To be honest I'm jealous... Not only is it going to be a nice cooker, but flat out...it was a genius idea to mount a cooker on a riding lawmower frame so you can just drive your grill wherever you want to park it!!!
I thought about leaving a motor on it so I could just drive it around but decided I had better put a tongue on it and pull it around with my other riding mower!!! Ha! Ha!
Dirtytires you can get a lot of press from a 5th wheel trailer jack. I came up with the idea a long time ago when I needed to straighten something an didn't have a press. I call it my "redneck press."
Making a little progress. It is so hot that I only work 2 or 3 hours in the morning when it is cooler in my "air conditioned shop"! FB welded to CC and BP and drain welded in the CC. FB door made and next I will make hinges and attach the CC door.Working on the SS.
Making progress! Hinges welded on CC door and FB door and latch in place. The CC door is a little heavy and tall to open so I am making a counter balance out of a 24" piece of 4" pipe. Is there a formula for how long to make the attaching arms to get the right balance? I am thinking of making them 12" long which would be one half the length of the 4" pipe. Any advice or suggestions?
The best way I know to do it is, install the stand off then the pipe, fill it with long pieces of re bar or other cheap steel until it feels like you want then wend the ends on it.
Current Smokers: Backyard RF Offset and Hybrid RF Offset trailer rig with Cowboy cooker and fish fryer, always room for more........
That's what my guy did.. I picked the size pipe I wanted for the arms and crossbar. He tacked it all together, Then he kept putting scrap metal inside the crossbar and opening the door until it felt good... Capped the ends. That's all she wrote.
Made the counter balance and welded on. Made the standoffs 14" long. Worked out good; filled the pipe with scrap iron pieces and welded them inside the pipe to keep them from rattling before capping pipe. Door opens easy but still heavy enough to stay closed tight. Thanks for the advice.
Smoker has been on hold since August 29 when we found out my wife of 61 years had lung and bone cancer. She passed away on November 22 and I laid her to rest on November 25. I will soon get back to working on the smoker.