Selling pits

[argolee504]

I have alot of materials collected up for building pits some 250 and 500 gallon tanks As a few of you might know Ive been trying to raise money for a lady with cancer and had planned on building up some of this stuff to sell . Will use the plans from here as there is no reason to reinvent the wheel as far as design goes.I guess I was just wanting to know is this if the design is proven and the fabrication is right what would be a fair price to ask for these like the 250 gal and the 500 gal.and would these sizes be something that would sell reasonably fast or would I be better off to just scrap the iron and send her that money. Work has been really slow here and I have a lot of time but no money to help them out with expences now so this idea came up to build the material up and try to sell it that way . any ideas would be appreciated

argolee504

[The Czar]

If you are asking about Franks plans they are most defiently spot on!!! The feldon calculator works but not as accurate as Franks.....

[argolee504]

yes franks plans is what I will be using I am building a big one to use but thought about selling the smaller 250 gal ones. Just trying to make as much as possible for them. But what would be a fair price to ask after they are built for a 250 and a 500 gal rig. Or would holding a raffel for the pit work better Looking for ideas
argolee504

[The Czar]

I think a raffel is a great idea.....like $5.00 a ticket.....

[TuscaloosaQ]

There are really basic pits, custom pits, this is a very hard question to answer. It is kinda like cars,do you want the corolla, camry, land cruiser, get my picture. You arer wanting to do an admiral thing by helping this lady. Go online and look at other builders and prices figure your material, labor and go from there ask yourself is my product from a quality standpoint equal to or better??? Make it attractive looking if it is basic thats ok, but try and make it the best basic one around. A lot of builders have built and earned there reputation, you do the same, word of mouth goes a long long long long long Way!!!!!! I wish you the best in you endeavors. Someone may give you a better answer, but I answered to the best of my ability and knowledge.. Above all take pride in what you do, cause people are visual!!!!!!

[Frank_Cox]

As far as the price to sell the pits at TQ is right. I wil tell you this, If you have the tank, and build a "Marketable" smoker, and buy the steel to build the smoker and the trailer with you will have around $1500.00 invested between the smoker and the trailer. "Marketable" meaning comparable to other manufacturers workmanship. Now lets talk about the consumables and the labor.....

[Frank_Cox]

sorry had to pick up the baby...
anyway, If you are going to build one or 2 smokers you will be hard pressed to make a significant profit. Profit in any kind of fabrication comes from Brand recognition, Consistency, and Lean Manufacturing. These things only happen in volume. Not trying to discourage you from building the smokers but trying to make sure you see the other side of the equation.

[k.a.m.]

argolee504, through a charitable raffle or auction with an unknown builder I would figure a 250 build of basic needs would go for around 1000.00 to 1500.00. This I figured on several things.
1.) No labor included in the build.
2.) Most of the high item materials are already on hand.
3.) Eat the coast of most of the consumables.
In a depressed economy if you are wanting to get top dollar for your build it needs to stand beside the likes of JJ's pits Gator pits, and Klose Pits. All these builders ship anywhere in the continental U.S. at reasonable prices. You are doing this for a good cause and I applaud you for this. Your donation to this cause is build the best cooker you can and let it go at a below retail price to help the recipient, this is how you will sell this cooker.
These are just my thoughts.
I cannot help you with plans I work from years of experience building cookers. From what I gather Franks plans are solid, I have never seen them but I have seen pics of cookers built by them and they look awesome.
Feldon's calculator is derived from Tom. C.'s on the smoke ring they are solid numbers that work. I prefer Tom. C.'s excel version it is what I use because I prefer it.

[Smoke_Chef]

argolee504... where are you located? I may be your first customer? I'm about to start a build. I talked to Frank about it today. I'm wanting a trailer mounted RF and Rib box. (Also called a warmer box) Mine needs to be big enough to smoke a whole hog. I also want it to have a damper that allows the vertical (or main) meat box to be shut off and then the heat goes straight to the rib box. This way, this smoker works for big jobs and is still efficient enough for small smokes as well. Frank says he has plans already that will work for what I'm looking for. A buddy of mine from church and I were going to start this pretty soon. But, since you're doing this as a fund raiser, maybe I should be your first customer? If this sounds like a project you think you can tackle. Let's talk. Now... I should say... I got to talk to my buddy too. He may be set on us doing it. Right now though... I figure it can't hurt for us to chat about it.

[Frank_Cox]

That would be a great idea!

[Frank_Cox]

BTW, he is in Texas I believe, so he is not far from you

[argolee504]

Ill build anything you want and if it is not really really nice and to your liking then you dont have to take it and no feelings hurt. call me 940-414-1142