Follow my trailer/ smoker/ grill/ griddle/ range build! (lots of pics)

[Jsoda17]

Hello everybody!

Not only is this my first build, this is also my first post. I am from VA but have enjoyed BBQ all over the country, Texas having some of the best, in my opinion (can't beat PPO- peppers, pickles, onion). Being that my Big Green Egg can only hold two racks of ribs and I come from a family where I have to feed 10 hungry people, I realized that it was not going to cut it for long.

About a month ago I began searching and reading this forum. From there I discovered the wealth of info on this site along with the concept of reverse flow. After being captivated by so many great looking builds, I conceptualized a build of my own, incorporating all the elements I liked from each smoker.

I am now a little past the beginning stages of the build and am looking to get some insight from the pros around here as to what I can do better and how to improve my design.

So far I have acquired the following:

2- 120 gallon propane tanks
1- 275 gallon oil tank
5- 4' X 5' "rock shaker screens" (freebie)
1- 5' X 8' trailer converted into a 5' X 11' trailer
2- 185k BTU Bayou burners
20' of 1/8th" by 2 " steel to frame the door
24' of 1.5" square tube for more trailer framing
20' of 1.5" angle iron
4- 4" steel hinges (need 4 more)


The total for everything so far is about $950. I would expect to spend about $400 more to get the finishing materials, sheet metal (baffle plate) and other small things. Below are a series of pictures I have used to document the build. Please leave any design suggestions, criticism, or any other comments! Thanks for the help!

 

[Jsoda17]

Image 1: Trailer the day I got it. It's a 1993, fully boxed in with 2" square tube on the bottom and 1.5" on the top.

2. After I took of the gate, stripped the wood floor, cut off the upper rail, got rid of the siding and realized how much work was ahead of me.

[FONT=&quot]3.After 6 hours of intense grinding and sanding, no more surface rust, only some smooth primer. Then I cut it in half to add the 3 ft extension[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]4. After 6 hours of intense grinding and sanding, no more surface rust, only some smooth primer. Then I cut it in half to add the 3 ft extension[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]5. My new 5' X 11' trailer, ready for the real fun to start![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]6. After a morning of gathering, tanks, grates, and metal, I am ready for the real designing[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]7. Here's my design of the reverse flow smoker. This is using the 275 gallon tank as the smoke box and the 120 gallon tank as the firebox. Try to imagine this as a cutaway. I will have three racks for meat. The hooks hanging from the top are for when the racks are removed, so I am able to smoke fish[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]8. This is a "to scale" picture looking from the top down. Each block represents 6". The right side of the trailer will be dominated by the smoker while the left will have my two burner range. The grill is going to be an open grill consisting of the 2nd 120 gallon propane tank split in half, one side covered with a 1/4" piece of steel for a griddle, the other half covered with my grill grate. So far this configuration makes the most sense, but I am open to suggestions.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]9. after about 20 hours of work over 5 days spread over 3 weeks, this is where I'm at. I put the tanks on there temporarily (sitting on tires) just to make sense of it and feel like I'm getting somewhere. My next step is to drop the propane tank about 6 inches lower and frame it into the trailer and then frame in the oil tank about 6 inches higher so they will be on the correct plane. After that, I will need to cut out the holes to connect the two.[/FONT]

After 6 hours of intense grinding and sanding, no more surface rust, only some smooth primer. Then I cut it in half to add the 3 ft extension

 

[Hook_Line_and_Sinker]

Welcome!

You have been one busy boy! And tired I bet ( might be from sanding cutting and extending it 3 times :grin:

It's looks like you have some nice plans and ideas of what you want in a finished unit. Seems like a perfect time to ask the experts for input, and I'm sure the fabricators around here will pipe in on what looks to be a good start on an awesome rig.

I'll be keeping an eye on this for sure so please keep us posted

 

[LoneStarMojo]

Nice work! It's definitely build season...Hopefully I'll be on mine this time next year. Keep rollin that pron out because we love it!

 

[jestridge]

Looks like you have a plan

 

[Bbqin fool]

Watching...op2:

 

[Twelvegaugepump]

Great start! I am going to keep an eye on this. Where are you thinking of mounting the griddle and do you have plans yet for it? I would like to add one as well. Nice start!

 

[jbuntingsr]

Thanks for sharing

 

[unklechuckles19]

Looks great! Keep the updates coming, I love watching these builds.

 

[dales133]

good luck with your build mate, far more ambitious than mine looks fanburgerflippintastic so far
it looks like its gonna be an awsum machine

 

[Jsoda17]

Thank you for all of the positive comments. So far it's been a great learning experience. I've got plans for almost every of the build, but things are obviously changing as I go. The next step is to lower the firebox tank about 6 inches by framing it into the trailer. Following that, I will raise the smoke box by 6 inches so the bottom of the smoke box is level with the top of the firebox. I'm still trying to figure out if i need to put a damper in between the two or if it will be fine with just an opening leading underneath the baffle plate. Any thoughts on this?

For the grill/griddle I am going to try to make them as simple as possible. First, I'll cut the 2nd propane tank i have vertically in half. Once I get the precise measurements I'm going to decide if i want to cut the ends off one side and make a really long grill/griddle or if I want to just keep the halves complete and have two separate operations. I'm leaning towards combining them to make one 80 inch machine rather than two 44 inch versions. Either way, they will be open air, so no cover. I will have a grate in the bottom for the fire and slides to open up to create more draft next to the fire. From there, I'll get 1/4" steel plate for the griddle and use the screens for the grill side.

I would love to be able to design a way to raise and lower the flame to the grill but cant think of an easy way to make this happen. Instead, I'll just have to do old school fire control and learn the best setup.

Any thoughts on the firebox to smoke box dimensions? I'm probably a little bit over the 3:1 ratio, more like 2:1. Lets hope the heat will be controllable.

Thanks for all the good feedback. I would love to get some good tips and unique ideas. More pics to come tomorrow after a couple of hours of working on it.

 

[martyleach]

Fun to watch. Keep 'em coming.

 

[Jsoda17]

Thank you for all of the encouragement. I had another build day and am sad to say that things move very slow! I think because a lot of it is plan as you go with this project, I am having to spend lots of time figuring out what I would like to do and then even more time executing.

The good news is that I was able to mount my firebox and lower it to exactly where I wanted it. I also cut brackets that will raise the smoke box to the top of the firebox. I cut the hole in the smoke box where I will be connecting it to the firebox. I'm thinking getting those two to mesh up will be quite the challenge. Any input on the best way to cut the hole in the firebox to make them mesh easily?

The last thing I got done was plasma cutting the second tank to be able to open it up for my grill/griddle. It isnt completely apart because of some of the slag that remelts. After some more cutting, it should fall right apart. Goal for next week is to mount the smoke chamber to the firebox and start to frame out the doors, create the racks, and possibly do a burn to get rid of some of the paint/oil residue.

Feel free to give some feedback! Thank you

 

[Jsoda17]

Another update. Everything seems to be coming together fairly easily. Obviously there are some roadblocks to overcome but nothing a little thought and the welder have not been able to tackle.


Here is the frame to hold the tank upright. It has created a great spot underneath the tank for some storage. I'm not sure how I'll use it but I could picture some drawers underneath.



This is the tank upright. It is level with the top of the firebox. The halved tank is not exactly in the right place but is there to give a general idea. That half will be the griddle and the other half of it will be the open grill.


Opening from the firebox to the smoke chamber. Any thoughts on using muffler putty to fill in some of the gaps there may be? What else can be used to seal doors/ openings?


Below is how the trailer is sitting now. The tanks are welded to the frame of the trailer. Next step is to get the rf baffle plate framed out and installed. I also need to figure out how to make air intakes in the firebox. I am thinking that below the top rail of the frame will be a perfect spot. Somehow I also need to to make an ash door. I cant picture exactly how that will work yet. Maybe a drop out bottom? From there, I will weld the angle iron in for the racks, create the racks themselves, mount op the doors and start to do some test burns. Sounds simple huh?



Please give some helpful ideas and concerns you may see with the plans. Thanks for following!

 

[superdan]

Great looking build. Man, you've asked a lot of questions... I keep hoping someone with more build experience will chime in quick like...

 

[Jsoda17]

Good evening everybody!

After a few build days and a two week road trip, I am back with some updates and in need of some serious help! Here's what I've got:

This is the center rack, still could use some help putting the finishing touches on. What should I use to keep the trays from flipping out when pulled out?


Inside of the smoker with a fresh 1/4 in. reverse flow plate


Think I'll be able to fit any meat in this baby??


Here's my biggest question, is this too tall?? I measured best I could from the top and it came in around 11 ft. from the top to the floor. I was able to pick up this 4.5in. OD sched 40 pipe for a great deal. The steal company hooked me up big time and sold me 14 ft for only $45 bucks with as many cuts as I wanted. Finally some good BBQ Karma coming around!


I am extremely concerned that the pipes are way too tall. According to the BBQ calculators, even this is about a foot too short based on my firebox dimensions. Does anybody think I should cut it? I'm not really worried about it being too big, only concern is the mobility of it. Feed back would be great here!


Once everything is mounted, I will continue framing the pipes in with the square tube. Because it is such a heavy grade steel mounted on a much thinner steel, I am having to reinforce the mounting big time. The last thing I need is for these pipes to fall off going down the highway


Now all I need to do is finish the smoke stacks, mount the doors and do lots of finishing and its done! I got a little excited the other night and ordered heavy duty barrel hinges, 4 river country 2in. thermos, the river country bear claw shredders, and the maverick E732. Getting closer...