Got all the supplies but ain't got no skills!

[Scrapdaddy]

Hey guys. You all have a great site here. I could look at these pages for days reading about your builds.
I manage a scrap yard is S.E. Oklahoma and have access to anything needed to build the smoker of my dreams for pennies on the dollar, but I don't have the equipment, space, or skills to do the build. Is there anyone in the area that might be able to help with the fab work in exchange for all the steel needed to build your own monster smoker? Thanks.

[Frank_Cox]

I don't know how close OkieCooker is but look him up on here. you can find him in the members list. I think he is near OKC. Good luck on your build!!!

[Scrapdaddy]

Thanks. I saw his build pics and WOW. I have a friend who is an awesome welder and has a full shop who wants to join in. Now the tough part will be deciding what to use. I was leaning towards some 28" pipe i have until I realized it was 1/2 in. thick and weighs about 150 lbs. per foot. (Maybe for the firebox? Definantly no insulation needed) I think we will start with a propane tank. I have 2 set aside. One is 48"x 72" and while I think it would be interesting, I'm not sure how something that fat and short would work out with a rf design. The other is about 28" x 16'. I think this is the winner. We may hold off a bit for it to cool down and I am sure we will have many questions along the way. Until then, lots of research and playing with the pit calc.

[SoloQue]

One is 48"x 72" and while I think it would be interesting

That's is actually a tank I was looking for when I first started the ideas for my smoker. I really like the width and the height that comes with it. I was envisioning front and back doors. I was even going to cut it down to 48 x 60 to give a more stable temp. from front to back. Looking forward to watching the build take shape.

[Scrapdaddy]

I see what you are doing... Yeah, go ahead. Bigger is better! Man that bigger tank would be perfect. My wife will quickly come to dislike guys if your peer pressure FORCES me into going bigger.

[Smokeone]

First off
Glad you joined us. We will supply all of the peer pressure you need.

[The Czar]

Welcome and you can always run your tank measurements thru the pit calculator and get an idea of what your options are...

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

[Clover Ridge Smokers]

Welcome!!

[Rodcrafter]

If it were up to me, I would cut the 28" tank in half making it 8' long then use the 1/2" x 28" stuff to make the FB for the 2, I would build, then sell one of them to recover all my costs for the one I would be keeping. Then your wife would like your friends and you would have an awesome cooker for free.

Does that sound like peer pressure?

lol

[Clover Ridge Smokers]

[Scrapdaddy]

So your saying if all your friends are jumping off a bridge you should open a BASE jumping business? I like it!

I think that is where we are going to start. Thinking of building one for each of us which doesn't help recover our expenses. Gonna keep that big fat tank for down the road a while. Better to make all of our mistakes on these smaller ones.

[Rodcrafter]

Better to make all of our mistakes on these smaller ones.

I like that "these smaller ones" if I understood you correctly these cooker will be a CC equal to 423 gallon tank. Nice "small cooker". lol It's all fun!

[Scrapdaddy]

Sorry, no the smaller ones will be the 30" (not 28" like I thought) x 16' cut in half to make 2 smokers. Each one if i sould be around 90 gallons if i didn't mess the numbers up too bad. Have some 1/4 diamond plate steel for the FB. I was running some numbers in the calc. Looks like by baffle plate will have to be 1 inch below the middle of the cc in order to have a big enough opening FB to CC. I was planning on having my bottom rack half way up to maximize surface area. Will a rack 1 inch above the baffle plate be too close? If I added a second rack higher up I would worry that there would be a large temp difference.

[Mettle]

Unless you need to cook cases of one type of meat, I would make the big pipe a traditional. That way you have different temperature zones and can cook different meats at different temps in the same pit.

Takes a little more mastery to cook on, but what a beast.

Good luck with your smaller pits.

[Scrapdaddy]

Wow. i was way off on my math for the CC volume. Each one will be just short of 300 gallins. Maybe not so small after all.

[Rodcrafter]

I must of had my numbers goofed too. Not counting the bell it is just under 300 gal. it will be nice sized though. You can do anything on that rascal.