275 oil tank on a trailer build

[mp4]

It's looking good!

[Rodcrafter]

I got some fenders called jeep fenders from Northern Tool. They have a flat top so it sorta helps


Making memories.

[Big T]

[Squiggle]

I know what you mean about laying a nice bead, it my zen place where I can forget about the kids & other annoying things.

[Rufus T. Doofus]

Made 3 cook chamber racks today and the supports that hold them up. I liked Smokeinthenoke's idea for bolting the rack supports to the tank instead of welding them in place. ( http://www.smokerbuilder.com/forums/vie ... 3&start=10). So I did something along those lines, just haven't bolted them in place yet. Their final location will be about 5" higher than where they currently sit. (One of the three currently is sitting below the door opening area.) Need to buy some 7" long bolts tomorrow and drill some holes

The three racks are 25" deep by 50" wide. Should be plenty big for anything I might want to cook. Still need to add some kind of a stop mechanism that will prevent the racks from accidentally flopping out while still allowing them to be intentionally removed. I'm sure there are some examples here in the forum.

[Squiggle]

Well done dude!

[Rufus T. Doofus]

Started welding the CC to the FB today. It's all starting to come together nicely.

Trying to plan the door sealing mechanism for the FB door now before I weld hinges on and finish skinning the outer FB in 1/8" steel. I know it looks like there's a huge gap above the FB door. Keep in mind that I haven't welded the inner top 1/4" ceiling into the FB yet. My door opening is a little out of square too, but not too badly.

Hoping to get the baffle plate sheared tomorrow and welded into place.

I decided to move the axle out of the way to facilitate welding the FB under the CC. It's much easier to work on the CC racks without that axle in the way.

[Squiggle]

Well done!

[Rufus T. Doofus]

Progress.

I'm very pleased with the way the CC doors worked out. Still need to figure out the latching mechanism but that should be fairly straightforward. I think they will seal up quite well using 1" gasket material. I used a few small pieces of the gasket material when clamping the doors in place to weld the hinges.

The pre-fab sliding air intakes are very easy to use. Just need to make sure I don't get crazy with the paint on them since it's a snug fit on the slider.










I've figured out how I'm going to seal the FB door. I'm going to do internal and external 'flanges'. (guessing that's a appropriate description.) Basically I'll have a picture frame of angle on the inner door and 1/4 flat stock on the outer door overlapping the visible gap by 1". Then I'll use two layers of 1/2" rope gasket to seal the inside and outside of the door. Might be overkill, might not even work. Just trying to make sure that combustion air comes in through the side pre-heater ports instead of a leaky door.

I'm kinda stumped on how to best mark/scribe a cut line on the rounded top of the tank to insert the 6" pipe. I want a good fit for a half decent weld if possible. I think I might try rig up something like this with welding rods and a few bungee cords:

[Rodcrafter]

If you need to you could roll a piece of card stock the size of your pipe and just trim it until it sits the way you want it to then trace around it. There are other ways of course but this may be the 1 in years you need to do it so this is cheap and easy.

jm2cw

[Sand Hiller]

I've used a lot of cardboard in my smoker build!
Made several out of galvanized flashing when I built corrals out of oilfield pipe to mark for different miter cuts. Wrapped then around the pipe and used a plastic zip tie to hold them in place. Work like a charm and I have them on a peg for future reference. Might not ever use them again but I have 'em!

[Squiggle]

[Big T]

I also use cardboard cutouts a lot of times during my builds, it's cheap and easy to work with.

[Rufus T. Doofus]

Thanks for the suggestions. I have a roll of aluminum flashing here that would be perfect to create a shape to match the top of the tank. Hope to get on that tomorrow.

I'm really looking forward to firing this thing up. I'm going to try to burn it as hot as I can for 4 to 6 hours. When I weld on the tank the fumes from the metal are terrible. I may have to build a fire inside the tank to get the smell out of this thing.

[Frank_Cox]

Very awesome!
Nice damper lol!
That pipe tool is a great idea!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

[mofomatic]

When I did mine I was thinking the same thing, then I got tired of thinking and cut the hole in the tank oversized a little. Put the pipe in, leveled it up and welded the slight gap shut. Then ground flush on the inside.

[Rufus T. Doofus]

Very awesome!
Nice damper lol!

These dampers are really easy to use. Whoever designed them did a great job. ;)

[Rufus T. Doofus]

Cutting the hole for the 6" exhaust pipe was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I just tacked it in place plumb and then used a sharpie to scribe a line. Piece of cake to cut the hole with a jigsaw an clean it up with a flap wheel.

[Rodcrafter]

Yep, your a smoker builder for sure


Making memories.

[Squiggle]

[Smurf]

Nice build Rufus.

[Rufus T. Doofus]

Thanks. This has been a fun project for my first build. I'm hoping to fire it up for the first time later this week. Just waiting on some gaskets to finish the firebox.

[Stewart]

Good job on your build

[Rufus T. Doofus]

From past builds I do believe you will be moving the axle to the rear. A lot. I could be wrong, just my personal thoughts. Then again, I'm that guys that always runs heavy on tongue weight.

You're 100% right. I I need to add about 125 lbs of weight on the tongue end of the trailer just to keep the front on the ground while stationary. Take the weight off of the tongue and it's like a teeter totter with a fat kid at the other end.

The Toyota leaf springs I used are flat to negative. So I'll be cutting the suspension off and putting a 3500 lb trailer axle under it sooner than later.

[Rodcrafter]

You will be glad you did, when you change those springs.


Making memories.