Start of the winter pit build.

B

bfraze99

Knows what a fatty is.
Joined
Sep 18, 2012
Messages
85
Reaction score
24
Points
0
Location
Montello, WI
Well, today i met with my welder and fabricator to go over our initial ideas on our winter pit build. I have a trailer we are going to mount it on.

Thinking of doing a insulated reverse flow.

60" with a 1/4"x18x18 fire box.

going to use a 55gallon drums welded together. 1x1 tube on the outside and insulate between the drum and the outside skin. 1/4" plate drum end were fire box will attach and 1/4" plate from fire box to opposite end with 8" gap for heat and smoke.

Am i off track??? Im open to ideas if you guys have any.

Was thinking the insulation will help hold heat more efficiently than just doing solid metal.

I plan on entering my first competition next spring and wanted to make my own pit rather then buy one.


Brandon
 
I dig the idea, I want to do a UDS with the same premis! I'll be on board for the build thread.
 
I look at all these pits and no one really has an insulated pit... Lang, Gator etc... I want to make an efficent pit that uses less fuel and can maintain the temps. Being in IL you know what im talking about trying to burn some meat at 10 degrees outside.

Yea.. any ideas you may have let me know.
 
Just a uds and WSM man myself at the moment and have been turning over some ideas in my head also. I run my uds smokers all winter just a half hour north of you and generally dont have any problems unless I put too much cold meat in at once on a cold winter day but I see where the situation could be improved. As to your ideas if I would go to that much trouble I would want to go with something more heavier than drums. Maybe take a look around Schessows (probably spelled wrong) or Delaneys by Baraboo for something that will go the long haul. Both of those places have a lot of oddball raw material on hand. Keep us informed on your progress.
 
yea.. i welded for Schessows when i was 18... 16 years ago... he does have alot of steel... Have not been to Delaneys yet... great idea i might take a drive over there.

I get the drums for free so i was thinking there lite and with the insulation and extra metal on the outside( thinking of lining the inside to... ) that would hold heat nicely. im basically using the drum for the shape to weld the outside metal to it. and the 1/4" plate inside should keep me on a even temp for the most part... But im not a pro pit builder.. I was looking at the jambo pits which is where i got this idea because from what i understand ther jambos are insulated somewhat.
 
My biggest concern with insulating is the time it will take to fully heat up. If you are using the air between the 2 layers vs a material I'm game. The air should act like a double pain window and not cost much extra time or fuel. Until the insulating layer is heated throughout your pit temps will be Inconsistant and more difficult to keep under control. These are the factors that I am debating. Wish I was closer I'd come give you a hand. I'm sure you will make a great smoker either way.
 
Give us some pics of plans /ideas, please. engineers are pirmarily visual->ideas. sounds like you r on good track, amigo. Go for it & the brethern r here ror you, of course!
 
Drums are hard to weld without warping, and burning holes in, especially if you plan on using 1/4 inch. They are also very hard to get good seals on because they become flexible when cut, don't get me wrong all this can be done, just much harder. You may want to take a look at some heaver metal for the cook chamber, in the long run you will be happier and may not even need to insulate it. A round cooker is going to be a bit hard to insulate, just my two cents but I would like very much to see the end results.
Dave
 
You should try to find some carbon steel pipe, and scratch the 55 gal drum idea. 3/8" thick. I am not a pitmaster, but I do understand pipe welding, and understand that thin metal means loss of heat. In my opinion if you going to spend the time building a pit do your research, and build one that will last forever. Don't cut corners. 55 gal drums are cutting corners. With that being said my pit is 24"x 3'3"x3/8" with a fire box that is 18x3'2"x1/2" on a 2x2x1/4" tube steel stand. It currently weights about 800lbs. But it will be around for a long time.
 
i looked into this a little while ago. forno bravo i believe have some examples lidat using cast refractory material (basically special heat resistant concrete). the problem with a lidded design is that you have to have insulation on the lid which would make it too heavy to open! so it ends up being a slide in design.
 
My reverse flow pit is fully insulated all the way around and ends. It started life as a 300 gallon fuel tank, 14 ga thickness. We insulated it with 1" of ceramic fiber insulation and skinned it with 20 ga. The firebox is insulated on the sides and firebrick is on the bottom of the firebox. Only the front and top of the firebox are not insulated. It is 5ft long x 3 ft diameter. Takes about 1 hour to come up to temp (250), but that is bringing it up REAL slowly. Once it is hot, it stays hot. I learned that bringing it up to temp too quickly and overshooting - say 300 deg, it doesn't want to come back down. It'll cook in the rain, snow, wind - doesn't matter. Extremely fuel efficient. If you have any questions, let me know. And I use mine in comps too.

cooker-1.jpg


Smittys-Nelsonville.jpg
 
I would scrap the drum idea. We found a local place that would roll 1/4 inch (48 x 24) for $250 bucks including the steel. Save yourself the trouble of welding to those barrels.

Start by insulating the firebox. Just did one myself, it was a lot of work. 16 gauge, two inches of insulation, and 1/4 inch under it all.

After you are done with the firebox, then decide if you want to insulate the whole shebang.
 
Thanks for the input so far... The best part about it is that i get lots if ideas... Experience is the best i could read about stuff all day... But i want to know what works... And that is what this website is about. Everyone sharing there experiences... I hope for more info as we get this thing rolling in a few weeks..... I will post pics and info as we go...
Thanks everyone...
 
I would also scrap the drum idea, look for an old tank or like hawg father said find somewhere to roll you a piece of steel.
 
Today I got a steel company to roll me some 1/4" plate 60" long x 30" diameter and cut the two ends to fit. I can make the rest from there. After some more research im going to do a the rolled plate steel. I am still thinking of insulation and a thin gage metal for a skin on the outside. I think i can get it done i have some ideas. Just going to construct the main body and fire box then figure out how to skin it. Im thinking of only 3 sides of the tube. Top,bottom, and end opposite of the fire box. because of the constant heat i do not think i need to insulate the fire box end. Once it is hot i dont think it will need alot of fuel to maintain temp with the insulation. If someone has any experience with a insulated firebox etc.. let me know your thoughts.

Of course this is still up in the air as to the final product but i did get my steel ordered for the main tube.
 
bfraze99 said:
Today I got a steel company to roll me some 1/4" plate 60" long x 30" diameter and cut the two ends to fit. I can make the rest from there. After some more research im going to do a the rolled plate steel. I am still thinking of insulation and a thin gage metal for a skin on the outside. I think i can get it done i have some ideas. Just going to construct the main body and fire box then figure out how to skin it. Im thinking of only 3 sides of the tube. Top,bottom, and end opposite of the fire box. because of the constant heat i do not think i need to insulate the fire box end. Once it is hot i dont think it will need alot of fuel to maintain temp with the insulation. If someone has any experience with a insulated firebox etc.. let me know your thoughts.

Of course this is still up in the air as to the final product but i did get my steel ordered for the main tube.
Click to expand...

I think you are on the right track with the rolled steel. While still in the planning stage you may want to rethink not insulating the fire box and making it a reverse flow exhaust. You will lose a huge volume of heat out of the top of the fire box if not insulated and making it insulated will be much easier than the rest of the cooker. I used to lay a welding blanket or an old quilt over the cooking chamber, to help keep heat in it better especially on cold, rainy or windy times. Talk to some more people about it and go with what you think you will like but above all, have fun with it.
Dave
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

E
Easter Ribs
Replies
4
Views
301
creek bottom
creek bottom
B
Winter Project_250 build
3 4 5
Replies
98
Views
11K
Fooball
F
C
280 gallon build
Replies
11
Views
935
Cheshire Bbq
C
O
Fire, animal, almost chit my pants
2
Replies
21
Views
1K
4ever3
4ever3
B
Vesuvio 80 Replica Build
2
Replies
33
Views
2K
cowboyupbbq
C
Back
Top