Questions about the Gravity Feed Smoker Plans

[SeenRed]

Howdy folks,

I wanted to ask Frank (or anyone else who can answer, for that matter) some questions about the GF smoker plans. I'm hoping to start a build pretty soon, and I'll be buying a set of plans from SmokerPlans, but I'm still trying to decide which set of plans is appropriate for me. Here are my current questions:

1. Other than the dimensions, are the plans for the 3 GF smokers available at SmokerPlans basically the same? (e.g. do they all have the same design, the latest design updates, etc.) I'm asking because I haven't really decided on how big a cooker I want to build. I kinda think that my ideal cooker would be 4 racks that are around 24" x 24"...which is a little bigger than the Mini, and a little smaller than the standard original GF plans...which leads me to my next question...

2. If I wanted to build the pit I describe above, which set of plans would be more appropriate? I'm certainly no engineer, and I'm a fabricator/welder of only passable skills, so I'd like to get a sense of how much I could adjust the size of the cooking chamber without having to re-scale the whole design.

3. I didn't find CNC cut files for any of the GFs except the Double Pan...is that accurate? Also, if CNC files are available for the smaller cookers, would they be of any use if I plan to do most (or all) of the material cutting myself? I've got a plasma cutter, a dry-cut saw, and several angle grinders, and doing my own cutting would save me some money...plus I'm retired, and ain't got nothing but time.

I've got a couple of other little welding/fabricating projects to finish before I start a GF build, but I'm looking forward to starting it...and need some input from the more knowledgeable before I move ahead. Any thoughts?

Thanks!!
Red

[Dirtytires]

Im not frank...also cant answer most of your questions but that has never stopped me from jumping in. Ive not build a GF but might toss a few ideas at you.

I just wanted to touch on size. The 4 racks of 24 x 24 is a lot of rack space. Bigger is always better but realize that 16 sqft is a ton of rack space. My 24x48 reverse flowonly has a little over 10 sq feet and i can cook for 50-100people on it pretty easily. I know you can upscale the plans a bit but keep in mind that they are tried and true as it. Adjusting them sometimes has unwanted consequences. So my question is, not knowing your intended use, do you really need that much space?

The plans for my smoker did not come with a cnc file. All parts were drawn and dimensioned in easy to follow diagrams and i was able to cut everything myself. The advantage of the cncis that it “nests” all the pieces together so you use theleast amount of sheet material. You can do that yourself with some time but its kinda nice knowing you are making the most of every cut. And true...not all the GF have cnc files as its something fairly new.

With that said, welcome to the crew.

[pr0wlunwoof]

You have found a great project. I just finished my mini and it has been going through its paces without a hiccup.

Size - 4 racks fit in the mini. Just decide how much your going to cook and measure needed height. I can cook 6 15lb Boston Butts or 4 20lb turkeys. Added a 4th rack because I thought I might need it some day. You could add rails galore and move things around as needed. That being said I feed max 50-75 people at a time and dont care to feed any more. If I do I got another reverse flow. Mainly my mini is house hold parties and day to day.

CNC file - if your cutting it yourself the CNC file is useless. You can cut down on material if you buy the cnc and get it cut, but otherwise your paying for a file you probably won't be able to even open.

Other things -

Think allot about what you will use the most. Bigger does smaller but will you fire a bigger up to do a chicken or a rack of ribs.

Controllers for a GF is what turns a Cadillac into a space ship. You want a space ship. Controllers are the cats pajamas when it comes to low and slow or baking a cake at 325. Do not start the project without picking out and budgeting for a controller. If you do not know what a controller is ask.





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[Elmacho]

Howdy folks,

I wanted to ask Frank (or anyone else who can answer, for that matter) some questions about the GF smoker plans. I'm hoping to start a build pretty soon, and I'll be buying a set of plans from SmokerPlans, but I'm still trying to decide which set of plans is appropriate for me. Here are my current questions:

1. Other than the dimensions, are the plans for the 3 GF smokers available at SmokerPlans basically the same? (e.g. do they all have the same design, the latest design updates, etc.) I'm asking because I haven't really decided on how big a cooker I want to build. I kinda think that my ideal cooker would be 4 racks that are around 24" x 24"...which is a little bigger than the Mini, and a little smaller than the standard original GF plans...which leads me to my next question...

2. If I wanted to build the pit I describe above, which set of plans would be more appropriate? I'm certainly no engineer, and I'm a fabricator/welder of only passable skills, so I'd like to get a sense of how much I could adjust the size of the cooking chamber without having to re-scale the whole design.

3. I didn't find CNC cut files for any of the GFs except the Double Pan...is that accurate? Also, if CNC files are available for the smaller cookers, would they be of any use if I plan to do most (or all) of the material cutting myself? I've got a plasma cutter, a dry-cut saw, and several angle grinders, and doing my own cutting would save me some money...plus I'm retired, and ain't got nothing but time.

I've got a couple of other little welding/fabricating projects to finish before I start a GF build, but I'm looking forward to starting it...and need some input from the more knowledgeable before I move ahead. Any thoughts?

Thanks!!
Red

Welcome aboard!!

To keep you company until Frank chimes in I can answer these questions the best I can.

1.) To my understanding the Mini and the Double Pan are the same design and the regular GF is a close cousin. The Mini and the Double Pan have CNC files. If you have someone cutting for you it saves a lot of time because you would need to convey parts and dimensions to them and that can get costly unless you know them.

In the Mini you can do two things. You can add an extra rack or you can expand the cook Chamber by up to 20% and still be optimal on the firebox ratio. I believe this equates to 4” or 6” added to the height of the cook chamber allowing another grate with ease.

2.) you really sound like you would be perfect in the Mini with the extra cook chamber height.

3.) if you are going to cut everything yourself then the CNC wouldn’t be much use. But if you decide to take it somewhere and have them cut it. It’s pure gold!




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[Frank_Cox]

Well....
I hate to say it but we do have a couple things coming up very shortly that will change the Gravity Feed game entirely...

My advise?... stay tuned if you are not in a hurry and can wait a few weeks/ couple months, I think you will like what's coming up....

Sorry for the tease .... but this is gonna be awesome! I can't wait to build the first one!

feel free to give us a call if you want to know more... Number is 573-612-1315

I will announce the first one hopefully by the 6/16/18.

[ajfoxy]

Awesome... can't wait to find out what it is all about.

Will the metric Mack files be announced around that time?

[Frank_Cox]

Awesome... can't wait to find out what it is all about.

Will the metric Mack files be announced around that time?

Lol I really do have them. For real!

They should be actually

[McBroom]

Im not frank...also cant answer most of your questions but that has never stopped me from jumping in. Ive not build a GF but might toss a few ideas at you.

I just wanted to touch on size. The 4 racks of 24 x 24 is a lot of rack space. Bigger is always better but realize that 16 sqft is a ton of rack space. My 24x48 reverse flowonly has a little over 10 sq feet and i can cook for 50-100people on it pretty easily. I know you can upscale the plans a bit but keep in mind that they are tried and true as it. Adjusting them sometimes has unwanted consequences. So my question is, not knowing your intended use, do you really need that much space?

The plans for my smoker did not come with a cnc file. All parts were drawn and dimensioned in easy to follow diagrams and i was able to cut everything myself. The advantage of the cncis that it “nests” all the pieces together so you use theleast amount of sheet material. You can do that yourself with some time but its kinda nice knowing you are making the most of every cut. And true...not all the GF have cnc files as its something fairly new.

With that said, welcome to the crew.

Well done DT


I Love My 2018 RAM 2500HD 4x4 Off Road 6.4L. USMC (ret)

[JKalchik]

I ended up here as the result of using a HeaterMeter (electronic smoker controller, and yes, I'm a fan...) and a couple of HM users built gravity fed smokers. Once I figured out how the design worked, I knew that's what I was going to build.

Frank has something like 3 different size of gravity fed charcoal smoker designs, although, IMHO, there's not much difference between the standard and the double pan (24x26 vs. 25x28 inch racks, and the air inlet location.)

I dithered over building a mini up to the double pan. There's really no difference in charcoal usage, in my opinion, between the mini and the double pan. I can smoke a single chicken in either. The double pan design can smoke at least 3 times as much food, though, and while I don't have to use the extra space, I can't use it if I don't have it. I'll be smoking for probably 60 people in 3 weeks (won't even have paint on it yet.) I have storage space for the double pan, so that's not a deal breaker. The only real difference is in the build cost. Go big or go home.....

[SeenRed]

Thanks for all the replies fellas...

Couple of other things I probably should have mentioned in the OP:

my question is, not knowing your intended use, do you really need that much space?

With that said, welcome to the crew.

I own a GF cooker now...it's a Southern Q Limo Jr. Great little cooker that I like very much, but its just not big enough. I wouldn't need four 24 x 24 racks very often, but my next cooker will be big enough to handle anything I can see myself ever needing.

Controllers for a GF is what turns a Cadillac into a space ship. You want a space ship. Controllers are the cats pajamas when it comes to low and slow or baking a cake at 325. Do not start the project without picking out and budgeting for a controller. If you do not know what a controller is ask.

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Yep...I use a Guru DigiQ on my current GF cooker, and you're right...its the only way to fly. Any GF I build will be equipped with a controller.

Welcome aboard!!

In the Mini you can do two things. You can add an extra rack or you can expand the cook Chamber by up to 20% and still be optimal on the firebox ratio. I believe this equates to 4” or 6” added to the height of the cook chamber allowing another grate with ease.

2.) you really sound like you would be perfect in the Mini with the extra cook chamber height.

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Thanks Elmacho...that's pretty much what I was asking regarding expanding the chamber on the Mini. I think you may be right...the Mini might be the one.

Well....
I hate to say it but we do have a couple things coming up very shortly that will change the Gravity Feed game entirely...

My advise?... stay tuned if you are not in a hurry and can wait a few weeks/ couple months, I think you will like what's coming up....

Sorry for the tease .... but this is gonna be awesome! I can't wait to build the first one!

feel free to give us a call if you want to know more... Number is 573-612-1315

I will announce the first one hopefully by the 6/16/18.

Hmmm...thanks for the tease Frank! I'm not in a rush yet cuz I've got some other projects to wrap up before I've got the room in my garage for this build. So I might just wait on this to see what's coming...


Oh, and thanks for all the welcomes too...but I should add that I've been a member around here for a little over a year. Don't post too often cuz I haven't started a build yet, but I check in to see what's new nearly every day...especially in the GF sub-forum. I've watched pretty much every GF and Stumps Clone build that's every been posted here. Some might purty builds you guys have done!

Thanks again for the comments!
Red

[pr0wlunwoof]

Well....
I hate to say it but we do have a couple things coming up very shortly that will change the Gravity Feed game entirely...

My advise?... stay tuned if you are not in a hurry and can wait a few weeks/ couple months, I think you will like what's coming up....

Sorry for the tease .... but this is gonna be awesome! I can't wait to build the first one!

If you make me have to build another smoker I might have to live in my shed.

[JKalchik]

If you make me have to build another smoker I might have to live in my shed.

Scoot over, doggone it.

[Frank_Cox]

If you make me have to build another smoker I might have to live in my shed.

Scoot over, doggone it.

hahahaha right!!!!

[BillyR52]

Well....
I hate to say it but we do have a couple things coming up very shortly that will change the Gravity Feed game entirely...

My advise?... stay tuned if you are not in a hurry and can wait a few weeks/ couple months, I think you will like what's coming up....

Sorry for the tease .... but this is gonna be awesome! I can't wait to build the first one!

If you make me have to build another smoker I might have to live in my shed.

Looks like I better hurry up and finish this mini.....[emoji848]



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[JKalchik]

Well....
I hate to say it but we do have a couple things coming up very shortly that will change the Gravity Feed game entirely...

My advise?... stay tuned if you are not in a hurry and can wait a few weeks/ couple months, I think you will like what's coming up....

Sorry for the tease .... but this is gonna be awesome! I can't wait to build the first one!

feel free to give us a call if you want to know more... Number is 573-612-1315

I will announce the first one hopefully by the 6/16/18.

<JudgeSmales> Well? We're WAITING! </JudgeSmales>

There's a couple of people here in the office who are kind of jonesin' to see what you're talking about, Frank.

[ajfoxy]

There you go Frank I can see it is getting to the time again...

And it's not even me doing the asking

[Frank_Cox]

Hahaha right!
Well I hate to say it but we are still waiting on a couple more things to come together before we can actually make the announcement

[JKalchik]

I should know about product delays due to supply/supplier issues. Please..... ship a good product.

[ajfoxy]

Frank is there going to be a seismic change in the gravity fed smokers? I'm about a third way into a couple of mini's. They unfortunately have been that way for some considerable time as life got in the way a bit. And if it is going to be something radically different... and sooo much nicer then I might want to stop and change plans mid stride so to speak.

[Dirtytires]

AJ—-id just finish those, sell them and build three more new ones. No big deal, right?

[ajfoxy]

Thanks DT.... those two were for me... well one for me and one for my son-in-law.
But maybe you are right... if radically different I'll finish those, flog them off and build another two for our use.
Jeez so many projects, so little time and money and as I get older it takes me soooo much longer to do anything.
OK enought whinging, back to the shed.

[Dirtytires]

Yep...you would have one done already......

[pr0wlunwoof]

It is going to blow your mind and your budget.

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[Weldun]

Seems like time and money are polar opposites for me, I can't ever seem to get them together.

[Big T]