finally building a trailer unit

[Ceedubya]

so after months of talk and deliberation I started my new project. Here are some pics, with commentary to follow:

the head welder, Jordon. Could not have done this without him.

what we started with. I bought this trailer (with a boat on it) for 20 bucks on ebay. I think I paid about $19 to much :laugh:

the trailer rails had cracked behind the axle, so we cut it off and this is what we have left.

I will be picking up some 3"x2" tube to finish off the end of trailer, and we will be adding some additional bracing as well.

 

[Ceedubya]

Me using a wire wheel to remove the old paint

finishing the welds on one of the sides

the basic frame, 48" wide x 48" High x 32" deep. I started out trying to build a Jack's old south clone, but insulated but it looks like this is going to end up being more of a large backwoods clone.

mocked up on the trailer

one for size comparison

 

[Ceedubya]

The frame, almost complete

the trailer, almost clean

the rest of the materials, using 16 gauge cold rold on the inside and 20 on the outside. 3/4 inch flat expanded metal for teh shelves

our supervisor, Lucy

Let me know what you think so far, I have a list of questions and thoughts of my own, but will wait to see the responses first.

 

[Norcoredneck]

Keep us posted.

 

[Philly-QueMaster]

Is the 16ga steel thick enough to hold up to the heat inside the cooking chamber? I'm just curious becuase I'm doing a stumps clone build and everyone I saw used 14ga.

Patrick

 

[cowgirl]

Looks great so far...

 

[Ceedubya]

Keep us posted.

Will Do!

Is the 16ga steel thick enough to hold up to the heat inside the cooking chamber? I'm just curious becuase I'm doing a stumps clone build and everyone I saw used 14ga.

Patrick

I hope so.... I was asking around on the different forums and everyone seemed to thing 16 was where I should be. with the insulation and 20 on the outside I hope it will do fine. I wanted to keep the weight as light as I could.

Looks great so far...

Thanks Cowgirl!

 

[countyliner]

Looks great!

Keep us up to date. Lots of pron please!

 

[BlkJeep]

I like it so far!! x2 on keeping us posted!

 

[Ceedubya]

so here are the plans, and a few questions. I am worried about the size of the firebox, thinking I should have made this part deeper. Its not too late, I can move it up if I need to. Would rather do it now than later.

trailer layout:

this is the front frame. Notice I only have 11" of space for the firebox. after building a heavy ash pan, and leaving an inch or so of space under the charcoal rack, this will only leave me with about 9" for the charcoal basket. It will take up most of the 48" X 32" bottom, but do you think 9" will be deep enough for the charcoal basket?

Inside the cooker. I'm not sure about the placement of the exhaust either. the backwoods look like the exhaust runs down the inside, and is towards the bottom of the back of the cooker.

I Havn't completly decided how I plan to mount the doors either. I originally wanted the upper door to open up, but not sure how I would accomplish this. maybe I should split the door and have the two swing out. either way I don't want a brace in the middle of the opening. I want all the room I can have to work with.

 

[WC BBQ]

Looking good so far. Those are huge doors, I can see you loosing a lot of heat when you open them. Thinking out of the box here... how about if each shelf was a drawer. You would only open up what you needed and most of the heat would stay in the cooker. You might have one drawer the size of two shelves for larger stuff with a removable grate. The other two shelves could be single sized, perfect for ribs and spatched chicken. Being able to pull out the grates sure makes dealing with the meat easy. One drawer at a time keeps the heat in the cooker. just a thought...

WC BBQ

 

[Ceedubya]

Looking good so far. Those are huge doors, I can see you loosing a lot of heat when you open them. Thinking out of the box here... how about if each shelf was a drawer. You would only open up what you needed and most of the heat would stay in the cooker. You might have one drawer the size of two shelves for larger stuff with a removable grate. The other two shelves could be single sized, perfect for ribs and spatched chicken. Being able to pull out the grates sure makes dealing with the meat easy. One drawer at a time keeps the heat in the cooker. just a thought...

WC BBQ

I considered something like that, but I may want to put a hog in this bad boy at some point. basically there is going to be a set of bottom doors to access the charcoal basket and one, or two, upper doors to access the meat. I am thinking maybe splitting the upper doors so I would only have to have one open at a time, but then the shelves would not be able to slide out without splitting them too.

 

[Ceedubya]

something like this:

 

[Paulmark]

Wow! How cool...Thanks a lot. Looking forward to more updates:clap2:

 

[WC BBQ]

for flexibility you could design a few different style drawers, maybe one for three grates for that occasional whole hog cook. Think about what you will be cooking 80% of the time. Hinge the front so they drop down for easy access.

 

[Ceedubya]

Wow! How cool...Thanks a lot. Looking forward to more updates:clap2:

Thanks!

for flexibility you could design a few different style drawers, maybe one for three grates for that occasional whole hog cook. Think about what you will be cooking 80% of the time. Hinge the front so they drop down for easy access.

Interesting idea, I will have to give it some more thought.

 

[Ceedubya]

OK the insulation should be here tomorrow, or Friday.

I am heading back down to my folks Friday afternoon to resume work. The plan is to get the trailer finished, and as much done on the cooker as possible. I would like to get the inside metal, insulation, and outside skin complete. And hopefully have time to start building racks and working out the exhaust and charcoal pan.

I need to find my hinges and latches still.

I am still not sure about the size of the charcaol pan. I'm afraid it needs to be bigger than I have allowed for. 9" deep doesn't seem enough for me, but then again it is going to be almost 40" X 30", which is a lot of damn charcoal. What do you all think?

 

[Ceedubya]

UDATE!

Getting the axles on the trailer

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Trailer is ready to roll,finally!

Frame is ready to rock

Jordon welding up the inside

inside metal fitted, and sitting on the trailer.

 

[hammerz_nailz]

UDATE!




Trailer is ready to roll,finally!

Frame is ready to rock

Nice looking project so far.
I'm definitely envious of your scenery.

 

[Derek]

Nice, Please keep us posted!