It has begun....Our Custom Santa Maria Grill build!!!

Drawing of Santa Maria

Ok guys here's the drawing Chad is talking about. I honestly drew it up in less than 5 min. as if you couldn't tell. Nothing is to scale etc...

Grill sizes again:

Small Grate: 14" wide x 30" deep

Large Grate: 34" wide x 30" deep.

We are looking to drop the metal frame legs 36" into the masonry pit. Also the angle iron that sits on top of the masonry is 4"x4" masonry not the 9"x9" shown.

View attachment Mikes Santa Maria Grill.pdf

I'm going with a large wheel with tensioner on the other end. Anyone have any idea on how large to make the wheel? We've thrown around 16", 18" even 30" lol. Anything would help.

Also is there any brethren on here who has a cool program they can draw it up on? That would be cool!

Thanks all again for input!

Mike
 
I've been wanting a Santa Maria Grill for a long time. These grills are non existant here in Louisiana and it's hard to find someone who would know how to make the wheel etc.
I'm about to opt for a cinder block cooker and fabricate a grate that can be raised and lowered with some sort of crank system. i want it big enough to double as a small pig cooker and fire pit.

BTW, very cool build. Looking forward to the finished product.
 
Ok Brethren if I told you guys, you wouldn't believe me but this is my 3rd attempt at posting this and hopefully this will be it. I was continously closing the pages to get other stuff done as I was uploading to this page lol and so I lost everything.

So the below pics are from last Friday to show you all where we are at in our build. Please feel free to comment any way and inform us on what you see that can be done better or stronger etc... don't shy away from asking us "WHY?" we are doing something a certain way because this is all new to us as well. We are looking to all our Brethren out there to help make this one hell of a great build. Hope you all enjoy the pics and thank you all who have gave us input so far.

Also if anyone on this site can help me out with a Cinder Block Masonry questions who knows their masonry laying etc.. please please please message me I have some questions that are probably simple. Since this who SMG will be dropped into a masonry pit :)

The below picture is the small grate that we took back apart to change some design flaws that we saw that you saw in the first set of pictures I posted. For one we added double SS bar supports instead of single. We also removed the square tubing as it was proving to be a pain and getting in the way of the with having to put one of the grate rods through it. So we placed a flat steel piece and drilled 2 holes in it and this will be welded to the grate frame and the guid rail.
ry%3D480





Next we attached the guide rail on prior to placing all the grate rods in and starting the weld.
ry%3D480




Chad welding the small grate which measure 14"x30"
ry%3D400



View of the small grate on it's side after 50% weld completed
ry%3D400



Close up of the bottom side of the small grate showing how we spaced the SS support bars and the clearance between them and the top grate rods
ry%3D400



Weld 75% completed at this point on the small grate.
ry%3D400



Close up showing the rail guide and the flat steel piece I mentioned in the beginning. As you can see that flat support bar has the 2 support rods underneath going into it. The plate still needs to be welded to the frame. Also the weld points still need to be cleaned up.
ry%3D480



And so the building of the BEAST grate has begun. In the picture below we have the completed small grate at 14"x30" and the large grate with a bootle of beer on top for size comparison coming in at 34"x30" when we weighed the completed small grate it came in at 37lbs. so we are estimating 70+ lbs. for this large grate.
ry%3D400


So what's left: LOTS! lol....like I said we are working on the large grate so that will need to be all square up and we need to fabricate the cross support rods , drill out the flat support plate that they will go through and then weld it all together. We still need to the get the wheels bent that will adjust the grates and also work on the fram that this will all attach to. So stay tuned to many more pics.

Don't forget we want to hear our Brethren members on what you see that can be improved or what doesn't make sense etc...or what you do/don't like about it. Trust us we are learning as we go too!
 
Last edited:
Are you reinforcing the corners of the larger grate? I see potential problems with racking of the grate that is that large. The cross-braces under the grate will not be adequate to prevent corner racking. Neither will the welds. You might want to consider traingular gussets at the vertical supports, extending a few inches along the side, this would provide some resistance to twisting of the frame.

Considering the weight of the racks, especially the larger one, a 24" or 30" diameter wheel is a better choice, your leverage will just be better.
 
Landarc your a genius!!! lol seriously I was afraid of racking and your solution is the answer I was looking for. How thick do you think the metal need to be that we use as triangular gussets?

Is this something we want to place underneath or on the topside? If underneath, how to we prevent build up of fluids from food juices etc.. from getting caught up in there. Or am I thinking totally different here.

Thanks,

Mike
 
I would go with a piece of 1/8" or 3/16" sheet stock, cut into a triangle, or my preference, a truncated triangle (trapezoid) that is welded on each side of the vertical to the frame. The truncated triangle is welded such that there is a triangular gap at the 90 degree angle from the frame to the verticals. This prevents build up of grease in that corner.
 
Try this design for your corner gussett's give the corner's a little radius the hole will let any fluid that collects drip through or heat up and vaporize.. Hope it helps...
 
Last edited:
Another option to the two gussets on the vertical channel would be to replace the flat bar bridge with a 1 piece gusset (red) that acts as a doubler in that area. If you really wanted to beef it up further you could cap or box both sides in (cap shown in green).
 

Attachments

  • grate gusset.JPG
    grate gusset.JPG
    30.7 KB · Views: 834
landarc said:
Are you reinforcing the corners of the larger grate? I see potential problems with racking of the grate that is that large. The cross-braces under the grate will not be adequate to prevent corner racking. Neither will the welds. You might want to consider traingular gussets at the vertical supports, extending a few inches along the side, this would provide some resistance to twisting of the frame.

Considering the weight of the racks, especially the larger one, a 24" or 30" diameter wheel is a better choice, your leverage will just be better.
Click to expand...

Will work for bbq said:
Another option to the two gussets on the vertical channel would be to replace the flat bar bridge with a 1 piece gusset (red) that acts as a doubler in that area. If you really wanted to beef it up further you could cap or box both sides in (cap shown in green).
Click to expand...

razrbakcrzy said:
Try this design for your corner gussett's give the corner's a little radius the hole will let any fluid that collects drip through or heat up and vaporize.. Hope it helps...
Click to expand...

^^^^^^^^This is why I am PROUD to be a member of this place. Everyone is always willing to give a hand.:clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2:

Bob thanks for the heads up on the wheel size, I was thinking a smaller wheel (around 15-18") at first but after getting the small one built and then weighing it I wasn't sure how a smaller one would work

Thanks for the great ideas all. I knew I wanted to add some gussets but I wasn't sure what they were going to look like. Now we have all kinds of ideas.

I really like that idea for the doubler Will work for BBQ. I think we will incorporate that into the big one and I may add a triangle piece to the top of flat bar to make them look the same. The smaller rack is too far along to tear apart again:becky:

Awesome ideas keep them coming:thumb:
 
Since it is not my build, or my money, I am gonna throw this out there.

Have you considered the idea of attaching, or accomodating, a rotisserie somewhere on the unit?

Chain drive or cable drive? I know cables are easier and all, but, using motorcycle chain is a very cool and beefy look. If you go cable, please use a cable that is thicker, you can get them at Westmarine, they look better than that stupid mini-cable people always use.
 
eddieh70301 said:
I've been wanting a Santa Maria Grill for a long time. These grills are non existant here in Louisiana and it's hard to find someone who would know how to make the wheel etc.
I'm about to opt for a cinder block cooker and fabricate a grate that can be raised and lowered with some sort of crank system. i want it big enough to double as a small pig cooker and fire pit.

BTW, very cool build. Looking forward to the finished product.
Click to expand...

None on my end of the state either. I'll be watching this one. Our fab shop is slow right now,so a government project would be good.:laugh:
 
landarc said:
Since it is not my build, or my money, I am gonna throw this out there.

Have you considered the idea of attaching, or accomodating, a rotisserie somewhere on the unit?

Chain drive or cable drive? I know cables are easier and all, but, using motorcycle chain is a very cool and beefy look. If you go cable, please use a cable that is thicker, you can get them at Westmarine, they look better than that stupid mini-cable people always use.
Click to expand...


Landarc,

You can read minds can't you!! LOL I've been wanting to talk about that for so long now and I continue to forget to ask. So any ideas that would work really well. Any sites you can recommend or can you recommend one for me? I found these: http://spitjack.com/category/ROTISSERIES.html , but I don't know if this is what I need or something different.

Can you show me a design I can incorporate into the grill?

Also on the chain vs. steel cable can you tell me how to incorporate a chain and what would be needed that sounds awesome. How would the chain wrap up when raising the grates etc..??

Thanks again!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

T
Pitts & Spitts adjustable charcoal grill. Reviews?
Replies
7
Views
1K
Nuco59
N
RemoGaggi
Gabbys Santa Maria on Old School Weber Performer
Replies
5
Views
277
Vader1959
V
S
Equipment switcharoo (warning, stupidly long and likely boring!)
Replies
10
Views
380
DBBQ
D
S
Tagwood vs Lone Star vs ???
Replies
4
Views
551
jeffshoaf
J
chingador
Fathers Day Surf & Turf on the Santa Maria
Replies
5
Views
726
gtsum
G
Back
Top