whats a fair price for a smoker on trailer?

What is the size of the racks that are in the smoker? Do you have pictures?

Pictures would be a big help if you can get them.
I bought my Klose mobile pit in 2002..?
Dave Klose told me steel has gone up 3 times since my purchase.

There are way too many variables. Quality of steel, workmanship and design. The trailer itself is a varied as the cooker. If you want to post some pictures of what you are looking at you will get more responses.

Just to give you an idea...

Dave Klose wants just about $1,500.00 to mount any of his (48" or so) units to a basic trailer. So that's just to mount to a trailer.

Search the web and find something that fits your needs.

Lang's come in at a good price but that's reverse flow.

I went with Meadow Creek because they had more of what I was looking for (but again a reverse flow unit).

It's a hard question to answer with little details.

Best of luck with your quest.

1,500 isn't all that bad for a trailer.

A lot depends on your budget. Nature abhors a vacuum and finances abhor left over money!

I spent about $4500 or so on my Kingfisher and had it drop shipped to FL from OK. I have been very pleased and thought it was a fair price. I wasn't going for cheap. I was going for features I wanted.

Things have changed since 2005: now I'd go for #1 - Insulated. Everything else would be details. I like the multiplier of the rotisserie so rigs like Myron's new competition rig or Southern Pride 250 or FEC large cooker would get a serious look. I could be tempted by shiny objects, too, rigs like one of Jay's would get consideration. Sure glad I don't have to make that decision now. :mrgreen:

I would stay away from a pit of that size with a firebox made of 1/8" steel. Warping is way too much of a factor if it's not properly braced and gusseted. If it's a professional builder who will stand behind it then if the price is right it could be a way to go but if its a backyard build, I'd keep looking. If it's new then it's untested and I know from the first few pits I built, you don't start to see the things that happen to a pit until it's been heated. Look for strong firebox doors with plenty of bracing. That is where I had most of my problems once the pit gets hot. As far as insulation, it's not hard to do yourself. I added firebricks to the inside of my firebox which made a HUGE difference in the amount of fuel needed as well as how unbearable it is to stand next to when it's 90F+ out.

Check gaps on the main pit door for fit and finish. Those round tank doors are hard to tweak if they don't fit right. (once the door is cut, the door has a tendency to spring out making it not fit the old radius.)

Just a couple things to think about. If you are a fabricator or have access to some tools and don't mind tinkering, go for the cheap ones... Otherwise, treat it like a used car and look at EVERYTHING. repairs and tweaks at a metal shop will get expensive!

My stick burner with the firebrick and a 3 sided basket to shovel in coals, I can run 2-3 hours (just did it over the 4rth) without adding fuel. Running only wood is something i'd like to do but you need a small hot fire burning nearly completely clean to not overpower with the smokey flavor.

If that trailer is $1100 brand new, I'd be really tempted to buy it. You could have a better fire box fabbed and make other mods that you felt necessary and still come out way under what most trailer mounted smokers that size would cost. You could even re-do it and have it to have double racks. That seems really inexpensive to me and the trailer by itself is probably worth that much if it's a good one.

Just posted a message on the "mayhem" guy's facebook page from the Allstate commercials and I thought of you...

bbqbull said:

Dave Klose told me steel has gone up 3 times since my purchase.

Click to expand...

At least 3 times and some of them have been big increases

I drove to Florida a couple of months ago and bought this cooker for $500...it is a 500 gal. propane tank mounted on a heavily built trailer. It was supposed to have been built as a competition cooker for Memphis in May and is basically a large grill. I've yet to find anyone who understands how to cook on it as there is really no way to supply it with coals. So...I am in the process of having it modified. Here is how it looked when I got it home:



That is the backside & those two doors are the only access to the firebox. Maybe someone on here understands this plan. I don't.

Front of the cooker...the two doors are being made into one.



The tongue will be extended to make room for a wood burner to generate coals, as well as a place to store wood and mount a two burner propane cooker.

The back:



The box was used for storage and will be gone. We are going to cut into the end of the tank and put a warming oven in it's place. The mods are just starting to get underway & I need to get pics of the build as it progresses. I'll be glad to share them here if there is any interest. Suggestions are also welcome

I have been told that steel has come down lately. All I know is that I bought a sheet of 1/4" ($200) and a sheet of 3/8" ($300) a couple of days ago for this project. I hope that is the end of it for materials as the toy fund is getting low and the wife wants to go on vacation:help:

WaywardSon said:

That is the backside & those two doors are the only access to the firebox. Maybe someone on here understands this plan. I don't.

Click to expand...

Rented a 250 fuel drum pig roaster once that had that style door on the front. Had to dump fuel in that way.

Not real user friendly as it was small like that, but it still made a tasty swine.

Good luck have fun on your mods

How much is a car worth? It depends.