Yet Another UDS question...

Valeres · 06-13-2011, 07:53 AM

Hi All, this is my first post after reading many on here that were quite informative. I recently was given several 55 Gallon steel drums and was bitten by the UDS bug

. I want to build a normal UDS before going crazy and I have a design question. I see that most UDS builds use expanded steel for the firebox, has anyone ever considered using or see any drawbacks in using the sidewalls of a Whalen half grill:(Amazon.com: 1/2 Grill Kit Size: 20 inches: Home & Garden@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51zGVOei2ML.@@AMEPARAM@@51zGVOei2ML)

Basically Im looking for a large firebox for long burn times 12+ hours and with 20" x 18" thats roughly 3.25ft³, for comparison the 24lb kingston charcoal bag is only 2ft³ (That was just for comparison, I use/prefer hardwood charcoal and local hardwood.)

For me this is actually cheaper than building a firebox, at $35 its less than the $60 the local metal shop wants for materials.

Thanks in advance for any help and I will post lots of pictures when the build starts.

gaspipe1 · 06-13-2011, 08:24 AM

Looks good to me if it will fit inside a drum. I would just make sure that there is some room between the firebox and the drum walls. Also I didn't notice any holes on the bottom. I would imagine that holes on the bottom are needed for an efficient burn... I'm just make'n that up but if you look people always have their firebox lifted by 2" or so for air.

Valeres · 06-13-2011, 11:11 AM

Yeah, it will just fit inside of a drum. Drum diameter 23", Whalen Half Grill 20". I was just going to use the sidewalls and not the bottom, I was going to use an old grate and then the 3" bolts for feet like normal and i was thinking of reusing the porcelean bottom of the half grill as the water pan

Chitown_hillbilly · 06-13-2011, 12:10 PM

That add isn't for the Fire pit, it's just for the Half Grill grate they are showing sitting on top.

Chitown_hillbilly · 06-13-2011, 12:14 PM

Amazon.com: Whalen Fire Pit Medium: Home & Garden@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/512jKaiXXaL.@@AMEPARAM@@512jKaiXXaLfor the link to the 20 in Whalen pit.

J_Don · 06-13-2011, 01:54 PM

That definitely looks like it would work to me. I would like to see what the ash pan looks like from the underside to see what kind of legs it has and how high they are.

Valeres · 06-13-2011, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chitown_hillbilly

Amazon.com: Whalen Fire Pit Medium: Home & Gardenfor the link to the 20 in Whalen pit.

Ahh, well darn, i was wondering why it was so cheap. Thanks for the clarification, back to plan A.

El Ropo · 06-13-2011, 05:36 PM

I made this for $25 and a half hour of tinkering.

MushCreek · 06-13-2011, 05:45 PM

You don't need anywhere near that much charcoal for a long burn. My longest smoke to date was about 20 hours, and I used about half a bag of Kingsford blue. There was still fuel left when I shut it down.

expatpig · 06-13-2011, 05:54 PM

Don't forget that you need to be able to get past your cooking grate supports when installing or removing your coal basket. I use 4, 2" stainless 1/4-20 machine screws to support my grates and my basket is 16 1/2" dia.x 16 in. tall. There's not a lot of room to spare.

J_Don · 06-14-2011, 06:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valeres

Ahh, well darn, i was wondering why it was so cheap. Thanks for the clarification, back to plan A.

Don't feel bad, I read it wrong too! Looked like a good idea though.

Valeres · 06-17-2011, 09:18 AM

Thanks for all the tips, Im going to try and throw something together this weekend as i need a working smoker for the 4th.

@MushCreek: Out of curiosity, how big is your firebox. Hopefully thats not too personal of a question. :)

@expatpig: Good Point, I wasnt even thinking about clearances.

Since you guys dont know me I will just let you know that Im kind of an overkill person when it comes to projects. In fact, it was kinda funny cause I was on a roadtrip to portland the other day for business and I saw a tanker freight car and the thought came into my head that that would be the awesomest smoker ever, but then i came back to reality and had a laugh.

So in all likeliness, you will see me do something completely overkill and possibly ridiculous in the future.

enasnidx · 06-17-2011, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valeres

Thanks for all the tips, Im going to try and throw something together this weekend as i need a working smoker for the 4th.

@MushCreek: Out of curiosity, how big is your firebox. Hopefully thats not too personal of a question. :)

@expatpig: Good Point, I wasnt even thinking about clearances.

Since you guys dont know me I will just let you know that Im kind of an overkill person when it comes to projects. In fact, it was kinda funny cause I was on a roadtrip to portland the other day for business and I saw a tanker freight car and the thought came into my head that that would be the awesomest smoker ever, but then i came back to reality and had a laugh.

So in all likeliness, you will see me do something completely overkill and possibly ridiculous in the future.

That's the best part of building a UDS! Get creative! Below is my fire basket. It cost me about $20 including the stainless steel hardware. I got the expanded for $10 from a local weld shop, the handle is a 3 ft. length of 1/4" weldable steel that I easily bent with a channel locks, and since I have no welding ability I used dark annealed steal wire to attach the bottom. Went with the standard 3" legs and put them through a $3 pizza pan from Walmart for the ash pan. I did leave enough expanded steel overlapped so that if I want a bigger basket in the future, I can just get a bigger bottom grate and re-wrap it.

Good luck with the build, keep us posted!

MushCreek · 06-17-2011, 03:14 PM

My fire basket is 16" in diameter, and 8" high above the bottom. I used a circle of expanded steel to make the bottom, but have since been making them out of 13-1/2" Weber charcoal grates. I forget which Weber this fits, but it's a lot easier to work with. The sides are 11" tall, with the bottom being welded in about 3" up.

harripooner · 06-17-2011, 04:11 PM

I found this for $15 at my local grocery.

I'm gonna skip the legs, but use the base as my ash pan and then just add some expanded metal to the grate that the grill came with. I think it is an 18"er so it should fit just fine. The expanded metal should cost around 10-20 so I should be able to get it done for about. $25-35. I can get the brand name if you want. Actually found it on amazon.

Amazon.com: Kay Home Products 18' Rnd Table Top Grill 116Hh Portable Grill: Home & Garden@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/11puiZDr4DL.@@AMEPARAM@@11puiZDr4DL

06-13-2011, 07:53 AM	#1
Valeres Found some matches. Join Date: 05-23-11 Location: Auburn, WA Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Yet Another UDS question... Hi All, this is my first post after reading many on here that were quite informative. I recently was given several 55 Gallon steel drums and was bitten by the UDS bug . I want to build a normal UDS before going crazy and I have a design question. I see that most UDS builds use expanded steel for the firebox, has anyone ever considered using or see any drawbacks in using the sidewalls of a Whalen half grill:(Amazon.com: 1/2 Grill Kit Size: 20 inches: Home & Garden@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51zGVOei2ML.@@AMEPARAM@@51zGVOei2ML) Basically Im looking for a large firebox for long burn times 12+ hours and with 20" x 18" thats roughly 3.25ft³, for comparison the 24lb kingston charcoal bag is only 2ft³ (That was just for comparison, I use/prefer hardwood charcoal and local hardwood.) For me this is actually cheaper than building a firebox, at $35 its less than the $60 the local metal shop wants for materials. Thanks in advance for any help and I will post lots of pictures when the build starts.

06-13-2011, 01:54 PM	#6
J_Don is One Chatty Farker Join Date: 07-02-09 Location: Hattiesburg, MS Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	That definitely looks like it would work to me. I would like to see what the ash pan looks like from the underside to see what kind of legs it has and how high they are. __________________ Weber 22.5 Silver, Weber 22.5 Gold Weber 22.5 Performer, Weber 22.5 WSM Weber Smokey Joe & Weber Smokey Joe Mini WSM Char-Griller Super Pro w/Firebox (2) Kenmore Elite Gasser w/ Rotisserie Cajun Cooker (3) UDS In Progress [COLOR=#0000ff]BLUESMAN[/COLOR] Splashproof [COLOR=#0000ff]BLUE [/COLOR][COLOR=black]Thermapen :bow:[/COLOR] H D FXSTD

06-13-2011, 05:36 PM	#8
El Ropo Babbling Farker Join Date: 10-06-10 Location: Austin, TX Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	I made this for $25 and a half hour of tinkering. __________________ Modded Brinkmann Gourmet. Basic UDS. Rescued 22.5" OTS. Weber SJS. Stubbs. B&B Oak Lump. Cannondale 2009 F8 (for burning off all the great BBQ)

06-13-2011, 05:45 PM	#9
MushCreek Full Fledged Farker Join Date: 10-01-09 Location: Seminole Florida Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	You don't need anywhere near that much charcoal for a long burn. My longest smoke to date was about 20 hours, and I used about half a bag of Kingsford blue. There was still fuel left when I shut it down. __________________ I'm very intelligent, but I mask it by doing stupid stuff.

06-13-2011, 05:54 PM	#10
expatpig is One Chatty Farker Join Date: 02-20-10 Location: Cochrane, On. Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Don't forget that you need to be able to get past your cooking grate supports when installing or removing your coal basket. I use 4, 2" stainless 1/4-20 machine screws to support my grates and my basket is 16 1/2" dia.x 16 in. tall. There's not a lot of room to spare. __________________ "When I was in Canada, I had a lot of time to think."- Doug Sahm [B][COLOR=red]UDS x 5[/COLOR][/B] [COLOR=red][B]Weber Performer[/B][/COLOR] [B][COLOR=red]Napoleon Apollo[/COLOR][/B] [COLOR=#ff0000][B]GOSM[/B][/COLOR] [COLOR=blue][B][I]CSBBQA, KCBS, NOBS(Northern Ontario Barbecue Society)Professional Barbecue Team. USAJFKCENMA.[/I][/B][/COLOR]

06-13-2011, 08:24 AM	#2
gaspipe1 Full Fledged Farker Join Date: 05-23-11 Location: Cranford, NJ Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Looks good to me if it will fit inside a drum. I would just make sure that there is some room between the firebox and the drum walls. Also I didn't notice any holes on the bottom. I would imagine that holes on the bottom are needed for an efficient burn... I'm just make'n that up but if you look people always have their firebox lifted by 2" or so for air.

06-13-2011, 11:11 AM	#3
Valeres Found some matches. Join Date: 05-23-11 Location: Auburn, WA Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Yeah, it will just fit inside of a drum. Drum diameter 23", Whalen Half Grill 20". I was just going to use the sidewalls and not the bottom, I was going to use an old grate and then the 3" bolts for feet like normal and i was thinking of reusing the porcelean bottom of the half grill as the water pan

06-13-2011, 12:10 PM	#4
Chitown_hillbilly Got Wood. Join Date: 06-01-11 Location: Lockport, IL Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	That add isn't for the Fire pit, it's just for the Half Grill grate they are showing sitting on top.

06-13-2011, 12:14 PM	#5
Chitown_hillbilly Got Wood. Join Date: 06-01-11 Location: Lockport, IL Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Amazon.com: Whalen Fire Pit Medium: Home & Garden@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/512jKaiXXaL.@@AMEPARAM@@512jKaiXXaLfor the link to the 20 in Whalen pit.

06-17-2011, 09:18 AM	#12
Valeres Found some matches. Join Date: 05-23-11 Location: Auburn, WA Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Thanks for all the tips, Im going to try and throw something together this weekend as i need a working smoker for the 4th. @MushCreek: Out of curiosity, how big is your firebox. Hopefully thats not too personal of a question. :) @expatpig: Good Point, I wasnt even thinking about clearances. Since you guys dont know me I will just let you know that Im kind of an overkill person when it comes to projects. In fact, it was kinda funny cause I was on a roadtrip to portland the other day for business and I saw a tanker freight car and the thought came into my head that that would be the awesomest smoker ever, but then i came back to reality and had a laugh. So in all likeliness, you will see me do something completely overkill and possibly ridiculous in the future.

06-17-2011, 03:14 PM	#14
MushCreek Full Fledged Farker Join Date: 10-01-09 Location: Seminole Florida Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	My fire basket is 16" in diameter, and 8" high above the bottom. I used a circle of expanded steel to make the bottom, but have since been making them out of 13-1/2" Weber charcoal grates. I forget which Weber this fits, but it's a lot easier to work with. The sides are 11" tall, with the bottom being welded in about 3" up. __________________ I'm very intelligent, but I mask it by doing stupid stuff.

06-17-2011, 04:11 PM	#15
harripooner Knows what a fatty is. Join Date: 04-19-11 Location: Venice Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	I found this for $15 at my local grocery. I'm gonna skip the legs, but use the base as my ash pan and then just add some expanded metal to the grate that the grill came with. I think it is an 18"er so it should fit just fine. The expanded metal should cost around 10-20 so I should be able to get it done for about. $25-35. I can get the brand name if you want. Actually found it on amazon. Amazon.com: Kay Home Products 18' Rnd Table Top Grill 116Hh Portable Grill: Home & Garden@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/11puiZDr4DL.@@AMEPARAM@@11puiZDr4DL __________________ Brinkman Gasser, 2- Modded ECB's, Weber Smokey Joe, 22" Weber Kettle, Porkalypse Now UDS

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