Any other 320 gallon smokers out there?

[john_az]

Hummm interesting... I like it.... If I do that, should I lower my smoke stack on the other end like a jambo, or keep it at grate level?

[dacolson]

Hummm interesting... I like it.... If I do that, should I lower my smoke stack on the other end like a jambo, or keep it at grate level?

Mine are at grate level.


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[john_az]

Got a bit more done.... Curious what you guys think about the ss plenum..I may have over though it..... I tried to do a hybrid of a smaller opening and a wide opening hahaha...supposedly the small openings "pull" harder...Like a vacuum cleaner with a smaller attachment... The smaller the tip, the more the suction kinda thing...?? Also I read on here some say if you have a 6"ID. Stack, then you should be able drop a 6" ball down it and have it end up in the CC....more of a ease of flow kind of theory.... But then some say the wider mouth helps draw the hot air more evenly across the grates... So I tried combine those schools of thought... I can drop a ball down it, and I have a narrow/smaller but wide opening, then added a little kicker at the end to help deflect air up more smoothly into the stack..... thoughts?

[Big T]

I don't see any issues with it and it looks awesome!

[dacolson]

Wow! That looks amazing. Great fab work. I’m of the school that less restriction is better. Smoother, more even airflow with less in the way to slow it down. I’m not an engineer though so ...
The other thought is that the plenum/smoke collector extends the area the air has to travel before redirecting upwards. The result is that you move the hotspot at the stack further from your grate at that end, increasing your usable cooking surface.
That said, your design doesn’t look like it would be bad. And since it looks like you are bolting your stack on, you could always cut the plenum out and redo it with a wider opening if you have hot spots there.
Love the creativity and look.

[john_az]

Also I added some counterweights to the doors... The were super heavy... I saw a smoker with a set up similar to this, thought it looks clean, but theirs had the cable routed on the outside, exposed between the two putter pulleys... I went for a cleaner look... Ran the cable inside the mount and used a third pulley to keep it rolling smoothly... It works great and I think it looks nice... Plus I have never seen one with internal cable routing before...so.. had to try it out hahaha. Also made my out cable crimps... There were not many clean options available... I didn't like those hunky standard aluminum you crimp on... So I make some from stainless, fastened them and used some silicon bronze rod to hide it all, and clean it up... I think with that stainless cable, it turned out pretty nice.

[dacolson]

So cool ...


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[Big T]

[SheffSmoker]

Absolutely love that pulley system!

[Cole Leffert]

You have some amazing fabrication skills!! Looks great!!

[john_az]

Finished up a few more things, beefed up the fb door, added slider handles to the lower side fb air vents (did not expect this, but right after I welded these, the main rod was crazy hot, as you all can imagine.. but I was able to pick them up the handle right away, not hot at all!!?? These work really well! These are not chrome, I found them in nickel, much better looking)
Got the temp gauge installed, I was worried about how exposed the probe was, and wanted to protect it from a wild brisket party inside.. so I build it a little roll cage haha

I have a question... How do people attach this fire beaded rope seal in the fb door? I see a lot of people using this, it must hold up better than the flat stuff... Any ideas? I know the hi temp rtv won't work...as it will get more than 500 degrees.... Any ideas?

[dacolson]

Love the touches. cool roll bars. That door is killer.

I use Rutland cement. 2000 degrees

[john_az]

Ahhh!!! Thank you!!! Ordered!! Will be here Friday! Thanks so much!!!

[dacolson]

YW. I use it on my big green egg gaskets too.


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[john_az]

Pretty much final question.... Almost done with this project!!!!

The cover on the top of the chimney... Is that just to keep rain/bird pooooo out of your cooker... Or are people fine tuning flow by closing that off or opening that up in certain situations? It seems to me, you would always want it wide open.... And the cover would just be for rain... But I've seen some that look like they have the capability to be open specific certain amounts... and some that don't have any flap or cover on top of the chimney at all....Any thoughts on this?

[dacolson]

Standard offset you use the stack damper to control heat for sure.

[Dirtytires]

A properly designed pit will be easily controlled by the air intakes. The chimney should most be left wide open so that it can exhaust properly....closing it just backs up the airflow. Think of it like your gas truck engine....you decrease the fuel as opposed to pinching off the exhaust. Some people do use it to fine tune their pits but you will promote a much cleaner/efficient fire if you use the air intakes only.

[hogaboomer]

I always heard the stack stays open, and you control the heat at the fire end. I do close it off for a short time, if the fire gets out of control, though. That or open the cook chamber door to let some heat out.

[dacolson]

On a reverse flow, airflow is controlled at the firebox. On a traditional offset, heat is controlled first at the stack, then the vents at the fb and last you pull coals from the fire. Reverse flow needs wide open stacks - the last restriction is the baffle gap. Standard offset has only vents and and the damper on the stack. So you cut exhaust at the stack first to slow airflow and then cut air to the fire if it doesn’t slow down. Heating up is wide open. Slowing down starts at the stack and works backwards on a standard offset.

[D . Jur]

On all YouTube videos, on traditional offsets, the pitmaster leaves the door half or a quarter open ... the question is, why don't they use the holes in the doors?
For example Primitive pits or Fatstack smokers.

[D . Jur]

Hummm interesting... I like it.... If I do that, should I lower my smoke stack on the other end like a jambo, or keep it at grate level?

Did you made a deflector on the throat, or not ?

[Big T]

On all YouTube videos, on traditional offsets, the pitmaster leaves the door half or a quarter open ... the question is, why don't they use the holes in the doors?
For example Primitive pits or Fatstack smokers.

I'm sure that they have their reasoning for doing it that way but I really don't understand why they wouldn't use an adjustable intake. We've had quite a few guys lately that were using the door instead of an intake and they were having temperature issues and lack of smoke flavor issues. After a few forum members recommended that they add an intake and give it a try, their problems were solved. It seems that a lot of heat and smoke make their way out of the fire box door instead of traveling through the cook chamber.

[D . Jur]

On all YouTube videos, on traditional offsets, the pitmaster leaves the door half or a quarter open ... the question is, why don't they use the holes in the doors?
For example Primitive pits or Fatstack smokers.

I'm sure that they have their reasoning for doing it that way but I really don't understand why they wouldn't use an adjustable intake. We've had quite a few guys lately that were using the door instead of an intake and they were having temperature issues and lack of smoke flavor issues. After a few forum members recommended that they add an intake and give it a try, their problems were solved. It seems that a lot of heat and smoke make their way out of the fire box door instead of traveling through the cook chamber.

Interesting opinion about smoke leaking through the door ...
I will have to try to work with the holes, anyway I want to rebuild my firebox.

[D . Jur]

Backpreasure maybe?

[towtruck]

Beautiful work.....now get the dang thing dirty!!!