the door on my smoker and i dont believe i've ever needed gloves to open it. I thought i'd need something but after using it for a few years i never gets that hot. I was originally gonna wrap it in silicone tape but didn't have to. My cooker's only 1/8" thick steel but wouldn't think that having 1/4" would make much of a difference. Even when i do high heat cooks, the handle never really gets hot enough to require gloves.

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Thanks Zak. I was thinking of wrapping it in a firesleeve style product if it gets warm. Would like to hear from others who have steel handles on their pits too. I know that if they do get hot I or someone else would forget and then get a nasty burn as a result. I would rather just deal with it and be safe if its going to be a problem. Maybe I am overthinking this?

Triple T BBQ said:

Got the feet off the tank and removed the bungs today. Also got it rotated around so that the 2 inch pipe bungs are on the bottom. I am going to use these for the grease and fat drains. The phone died so I could not get a couple shots of the progress, but will this week. Next up is chopping down the old truck rack I had siting around. Its all 2x2 square tubing. I am going to just use it for cross members on the trailer.

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Here are the photos I promised. Took a while to get things done. The weather had turned into a nightmare so we moved the tank and fire box over to my friends shop. He has a floor lift which makes aligning the firebox to the tank that much easier.





The tank has been rotated 90 degrees now with the large bungs are on the bottom. These will be used for the grease drains. The brackets were moved out to make room for the drain pipe and valve to be installed.



The firebox vent has been closed off on top and I am about ready to convert the back of the firebox to a 4x14 opening into the tank.



The compressor and motor plate has been removed. Going to split it down the middle and use it for the reverse flow plate.

More progress tonight.



Sectioned the tank and welded up the front foot bracket. The tank was pretty clean inside with min, rust. Nothing that the grinder and a good burn out will take care of.



Finished converting the back of the fire box from a single 6 inch round opening that was somewhat blocked off to having a nice 4x14 inch opening that will feed under the reverse flow plate.




The interior view of the firebox now. Loads of smoke and heat should flow right into the cooking tank and under the reverse flow plate.



The feet and brackets have been removed along with the blower fan from the bottom. Will need to figure out where to mount the blower fan again later when we build the warming box.

Next up. Adding the framing to the trailer, widening the fenders for the mag wheels, and installing the tank for an initial balance of the whole thing. Getting there slowly but surely.

Elrik said:

The cut propane tank pic looks like some weird happy whale mascot or something! Been following your build from the start and loving it. Can't wait to see the finished product.

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Its actually an air tank. But they are all a lot alike. Thanks. Let me know if anyone see's something we should be doing different. Its a learning experience. Having a lot of fun in the evenings working on this. :thumb:

BBQ Bandit said:

Question... hydraulic brake lines? As in surge brakes?

Wouldn't an electric brake set-up be a better cost-effective direction instead of running hydraulic lines, brake cylinders, and a master cylinder?

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It already had hydraulic brakes on it which were shot. I priced out going hydraulic DISC brakes which were on sale and it was the same price as doing electric drum brakes so I with the disc brakes for a little bling. It also has a reserve lock out function so I can back up hills without the surge brake master getting in the way. If it doesn't work the way I want I can always pull them off and put them on my atv trailer too. Thanks!

Elrik said:

The cut propane tank pic looks like some weird happy whale mascot or something! Been following your build from the start and loving it. Can't wait to see the finished product.

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Maybe I should just rename the project to "Seymour".:becky:

little shop of horrors mean green mother scene - YouTube

So what are folks opinions on trailer tires vs. Passenger/LT style tires? I noticed that Jambo runs BF Goodrich and Goodyear tires on some of the J series smoker rigs. I have a great set of 15x8 jeep rims and was thinking of running something like a 295/50/15R on the trailer. The average load rating is 2100-2000lbs. So even if I subtract 10-20% capacity I am still well within the amount of load I expect to have on the trailer. I have had three sets of Goodyear Marathons on my Featherlite trailer and my old enclosed car trailer and all three sets were replaced within a year due to seperation and sidewall issues. My friend who tows a fifth wheel just lost two carsile trailer tires in the heat last year in Texas. His tires were also properly aired up and he had like 4-6k of unused capacity on his tri axle setup. Two of them blew and tore the heck out of the trailer.

What do people think about just running a performance tire on the trailer instead of the chinese ST trailer tire junk we are running now? I am expecting the smoker, trailer, storage, wood, etc to weigh in around 2500-2900 lbs total. The axle is rated at 3500lbs and the tires I am looking at are in the 2k-2.1K max load each. Any reason not to do this?

More progress tonight. Got the firebox welded up to the back of the cooking tank. The welds are still not cleaned up but it lets you see the progress so far.



Ignore the temporary hooks and extra strap between the firebox and the tank. Both will be going away. Working on the trailer cross members right now.



The disc brakes came in today along with the new master cylinder and a couple other misc pieces. Once I get the tank mounted we can start working on the interior of the cooking tank and do the reverse flow plate, doors, racks, and exhaust stack. Getting there slowly but surely. Its good for relaxing while working thats for sure.

2000 plus views and slightly more than 35 comments? What are we missing here folks?

bbq boyee said:

I'm sure if I patiently waited my question would be answered complete with pictures but I gotta ask what the reverse flow plate is all about?

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"Smokers that utilize reverse flow draft, featuring a solid plate that closes up the firebox side of the smoking chamber. Smoke from the firebox is pushed to the far side of the smoker before it enters the smoking area.

Then it naturally travels back to the firebox side and out the chimney. This type of setup creates more even heat in the smoking chamber than a smoker where the smoke enters the tank on the firebox side and goes straight to the chimney on the opposite side." - Internet opinion

Even more progress tonight. Got some more parts in and got the smoker positioned on the trailer to check the balance, weight and overall placement.



The calculations came out just about right. Had about 90lbs of tongue weight right now. We are going to shorten the tongue somewhat so that will increase the tongue weight of the trailer a bit more. Also we still need to put the decking on, add additional cross braces and tool and storage boxes on it. But so far its pretty well balanced. Also going to bring the smoker over against the left frame rail so we can reach into the back side of the smoker without issue. Going to bolt it down with six bolts so I can lift it off again if we decide to make further mods later on. Also want to be able to covert it to patio usage should I get tired of having it on the trailer.

Will be adding a stainless steel work tray to the front of the smoker and that will be 14-16 inches deep.










Another view from the front. Here you can see the new tire and rim combination. Moving up from some seriously old and very well worn 14 inch trailer tires to a 15x8 aluminum rim with a 275/60/15 BFGoodrich Radial TA on it. The new hubs with disc brakes are yet to go on. Also picked up some fresh steel fenders. Going to split one down the middle and add it to the two other ones I bought. Nice and fat fenders for this beast.












Front view of the trailer. Here you can see how much room we still have for a warming box, tool box, and wood storage boxes. Also we are looking at taking a section out of the axle and tucking the new tires and rims further under the trailer since we have so much room. Nothing like a set of nice wide tires under a hot rod smoker right?










Brakes, hubs, fenders, trailer lift, handles, and others misc toys came in this week for the project.

The weather has been horrible but a little more progress this weekend.



Went shopping for misc steel, stainless steel for the trays, and some ATP for the trailer decking. Had most everything we needed at rock bottom pricing. Try finding this much inventory at your local home depo or lowe's baby. Great guys to work with and they are about 10 miles from the house.





Here is an outside shot of the storage yard for materials that are in the process of being broken down. You can see about 1/8 of the entire yard from here. Its huge and they have lots of stuff to pick from.




Picked up a fresh sheet of 5x8 aluminum tread plate for the trailer deck while shopping at our local scrap steel and building materials dealer. Had a little bend in the corner right where the metal sheer is going to nip the corners. Like brand new. The photo shows it after it has had about 25 miles worth of snow and road mess sprayed onto it. It will clean back up just right with some mothers polish on it in the spring.




Did some more checking of the balance on the trailer and then welded the tongue and cross bars into place. Its no longer adjustable. At least not without using the plasma cutter again. Needless to say, this trailer is going to hold up when we drag it around the midwest going to events. Nice and strong steel.







Got the new disc brakes mocked up on the trailer axle. The new rims and brakes are still too far out from the frame rails. Going to flip the springs from side to side and then narrow the axle a bit to bring things in more. I don't want to have to lean to far over when putting stuff on the racks and I want to keep the fender and tire under the prep deck so no ones knees (mine) keep carved up from it sticking out too far.




An outside shot of the rig before we start mocking up the trailer deck and narrowing the axle. Note how far out the new rims and tires are hanging out. We also moved the entire smoker over three inches since the last time I posted. Wanted to have it as close to the outboard frame rail as I could get it and see if that would take care of the issue with reaching comfortably into the back side of the smoker from the side of the trailer. It didn't.

We are getting really close to making the tank cuts for the doors, and inside build. Once this is all done we get to blow it all apart one more time and ship it down the road to get it sandblasted and painted.

Looking doing the tank/firebox/storage boxes in high gloss/high temp ceramic black paint and the trailer in either the same gloss black and or deep Enzo Ferrari red. Have to do a couple photoshop mock ups and see what we like.

I am getting really interested in seeing spring around here sometime in the next 60 days. Hopefully.
:thumb: