Club project for a smoker/grill setup

[River Lizard]

Hi,
My name is Jeff and I'm from the Richmond,VA area. I'm currently the chairperson for our state catfish club and I'm organizing the build of a club cooker, since our club has grown so much it's time to get something on a trailer so we don't have to drag several cookers to our club events.

I donated a 18' Heavy Duty Bass boat trailer for the project and another club member has donated an Oil Fuel Tank (275 gals) and I have a industrial air compressor tank (5-6' long) that I want to use for the firebox.

We currently on a very tight budget for this project so I'm hoping that suggestions from all of you can help us avoid costly mistakes on this project.

Here's my current plan of attack on this project:
I was planning on the oil tank laying horizontal vs vertical to give more rack space. I also was planning on being able to divide the tank into two different cookers if we didn't need the full size, by using a divider wall that could slide in from the back side via an access door. I'd split the front door area into two separate doors for this reason. One side would hold a water pan for smoking under the rack and the other side would have piped propane for just regular grilling OR an additional water tank could be slid over the top of the propane pipes to use it as a smoker. (is this possible?)

Next would be to mount the air tank behind and below the oil tank for the firebox. Currently I was thinking if we had 2- 4" pipes coming from the air tank to the bottom of the oil tank, this would supply plenty of heat (of course there'd be dampers to control just how much flowed into the oil tank area. Access to the firebox tank would be both ends would be hinged for access for cleaning out. My plan is to have a slide rack for loading wood inside of it.

The trailer is rated for 3500 lbs so I think I'll be safe as far as load goes. We can't afford plating for the flooring so I was going to use 2 x 6 treated lumber for the deck and bolt everything to it.

Once we have everything gathered into one location, I'll post up some photos of the parts we have for this project. Would enjoy hearing your suggestions and opinions on the current plans and how we can improve them for the least amount of funds.

From all the reading I've done that last few days on here, sounds like there's a wealth of knowledge within the members here!

Glad to be here and look forward to learning from ya'll and to be able to share in our club project from start to finish.

[jeffboyette]

Homemade trailer pits interest me so im giving this question my all.

Originally Posted by River Lizard

another club member has donated an Oil Fuel Tank (275 gals) and I have a industrial air compressor tank (5-6' long) that I want to use for the firebox. .

The fuel tank is a concern! petroleum soaks in and causes nasties. i would sand blast the inside out, pressure wash it with lots of dawn, and do a couple 3-4 burns with the interior coated in lard or vegetable shortening. Not vegetable oil, before i threw meat in it.
The 6 foot fire box is a little excessive but it depends on how big in diameter it is. Pictures of the two are really needed to get a grasp of what your doing here. If you have to you could cut a slice out of it to make it smaller and proportional. Oversized fireboxs are as much as a headache as undersized.

Originally Posted by River Lizard

I also was planning on being able to divide the tank into two different cookers if we didn't need the full size, by using a divider wall that could slide in from the back side via an access door. I'd split the front door area into two separate doors for this reason. .

Save your time and effort on splitting your cooking chamber. your not going to save much if any wood, and if you have a half a chamber with an already excessive firebox, your asking for trouble. Leaving the chamber whole will give you a range of temperatures to give you flexibility to move food around if it gets too hot, cold, or smokey. flexibility and options are key to good bbq

Originally Posted by River Lizard

One side would hold a water pan for smoking under the rack and the other side would have piped propane for just regular grilling OR an additional water tank could be slid over the top of the propane pipes to use it as a smoker. (is this possible?).

Propane is not regular grilling. you can use propane in your stove. Put a charcoal rack in there man! Better thought just put a slide out rack inside your firebox.make the height adjustable. Put a door on the front and the side of it. use it for your grill when your not smoking. The only thing you would want propane for is maybe a built in weed burner to get your fire going. (convinient) or to put 1-2 burners on the tongue of the trailer to to fish fries or boils. Im not big on water pans. Too much research on moisture barrier preventing smoke penetration. if you have enough meat on the pit it will be moist enough. others my chime in. but if thats what you want you can just stick it on the cooking grate near the fire box.

Originally Posted by River Lizard

Next would be to mount the air tank behind and below the oil tank for the firebox. Currently I was thinking if we had 2- 4" pipes coming from the air tank to the bottom of the oil tank, this would supply plenty of heat (of course there'd be dampers to control just how much flowed into the oil tank area. Access to the firebox tank would be both ends would be hinged for access for cleaning out. My plan is to have a slide rack for loading wood inside of it. ?).

Behind and below, if your looking at the oil tank from the end. You want the firebox on the end of the tank. 2-4 inch pipes are decent but you have a big fire box. tuning a new homemade from scratch grill will take patients. i say cut the opening and after you cook on it a few times, if you need to tack weld plate to make the big hole smaller that way its easy to replace if you have to make adjustments. There isnt any need in adjusting the opening to the pit once its right. Also note, your exhaust pipe should be the same size or a tad bigger than your firebox intake size.

If i were you i would do a quick search for reverse flow. consistent even temps and good clean smoke make good bbq.

Originally Posted by River Lizard

The trailer is rated for 3500 lbs so I think I'll be safe as far as load goes. We can't afford plating for the flooring so I was going to use 2 x 6 treated lumber for the deck and bolt everything to it.?).

I would avoid the wood, get some sheet metal. it will look better, no dry rotting, splitting, fading, staining, burning. metal last longer and give your trailer more rigidity.

Post some pics so we can help you more.

[4dueces]

River Lizard. Go back to Q talk and look for a thread containig Hog Zilla. I just built the cooker and have posted pics of the building process. It sounds a lot like your tank, may give you some ideas. Good Luck.

[River Lizard]

Jeff,

I appreciate your suggestions and will consider them as we get ready to start building. I'll definitely post up photos of everything we have before we set a weekend build date. I've read the pros and cons on oil fuel tanks and it's a 50/50 split on it. I was definitely planning on building a good hot fire inside it before we clean it for seasoning and painting the outside with high temp paint.
I'll try to get some drawings scanned and posted up. I was wondering if the air tank was too large for a firebox or not. It's at least 24-28" in diameter, might even be 30", I'll have to get a measurement on it.

4deuces,

Nice looking setup you have, I like the narrow trailer you built for it.

[River Lizard]

I took another look at the air tank and I've decided from reading on this forum that I should probably use it for the cooker since it's a 125 gallon tank and just find something smaller for the firebox. So I'm Xing the Fuel Oil Tank since it would definitely be too big for our club's cooking needs.

The air tank is vertical mounted so I'll have to cut the legs off the end of the tank. If I have a 35-40 gallon air tank, would that work for a firebox at one end? And if so, should I position it vertical or horizontal at the end of the 125 air tank?
Here's a quick drawing of the firebox vertical. On a different note, I plan on a reverse flow design, do I have it designed correctly?

[luke duke]

If you can make the oil tank work then you might consider using it for the horizontal chamber and using the air tank for a vertical chamber and then find something else for a firebox.

[River Lizard]

Luke,

So you're saying I need three compartments? Firebox, vertical chamber and the cooker itself?

I was planning on merging the top edge of the firebox to the bottom edge of the cooker and then weld a plate inside the cooker to have the heat/smoke flow to the other end and then back to the exhaust stack. Is the chamber for cooking other items in or what's it's purpose?

Also, the fuel tank is a 275 gallon tank, I don't think we'll ever have that many club members to need to have that much space. Average member count at the events is between 35 to 50 members attending.

[jeffboyette]

Its great to see someone ask for advice, and use what advice was given. Glad you got rid of the oversized firebox, and decided on the reverse flow. Im sure you wont be dissappointed.

I would still split the door in two. loose less heat, and lighten it up. The vertical box would sit on top of the firebox, and would get its heat from a hole in place of your exhaust pipe. The temps would be more consistant and even and the smoke lighter. Perfect to put ribs for low and slow, while your butts are in the big chamber. Also if your temps get away from you, its a good place to move your meat. Putting 3-4 shelves in your vertical box is good when you dont want certain drippins on certain food. Like the sugar from pig candy, or the cheese from ABT's, or the sauce from ribs, on top of your boston butts.

Its a fairly easy addition to your build, but gives you tremendously more flexibility and cooking options, without adding any "load" to your pit. In other words, its a win win. more places to cook without needing any more fuel!

[jeffboyette]

Most vertical boxes are on the end of the pit. usually the coldest chamber. But with a reverse flow. You get radiant heat, as its sitting above and usually connected to the firebox, and you get light humid smoke from the rest of the pit. The hummiditiy from all the cooking meats keeps the box good and moist and perfect even temperatures come from the bottom not from the side.

[jeffboyette]

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[hardy02ttu]

I have seen a couple guys use old fireplace inserts for a firebox and has worked pretty well for them. One of your club members might accidentally have one laying around.

[River Lizard]

Jeff,

Is there a cut-away drawing that I could see how the holes connect the firebox, the chamber and the cooker? I see the exhaust stack is right next to the chamber so there's no exhaust/hole out of the chamber just a hole or two at the bottom to allow heat and smoke to get in?

Hey, I'm a really newbie at this stuff. I know I have to learn to smoke since I'm involved as the leader of our cookouts and the chairperson on the committee. We have several guys who smoke on a regular basis, but since I'm getting most of the stuff together for the project, it's left up to me to get the design figured out for it. The help is greatly appreciated guys.

[landarc]

No fryer? If you are going to have a trailer mounted smoker, why not add facilities for a fryer. Since you will probably have a propane tank on the rig, it would be nice to add a couple of turkey fryer burners for deep frying. That way a catfish or two can find their way into the pots, or at least some hush puppies.

Also, I like the idea of a horizontal fire box as you can use longer chunks of wood for burning, with a large smoking chamber, the longer logs will make fire management a little easier. I would also consider using propane for an igniting system, you could build in a weed burner, but, I like the setup where a fire bar extends the side of the log rack to ignite the entire length of the log, this setup seems to get you up to heat faster.

I also recommend two doors unless you plan on doing whole hogs. If you are going to do whole hogs, the the larger door, or the ability to remove the piece between the two doors for loading becomes important.

[Dr_KY]

I would use the oil tank and go the Fat-40 way.

[River Lizard]

I might consider reserving room to do a future add-on for fryers, it's a great suggestion, I just don't think the club has the cash right now to invest in the hardware for it.

Here's the 125 gallon and the 30 gallon air tanks that I have available to use for this project.