Standard Offset Trailer Build

[dacolson]

Picked this little honey up today. 120 gallon. Note to everyone filling a propane tank w/ soap and water: Do it in your neighbor's yard ... and when your wife isn't around! Man that thing stinks!

Here is the basic plan - standard offset w/ warming chamber. Excuse the rough sketch up. I'm using an outdated app lol

All to Pit Calc measurements. Right now, the plan is to cut the end off the tank for the FB. I have a 60 gallon tank I could sacrifice for the WC and the FB but at 19.75" diameter, it seems a bit small for the FB. It would have to be 24" deep. Seems weirdly long and skinny in my head. It would be great to have a full 60" CC though. I'll mess around and see if it doesn't look too awkward.

This will go on a trailer. Need to find a good cheap craigslist deal. So far I have the material for CC, WC and FB all for $300.

[hogaboomer]

That tank looks brand new!

[dacolson]

I know, right? I even got the guy to burn off the rest of the propane and pull the plugs for me 3 days before I picked it up even. Still stinks like A$$. My god it's bad.

[hogaboomer]

That one I been working on stills stinks whenever I weld something on it. That mercaptan is something else.

[dacolson]

did you burn it out yet?

[Big T]

That'll be a nice rig!

[dacolson]

That'll be a nice rig!

Thanks! This one’s sold already. Apparently someone in TN wants a smoker from MN!

[hogaboomer]

did you burn it out yet?

I burned it out after I cut it in half and I also test fired it to check convection, when I got it put together. I never soaked it with soapy water, though. I guess I need to put a big fire in it before I get it painted.

They finally called me back this week to my regular welding job, so smoker building is on hold for a while. They didn't need me at all for 6 months, now all of a sudden they need me 6 days a week. Seems like bad planning to me.

[dacolson]

Lol. Sounds about right. Glad you’re working again.

[andysmoked]

Wow! Tanks aren’t that readily available in my area. Particularly big ones. Looking forward to watching more of your fine work.


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[dacolson]

Wow! Tanks aren’t that readily available in my area. Particularly big ones. Looking forward to watching more of your fine work.


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Thanks Andy.

[dacolson]

Any opinions on a round firebox with a diameter of 20" and depth of 30"? Seems really long to me.

[Big T]

I agree that it seems really deep but I think the 20'' diameter would be the greater concern. I had a 24'' round FB and it was crowded inside, even with a small fire basket. Mine had a flat end with a square door, it might have been a little better if the entire end of the FB was the door. I'm sure you can make it work if you choose to go that route.

[dacolson]

I'm running some options by the buyer. Trying to encourage him to let me build a square FB. He's hung up on the round. I'm going to keep an eye out for a piece of pipe 24" or bigger.
Alternatively, if we went with the 20" diameter tank, I could do a door on the round side - the 30" length - of the tank instead of the end. Would make fire management easier. Vents on the end. Thoughts?

[Big T]

I think that's a better idea to put the door on the side instead of the end. I have my intake on the fire box door and it works great, the only draw back is when the wind blows straight into the intake and it messes with the temperature. It's not something that you can't overcome, I usually prop a piece of wood in front of the intake. My last smoker had intakes on both sides of the FB so I could close one off if the wing was blowing directly in it.

[dacolson]

Thanks Big T. I'm warming up to the idea.

[dacolson]

Updates. Lots of back and forth on the design. He finally settled on a square firebox and no warming chamber. Simplifies things a ton and leaves the whole 120 gallons for Smokey goodness.

Finished my 3rd washout and rinse. Bought out all the Dawn dish soap at Target.



Cut out the bungs on what was the top. I’m going to flip the tank and make that the bottom. Will patch them and reuse one bung closer to the end as the grease drain.



Cut out the firebox opening and burned it with the weed burner. This looks safe right?




Dave C - Smoking meat - Offset RF Smoker. Big Green Egg. Homemade mailbox cold smoker.
Novice welder - Everlast PowerMTS 252STi
Farmington, MN

[dacolson]

Opinions wanted: a single 51” door w counterweight or 2 x 24” doors w a 3” spacer in between? My buddy wants 2 x 24. It may be useful for smaller cooks. Any reason to push for a single big door?

[Big T]

I personally prefer a single door just because the option to cook something large is always there. The main drawback that I can think of with 2 doors vs 1 is that you have 2 chances for a door to warp. Is there a particular reason that he want's 2 doors ?

[dacolson]

I think he’s just worried it will be too awkward. He thinks it will be better for small cooks too.
How big is your single door?

[Big T]

I believe that it's 44'' or right at it and it's 3/8'' thick. I have a counter weight and it opens with very little effort. Once the pit is up to temp 45-60 minutes I can open the door to load, spritz or rearrange whatever I'm cooking and it will be back to the same temp in 5 minutes or less after I close the door. I will say from a builder/seller stand point, I've found that it's normally best to build what the buyer is wanting unless it's something that will cause performance issues. I normally make recommendations to my customer as to what seems to work best and let them make a decision from there. I will not build anything that I don't feel will work/perform correctly, I just don't want my name on it. I'm also not a ''pit builder'', I normally build 2 or 3 per year because I don't have a lot of spare time from my real job.

[dacolson]

Same here on the number of builds. I couldn’t do more and make any money. Good advice on taking his request to heart. I already won one battle w/ the square FB!
Appreciate the thoughts.

[dacolson]

Picked up a trailer today. It’s a little rough but heavy duty. Mocked up the build with the tank on the bed.




Dave C - Smoking meat - Offset RF Smoker. Big Green Egg. Homemade mailbox cold smoker.
Novice welder - Everlast PowerMTS 252STi
Farmington, MN

[andysmoked]

What had that trailer been used for previously?


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[dacolson]

Farm work. It’ll need some TLC