Building a Frankenstein

[Texasbowhunter]

Hey Guys
I was thinking and thought I would get some thought from you guys that may have thought about this and/or built one...
I have a 30 gallon compressor that I was going to use to build my future son in law a smoker with and had tossed around the idea of a Frankenstein version of a Gravity feed one...
I was going to have the tank horizontally set and marry a gravity feed fire box system to it at one end...
I can just as easy make the tank verticule however it would limit him to size of brisket he would smoke being in the vertical mode...I would do it if it meant it would work...
The tanks lower plate which helps to move the heat (unsure of the correct terminology) would be the style in which the diffusor's can be adjusted to regulate the heat to be hotter on one end vs the other end...(not the solid baffle plate)
The doors on the fire box would be sealed just like the Gravity feed system has...The smoke stack would be on the opposite end from the firebox so the CC can get the complete draft from the heat sourse to the other end of the cook grate...
So If I was to get the firebox correctly sized to the 30 gallon tank and seal the lid of the smoker itself as well as the doors for the firebox....
do you think it would work
If not why...Would it be possible to overcome anything that may set it from not working?

In my feable little mind it seems it would work out...but what do I know when it comes to the efficiency of the smokers design...
Thanks
Paul

[pr0wlunwoof]

Conceptually it could work. Yet the time and effort to get it right would be immeasurable until after you were done. These gravity feed units are simple in concept, but expensive in parts and labor.

With that said from my experience, which is limited when compared to some of the guys on here, I would never try and make an air tight door from a rounded metal surface. Just getting the door of my reverse flow to sit and look right was a bit of a task. Also insulated cc and fB is a must on a gravity feed. Controlling the conversion of solid fuel to heat means you need to have the retention of as much energy as possible to precisely control temperature.

So my suggestion would be if your married to the 30 gallon tank think about making him a pellet popper. My friend just built one out of an old Vulcan gas stove and it works as good or better than anything you can buy.

I'm sure others will chime in, but that's my 2 cents.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[El Gato]

lookin

[Dirtytires]

A 30 gallon size is pretty small yet still requires almost as much work as a bigger unit. Just be careful it won’t get outgrown too soon. Love the idea but it just might not be real functional. With that said...I don’t know your needs so it just might be perfect for what you want.

[Chromeski]

Gonna be more work that building a reverse flow, but would be really cool If you pull it off.

[Texasbowhunter]

Yet the time and effort to get it right would be immeasurable until after you were done. These gravity feed units are simple in concept, but expensive in parts and labor. Yes that's why I thought about this method until I see he will use it as often as the cost and labor would justify...

I would never try and make an air tight door from a rounded metal surface. Just getting the door of my reverse flow to sit and look right was a bit of a task... I agree I could probably not get a completely air tight door but if I can get it close with gasket around the perimeter it would be a value that should help with the efficiency...

So my suggestion would be if your married to the 30 gallon tank think about making him a pellet popper. My friend just built one out of an old Vulcan gas stove and it works as good or better than anything you can buy...Something I have considered as well...may consider it again but trying to figure out a quaility pellet controller that would perform reliably for many years might be a task and get it for a reasonable price...

I have the fire box made already...nothing special though its all made out of 1/4" steel with 1/2" grate...Plan on putting a door on the ash box and the charcoal shout sealed with gasket...

If I go though with it I'll start a seperate thread on how its going and coming together and get some thoughts and views from you guys...