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Q-talk *ON TOPIC ONLY* QUALITY ON TOPIC discussion of Backyard BBQ, grilling, equipment and outdoor cookin' . ** Other cooking techniques are welcomed for when your cookin' in the kitchen. Post your hints, tips, tricks & techniques, success, failures, but stay on topic and watch for that hijacking. |
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10-23-2010, 05:09 PM | #1 |
Quintessential Chatty Farker
Join Date: 06-03-10
Location: Shawnee, KS
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UDS Grate Legs - Proof of Concept
As many UDS owners know, it can be a pain to swap out racks full of meat if you have a UDS with dual racks. Usually there is some tilting to get that second rack out because of the bolts that hold the top rack. So, I was inspired by another post/thread I saw (I apologize but I cannot find it off hand but please take credit if it was your idea) where somebody used bolts as legs under the rack. Thus, you only needed to support the bottom rack in the drum. When it came time to swap, you just lift the top one off, set on the ground (the legs provide clearance), and pull out the other rack. I liked the idea a lot but thought the bolts would be a little unsteady and they took up some real estate on the rack.
So, tooling around today I grabbed some 1/2" pipe I had laying around and cut off some sections. I cut 7' sections with the idea to keep 6" gap between the grates. I notched one end of the cut pipe with a cut off disk just deep enough to fit around the outside wire of the rack. On the other end of the pipe I notched it down about 1/2-3/4" and then spread it apart a bit to allow for easier stacking. At this point I did "cheat" a bit by welding them to the rack (still kinda ugly welds pre-cleanup in the pics). The legs aren't perfectly straight as the racks are actually slightly different sizes. But, as long as I keep them as a set they will work. I also plan to attemt to do this with threaded steel in an effort to have a no-weld option for those interested that do not have a welder. I think you could just cut out the top deep enough to slide over the rack. Then just have a nut and washer on each side to hold it in place. Oh yeah, pics... |
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10-23-2010, 05:11 PM | #2 |
Quintessential Chatty Farker
Join Date: 02-06-05
Location: Southern Minnesota
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I like that. Thanks.
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Kevin |
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10-23-2010, 05:12 PM | #3 |
Babbling Farker
Join Date: 04-03-10
Location: Cypress TX
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easier said than done lining that up with smoke in your eye? that's my first thought.
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J Crunch |
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10-23-2010, 05:25 PM | #4 |
Quintessential Chatty Farker
Join Date: 06-03-10
Location: Shawnee, KS
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Very good point. I have not tried to cook with them yet. One thing to note though, one leg is at the "front" of the grate in between the grate rods (Last photo). If you place this one first the other two will pretty much land where they are supposed to. Also, in playing around with it I do not have to have it exactly in the same spot every time.
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10-23-2010, 05:54 PM | #5 |
Babbling Farker
Join Date: 04-03-10
Location: Cypress TX
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Easy enough to try it in the cold drum and see how it goes and tweek if needed. Might be easier to weld big washers on the bottom that just sit on the rack rather than a small notch.
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J Crunch |
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10-23-2010, 05:59 PM | #6 |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 08-06-10
Location: Stuart, Fl
Name/Nickname : Mike
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Dang interesting!
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Homey, the Homegrown frier, 22" WSM, 18.5" Elderly(but not retired) WSM,Homegrown Electric, Weber gasserrrr,Weber Performer, Gravity feed smoker, Blackstone, Indisputably Fastest Purple Thermapen, SAI Satay Grill Avatar by landarc, thanky! |
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10-23-2010, 06:08 PM | #7 |
Full Fledged Farker
Join Date: 11-25-09
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
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i often thought about adding grate holders that you could just flip up flush with the inside of the drum, like a small flat bar hinged and riveted to the inside of the drum... i like your concept too because you can set the grates on the ground if need be and keep the q from touching the ground
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[B][COLOR=red]Jayber [/COLOR][COLOR=blue]Que [COLOR=black]BBQ[/COLOR] [/COLOR][/B] Do not eat the meat raw or cooked in water, but roast it over the fire… Exodus 12:9 4 UDS' - Rolling Rotis Hog Cooker - Weber Kettle Resuce Collection - ECB - Lodge Cast Iron Collection - HF Weed Burner - ProQ CSG - Super Fast and Accurate White Thermapen - 4 tap homebrew keezer - 10 gallon all grain single tier keggle build |
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10-23-2010, 06:16 PM | #8 | |
is one Smokin' Farker
Join Date: 01-21-10
Location: Denver, NC
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Quote:
I think the other post used the bolt heads to sit on the rack.
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[B][COLOR=black]Bill[/COLOR][/B] [COLOR=black][COLOR=red][B]Red[/B][/COLOR] [/COLOR]Performer 1993 Green Performer 1998 22.5 OTG 22.5 OTS UDS Mini WSM Super Fast [COLOR=red][B]Red[/B][/COLOR] Thermapen :thumb: [B]Got butt ? Smoke it !![/B] |
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10-23-2010, 06:24 PM | #10 |
Knows what a fatty is.
Join Date: 08-29-10
Location: Belmont, CA
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Yeah, they were 1/2" x 7" bolts. I am sure it is in the UDS mega thread, I saw that post too.
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Homemade Little Brown Egg Smoker 18" & Purple Pig Smoker Drum |
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10-23-2010, 07:03 PM | #11 |
is one Smokin' Farker
Join Date: 04-04-10
Location: Shelby Twp. Macomb Co. SE Michigan
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That post was by Mike W
Page #461 ......Post # 6919. Sorry,don't know how to get the link posted over here without messing everything up. |
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10-23-2010, 07:08 PM | #12 |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 01-24-08
Location: Southern Arizona Desert
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Good point. Maybe 4 legs instead of 3. Still a good idea!
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************************** *** Terry ~ aka Pork Smoker *** ** XL-BGE Hatched 06/20/2008 09:42 pm ** * Couple Weber Kettles, CharGriller, UDS * * Ultra Fast Red Thermapen * Projects Kamado Restoration Bandera Restoration |
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10-23-2010, 07:36 PM | #13 | ||
Quintessential Chatty Farker
Join Date: 11-12-06
Location: Des Moines, Iowa
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Quote:
Quote:
3 legs = less wobble
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Dave Compton KCBS MasterCBJ # 22569 Member of the 100+ Contest Club Judge Number 6 competition BBQ team Possibly the only judge ever to get an award from a bunch of cooks UDS 075 UCB WSM and a bunch of other stuff. |
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10-23-2010, 08:15 PM | #14 |
Quintessential Chatty Farker
Join Date: 06-03-10
Location: Shawnee, KS
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Tis a good question. However, these supports are at least 4x the size/strength of the small SS bolts I have used in other builds (Norcoredneck spec builds ). There will be more weight on the bottom grate but I have welded in reinforced supports in my new drum instead of just using bolts. I guess I will have to do a large cook here soon and see how it goes.
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10-23-2010, 08:18 PM | #15 |
Quintessential Chatty Farker
Join Date: 06-03-10
Location: Shawnee, KS
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Exactly the driving reason I did 3. I just threw this together this afternoon to see how it works. More precise measuring and the possible use of threading to level the grates would definitely invite the use of more supports.
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Thanks from:---> |
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