cannibalized Traeger

[slowboat76]

Hey guys hadn't been around in a while, been using my home built reverse flow and traeger and was content at the moment until we got pounded with a wind storm and my traeger ended up looking like a pretzel. And that brings me to where I am now, I trashed the Traeger body and went to town yesterday and bought a trailer of assorted metals and have started the next journey. I am building a frame out of 2x2x14 gauge metal tube that is 32" wide x 24" deep x 42" tall( inside cook chamber size). I have the 18" drive motor so take 2" off for the frame and I should be real close to center of CC. I packed all tubing with Roxul mineral wool and will compress a full 3" between the 2" walls. I had a sheet of 14 gauge bent to make the inner skin and will do the same for the outside with 14 gauge as well when I get it all welded up and ready to put outside on. There will be 2" of insulation on top and bottom as well. I have been looking at everyone elses and I think I know enough to get started on fire baffle plate. I think it needs to be about 7" off the floor which should put me about 4" above the top of fire pit(if that makes sense). I will then weld a grease catch at a slight downhill away from motor side about 1" above baffle plate with a pipe welded for a grease drain. I figured I would leave 1.5" space between grease trap and sides for heat to move up front and back. I will start first rack about 3" above grease catch and then space them about 6" or so apart to get 4 racks. So that's about it for now. I started today and got complete frame and inner structure built and welded and will start on top and bottom in the am. Anyway didn't get pics today but will throw some up tomorrow when I get started. Anyway if you guys see something that doesn't sound right, any suggestions or pointers, or have any questions let me know. I will recheck regularly for responses. Thanks in advance.

Also whats your thought on if this drive unit be able to heat this space efficiently. That's the one thing I had trouble deciding on was just how big a CC I could have and it still work fairly good.

[Squiggle]

Sounds like an interesting build, I'll be watching this one.

[sappleton]

sounds like my little project. Should work fine and i will have to let you know how my smoker works

[slowboat76]

Well been making good progress on this. Got the cabinet built and welded all together with the insulation in, legs and tires mounted. baffle plate and grease drain done, mounting system for firebox, and completely welded box at all seams just to make it look a little more finished. Built the 2 doors and got a warpage issue with the bigger door. I layed it on the concrete before I left today and put a 2000# bag of ballast on it to try and get it to de-stress and lay flat. I still have to cut and mount exhaust stack and cover, and weld in rack tracks and build the racks, figure out how to get temp probe through cabinet and get it mounted, and do a healthy amount of grinding and tidying up to make it look pretty. I am going to get it powdercoated black and I have a big metal razorback that is getting mounted to the front of it. I am really liking this one I just hope I have enough power to heat the box efficiently. I am going to try and attach some pics.

[slowboat76]

[Squiggle]

Nice work dude, looks like it coming along nicely!

[Big T]

Looks great!!


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[Rodcrafter]

I think it will have plenty of power to heat the whole thing. Since pellet poopers aren't normally insulated it should do fine


Making memories!

[slowboat76]

ok trying to button up the last few things on this beast before I see if I have failed miserably and this is where I have a question? is exhaust size critical and if so how do I figure out what numbers to use? I have a 2 foot piece of 4 inch square tubing and not sure how long it needs to be. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks

[Big T]

A vertical smoker doesn't have to have a stack, just an opening because the cabinet acts as the stack. You can use the 4'' tubing and it can be as short as you want it.

[slowboat76]

Thanks Big T I appreciate the info. That will make life easy then. It just boils down to aesthetics. I hope to have smoke rolling sometime today maybe.

[slowboat76]

Well no smoke today. Got exhaust on and latches installed, I put 2 on the big door and 1 on the firebox clean out door. welded up latches completely and made sure all gaps were ok. I think I am going to put a strip of door seal on both door and smoker to make sure it seals up good. I do have a question for you guys about weld seams? what can you use on angles where you welded together to make it look finished. the grinding just doesn't make it look like I think it should in my opinion. I know most will scoff at this but my OCD makes me want to just keep welding crap to it, lol Anyway if anyone has any suggestions I am all ears. TIA

[Big T]

I usually weld the seams a little bit high, knock them down close with a grinder and finish them off with a flap disc. If I try to get finished seams with the grinder it leaves a lot of deep scratches in the metal and looks terrible. It sounds like you are getting real close to being finished with it.

[Squiggle]

[slowboat76]

Thanks for the suggestion, but already tried that and its still not appealing, I may not have built it up enough to be effective. What do you guys think about using 1/2" angle with mitered cuts and uniformly spot welded around the perimeter to kind of frame the doors in? What you think? Any other ideas or suggestions is appreciated.

[Big T]

The angle iron is probably your best bet. It takes a lot of skill and even more luck to get long straight seams that aren't wavy. I usually don't get them perfect either, just get them to where I can stand to look at them. The best way to achieve the straight edges is to use a brake and bend the panels but most of us don't have access to all those awesome tools.

[slowboat76]

Well almost done with this so I decided to do a test fire and found out my temp probe was bad. Tried calling smoke daddy to get the updated parts kit to rebuild my entire hopper and cant get anyone on phone or a call back. Called to Smoker Builder HQ and spoke with Tom to see if he had parts, he was helpful but didn't have what I needed. I found a new probe on Amazon and got it installed only to find out it stripped a cog on auger motor when it was tossed across the yard in the storm and wont continuously work. Not sure where to turn now as I really want the Stainless pot and new controller with new drives and fans. I hate to but it looks as though this will be shelved until I can at least get the kit. Anyway I hate that and was sure wanting this to go on to a swift completion. I will get some pics today and put them up. Thanks for all the suggestions and help.

[Big T]

Man that sucks, maybe you can find what you need to get it going.

[ajfoxy]

[Rodcrafter]

I know you want to use this one but Tom and Frank have the whole unit(s) for sell maybe just get one and fix this one day if you can find the parts, then build another rig and sell it to get your money back on everything.

jm2cw

[slowboat76]

Well a little good news, it was raining today so I wasn't in the field and I attempted to contact Smoke Daddy one more time and what do you know I got a really nice guy that helped me get everything ordered and on its way. I went ahead and rebuilt it top to bottom. New PID controller (not sure what it does over my factory controller) auger motor, fan, auger, hot rod, fan motor, and stainless pot. Hope it gets here before Friday. Thanks for the idea Rodcrafter but I had already decided on that being my next move. I am a little more than anxious to get this working to see if I scored or pooch kicked it. lol

[Big T]

Awesome news!!

[slowboat76]

Well got it together for a prelim run and all went according to plan, I turned it to full blast and within 30 minutes I had it to 377* but was climbing slow and I was in a hurry so didn't let it creep up. This was without gaskets on either door and lots of heat escaping. Not sure about the smoke daddy fan as when it gets close to desired temp it "huffs" rapidly on and off. Is that normal for that brand as the traeger was a constant blow. So as I get time in the next few weeks I am going to clean it up and get handles built for it and when I get it all trimmed out its headed for powder coating and reassembly. Thanks for all the help guys.

[Big T]

I'm not sure if that's normal or not but I'm glad to hear that you've got it going your way now.

[Rodcrafter]

Yeah me too


Making memories!