275 Gal. Fuel Oil Tank Offset Smoker

smokeinthenoke · Post by **smokeinthenoke** » March 17th, 2013, 7:25 am

I am new to the forum, but I'm working on my first custom smoker build. It's about half way done so I will try to start from the beginning and post pics and things in the order they happened. Honestly, I have no experience with welding/fabricating, so I found a local guy that I'm paying for the metal work. With his help, I have designed the smoker I've always wanted and really need at this point. Hopefully I will be able to use it for fun events, small competitions, and maybe even marketing my BBQ sauce that I hope to make a small side business out of. I will try to keep you all in the loop on where I got parts and things from and am open to any suggestions/ideas/criticisms that might help out. Hopefully I will be able to learn from this experience for future builds and to help others who are just starting out like me.

For starters I found this old fuel oil tank on Craigslist for $40.

Post by **Rodcrafter** » March 17th, 2013, 7:31 am

That is a start, since you are going to do the offset thing, have you considered the reverse flow added touch to that design? I find it to make a even temp across the whole cooking surface much better than the simple offset style. It is really just adding a baffle plate across under the bottom cooking grate from one end all the way across to the other with a gap at the end opposite from the fire box.
My $0.02

smokeinthenoke · Post by **smokeinthenoke** » March 17th, 2013, 7:47 am

Yes, I have added that into my design. My current cheapo smoker from kmart has major temp problems from one end to the other so reverse flow was a must for this project. Thanks Rod! I've got more pics on the way.

smokeinthenoke · Post by **smokeinthenoke** » March 17th, 2013, 7:54 am

Next step was to clean it out, cut the door opening (the piece that was cut out for the opening was reused for the doors), burn it out, and remove all that old paint and rust.

smokeinthenoke · Post by **smokeinthenoke** » March 17th, 2013, 8:03 am

I designed the smoker based on the Feldon's pit calculator. http://www.feldoncentral.com/bbqcalculator.html

I ordered the latches from kck.com and everything else from bbqequipmentstore.com (both sites have many of the same things, but BBQ Equipment store usually has better prices)

Doors in progress:

smokeinthenoke · Post by **smokeinthenoke** » March 17th, 2013, 8:09 am

Baffle plate added for reverse flow. It also helped straighten out the tank walls which warped a little when cut. The smoke stack holes were also cut at this point.

Gizmo · Post by **Gizmo** » March 17th, 2013, 9:22 am

Nice work! ... reminds me a little of alleyrat's ...

The Czar · Post by **The Czar** » March 17th, 2013, 9:23 am

Sweet it looks like a good start and you're on your way to having some good looking meat in the end!

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smokeinthenoke · Post by **smokeinthenoke** » March 17th, 2013, 10:06 am

Rick, can you send me a link to some pics of alleyrat's smoker? I'm always interested in seeing what others have done with the same basic idea.

Post by **Rodcrafter** » March 17th, 2013, 11:25 am

Your doing great, just looking at the holes on the right side of the CC. I'm guessing these are the 2 holes for the stacks, it is my experience and the pit calc. on this site that the size of these holes are a bit small. It will cause some restriction of the flow. Look on the front page of the site and run the dims through the calc., you will be glad you did. I like to put mine a little higher up too. My $0.02

Click on this link for the calc. http://www.smokerbuilder.com/pitcalc/

YouTube · Post by **Frank_Cox** » March 17th, 2013, 11:37 am

looks great!

Smokeone · Post by **Smokeone** » March 17th, 2013, 1:24 pm

smokeinthenoke · Post by **smokeinthenoke** » March 17th, 2013, 2:50 pm

Rodcrafter wrote:Your doing great, just looking at the holes on the right side of the CC. I'm guessing these are the 2 holes for the stacks, it is my experience and the pit calc. on this site that the size of these holes are a bit small. It will cause some restriction of the flow. Look on the front page of the site and run the dims through the calc., you will be glad you did. I like to put mine a little higher up too. My $0.02

Click on this link for the calc. http://www.smokerbuilder.com/pitcalc/

From what I'm understanding from these calculators, the key is total volume of the smoke stacks, right? They are 4" diameter each using these measurements:

I think if I calculated correctly I should have a total volume of about 1080 cu. in. which I thought was enough. Let me know what you think. Thanks!

smokeinthenoke · Post by **smokeinthenoke** » March 17th, 2013, 3:00 pm

By the way, anyone have some ideas for what to put the wood on in the firebox? I've seen some people build baskets out of expanded sheet they can pull in and out or just put in a shelf grate similar to the cooking grate in the smoke chamber. What do ya'll think? It's gonna be a 28" cube firebox with fire brick in the bottom.

Gizmo · Post by **Gizmo** » March 17th, 2013, 5:28 pm

I've tried them all and the suspended basket is the best all around ... unless your scrap pile takes you in a different direction....

smokeinthenoke · Post by **smokeinthenoke** » March 23rd, 2013, 8:55 pm

The Czar · Post by **The Czar** » March 23rd, 2013, 10:36 pm

Holy macaroni....that smoker is happy in the pic!

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Smokeone · Post by **Smokeone** » March 24th, 2013, 11:42 am

That is one happy cooker! Smiling for a firebox.
:LG:

smokeinthenoke · Post by **smokeinthenoke** » March 24th, 2013, 4:24 pm

SmokinFF · Post by **SmokinFF** » March 24th, 2013, 4:34 pm

Miketheforester · Post by **Miketheforester** » March 24th, 2013, 6:26 pm

Very cool build. I think that is the first time I have seen a smoker that large in a patio rig format.

Smurf · Post by **Smurf** » March 24th, 2013, 6:54 pm

Very nice setup. Like that you have multiple racks for lots of food!! What size FB are you putting on there

smokeinthenoke · Post by **smokeinthenoke** » March 24th, 2013, 7:12 pm

Smurf wrote:Very nice setup. Like that you have multiple racks for lots of food!! What size FB are you putting on there

28" cube

smokeinthenoke · Post by **smokeinthenoke** » March 30th, 2013, 9:51 pm

Post by **Rodcrafter** » March 31st, 2013, 7:19 am

Your coming right along. good job!

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