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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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08-14-2019, 08:40 PM | #1 |
Full Fledged Farker
Join Date: 09-14-15
Location: Lafayette, La
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Franklinstein's Monster
Sunday was pretty much the last cook I'll get out of my old OK Joe Longhorn https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/s...d.php?t=274617 as the firebox is now completely shot. I was pretty much resigned to going to Academy and getting an Old Country Brazos because $1K is about as much as I'm comfortable forking over for a pit at the moment. I could afford more but when I start thinking about priorities, single dadhood, having a daughter starting 9th grade etc... I have a bit of a mental block about paying any more than that for a pit at this time.
On a whim, on Monday I flipped all the local online classifieds. I've done this hundreds of times and rarely ever seen a pit I would be interested in at any price much less at the prices that were normally asked. Monday was different, I was perusing FB marketplace and stopped cold when I saw a pit with a very familiar design. As I scrolled through the various pictures, it was obvious that the builder had paid VERY close attention to the way Aaron Franklin builds pits, and it was listed at a really low price. I messaged the seller and arranged to go look at it that evening. Although it looks really rough cosmetically, he assured me it was solid. That was an understatement. When I got to the sellers house I mentioned that he must know who Aaron Franklin is. He laughed and told me that he saved the episode of Aaron's show featuring the pit build and would watch and rewind through it as he worked his way through each step of his pit build. It was obvious, he nails pretty much every detail of what I've seen of Franklin's pits . The cooking chamber is made out of a 32x60 inch tank with a 52x31 grate, plus a removable upper grate. The cooking chamber is 1/4 inch thick. The outside of the firebox is 32x33 but is insulated with a piece of steel casing with a 22 inch inside diameter that is 2 inches thick. Yes 2 inches thick steel pipe, no burning out this fire box (by the way I did a little research and pipe that diameter and thickness weighs 513 pound per foot, so the firebox is about 1400 pounds). The stack is grate level and built onto a flange that he built off of the end of the pit like Franklin does. The propane tank the pit is made from was spiral welded which put natural tension into the steel so when he cut the door some of that tension unloaded and the bottom left corner of the door doesn't want to shut completely, he solved that by welding a little hook clamp to the tank and a loop on the lid so it can be latched shut tight. It works well and I'm cool with it. The pit was built about a year ago. We agreed on a price a little less than he had it listed for. I called a buddy of mine to see when I might be able to borrow his trailer to pick it up. My buddy asked me to send him a picture of the pit and when he saw that it was on skids he had the bright idea that we could hang leaf springs and an axle on it and build a tongue up front to be able to pull it. I thought that was a great idea. Knowing about what an axle, springs, wheels and a tongue would cost I decided to search the local classifieds for trailers. Again, I've done this about a hundred times looking for a trailer I could possibly build a pit on and never found anything very suitable at a reasonable price, this week however was my week because I quickly found a listing for a heavy duty trailer that was previously used to haul a 3500 pound generator at a very good price. Tuesday afternoon I drove about an hour to the seller and made a deal on the trailer. Today I used the trailer to pick up the pit. I'll eventually permanently mount the pit to the trailer. Now here's the kicker, I got the pit AND the trailer for the price of an Old Country Brazos at Academy. Actually $95 less because I didn't have any sales tax. My buddy works at a fab shop and is going to get me a brother in law deal on getting the pit sand blasted (basically just for materials) and I'll repaint her. Honestly this is a dream pit for me. Exactly the size I wanted in the exact design I would choose regardless of cost, perfect sized trailer and all at a crazy good price. I'm not a superstitious person, but I think it all came together this week because today is my birthday. I'll update here as I work on the pit. |
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Thanks from: ---> |
08-14-2019, 09:03 PM | #2 |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 01-16-13
Location: USA
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Excellent
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Tiernan SOB34, Primo Oval XL, Oklahoma Joe's Bronco, Oklahoma Joe's Highland, Pit Boss Austin XL, Pit Boss Table Top |
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08-14-2019, 09:34 PM | #3 |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 03-14-16
Location: St David, Az.
Name/Nickname : Bill
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Now that's a pit and that 2" thick heat sink should keep your heat constant just don't get it too hot cause bringing the temp down could take awhile. Congratulations.
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Bill, from Cochise County Arizona LSG 24 X 36 Horizonatal Offset w/warming oven, 32" fire pit with swinging cooking grate, PK 360 w/Grill Grates |
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08-14-2019, 09:40 PM | #4 |
Quintessential Chatty Farker
Join Date: 12-31-09
Location: Hernando,MS
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Congrats on your good fortune.You will enjoy that for many years.
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08-14-2019, 09:54 PM | #5 |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 12-28-11
Location: Belton, Tx
Name/Nickname : Texas Pete
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Happy birthday! Seems like there is no need to make a wish when you blow out the candles.
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
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Paul (aka Texas Pete) SF 24x36 Midnight Edition / Mak 1-Star /Abe's 48" Insulated Cabinet / 22.5 OTG / 28" BS / Jimmy with CB Roti and pizza kit / Red Box on custom cart / Char-Griller Kettle / Barrel House Cooker / Pit Boss Copperhead / Char-Griller Akorn Jr Sign Up for The 2022 Texas BBQ Brethren Fall Bash Here! ([URL="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12NjP4bH3uLyH6-RJnI4gSfDr0nKQ6_4cxdw_GhmrKq0/edit#gid=1935530835"]Link[/URL]) |
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08-14-2019, 10:08 PM | #6 |
is One Chatty Farker
Join Date: 06-18-14
Location: Denver, CO
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That is great! I had to laugh at the title because I too have a Franklinstein! Great find. You will get a lot of great smokes off of that thing. Happy birthday to you!
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"Franklinstein" (Franklin Clone), "Ugly Clay Smoker" (UDS) |
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08-14-2019, 11:25 PM | #7 |
Full Fledged Farker
Join Date: 05-17-15
Location: Albuquerque, NM
Name/Nickname : Scott
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Score! Happy birthday - and many more
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Always dally thumb up |
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08-15-2019, 05:59 AM | #8 |
Full Fledged Farker
Join Date: 09-14-15
Location: Lafayette, La
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Thanks from:---> |
08-15-2019, 06:43 AM | #9 |
is Blowin Smoke!
Join Date: 03-14-19
Location: Northwestern PA
Name/Nickname : Joe
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AWESOME!!! And HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
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Joe A1 Competition Smoker; Meadow Creek 96; Oklahoma Joe's Bronco (gone but not forgotten); Weber 26" & 22" Kettles; Camp Chef XXL Pellet Smoker; Blackstone 22" Portable; Weber 300 Series Gasser; Masterbuilt 30" Electric Cabinet |
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08-15-2019, 06:52 AM | #10 |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 04-29-12
Location: Tulsa
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What a score!!!
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Jeremy Old Oklahoma Joe (Opal) GMG TREK (Greta Thunberg) Weber Summit Charcoal (Waylon) MAK 2 Star (Maybel) 2x “Unfortunately nothing wrong with that” Bob C Que… I must be living right (somehow…) |
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08-15-2019, 07:19 AM | #11 |
is Blowin Smoke!
Join Date: 02-28-12
Location: Paramus New Jersey
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Nice
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Rec Tec 590/WSM/CB Roti/Weber Hanging Rack\2 Mavericks/Therapan/Rib-O-Lator/Fireboard 2/KCBS. |
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08-15-2019, 08:04 AM | #12 |
Full Fledged Farker
Join Date: 07-26-13
Location: Denver, CO
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That one is going to be fun Once in a blue moon, Craigs List serves up a gem
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Hybrid LSG Pellet + Chunks Smoker / Bucket-of-Bolts Grill-Smoker / Meadow Creek Chicken Cooker / BGE 1999 / Weber Kettle Rotisserie / Paella Ring / EZWok Jet Engine / KebobMaster |
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08-15-2019, 08:06 AM | #13 |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 02-07-08
Location: Framingham, MA
Name/Nickname : George
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Nice Congrats and Enjoy
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Large BIG Green EGG- Hatched 8/17/09 Backwoods Extented Party- sold Weber Genesis Gasser Mid Atlantic BBQ Association KCBS Back Porch BBQ Competition BBQ Team Proud Member of the Zero Club When all else fails ask yourself WWGALD |
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08-15-2019, 08:09 AM | #14 |
Full Fledged Farker
Join Date: 09-14-15
Location: Lafayette, La
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08-15-2019, 08:17 AM | #15 |
Quintessential Chatty Farker
Join Date: 04-21-06
Location: Lake Ponderosa-Montezuma, IA
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Hey man, if your happy than we're all happy for you!
Ed
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Designer of a custom drum smoker Customized Aussie gas passer Turkey fryer Extremely seasoned hand hammered Wok Pit Boss-HART BURN Competition BBQ Team KCBS certified judge And Your not the boss of me either!! |
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Thanks from:---> |
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