250 Trailer Smoker

[Frank_Cox]

awesome!

[The Czar]

Sweet......slick idea with the door....

[jwsimpleville]

Cut up the pipe for the counterweights. Let me say, that was the MOST FRUSTRATING part of this build to date.

I tacked and cut loose only to reposition and tack again simply because things weren't lining up right.
At least now it's pretty darn close to flush. Oh and I cut one of the 4 support pipes to short so I found myself filling in about a 1/4" gap with weld.

[Miketheforester]

<null>

And that my friend is why metal fab is so much better than wood work. You can smooth that weld down and shoot some paint on it and it will look fine. With wood, the short piece might work, but you will still see that big ass chunk of wood filler when you put the polyurethane on it!

[DUAYNE B]

Looking pretty darngood ,

[jwsimpleville]

Also for those wondering, or if you simply missed it earlier in this thread, that is my shop seen in the last picture. I've pretty much taken over the back yard patio. Just goes to show that even with limited tools and space, a determined person can do pretty much do anything.

[Rodcrafter]

I'm sure we all get a large gap on some stuff at times.

[Clover Ridge Smokers]

I like the sound of that.

[cdarnell]

On the handles you can go buy hickory handles for a sledge hammer they work great are sealed and dont get hot at all.

I will post a pic of mine in a bit

[Gizmo]

That's a great idea on those handles cdarnell!

[jwsimpleville]

Ok, so I've come to the conclusion that anyone against "Child Labor" has obviously never tried using it to their advantage.



So this is my 10yr old son who loves nothing more than to mess with a grinder and a mig torch, so I showed him what I needed done next and he couldn't have been more happy.
As you can see he is getting the inside of the tank ready for the baffle plate to be installed.

[Gizmo]

When he's done send him over to my place ...

[Miketheforester]

That is awesome. Start hiring him out for "inside smoker" work now and he will be able to have a good start toward college. Just make sure to tell the people paying the service fees for this are "specialist services" no minimum wage crap.

[Smokeone]

That is awesome! I think MTF might be on to something there.

[jwsimpleville]

So I got a little more work done today, cut and welded in the baffle plate and the drain.



She is 100% watertight, I filled it with about five gallons of water and let it sit. Never lost any water until of course I opened the ball valve.

[Smurf]

Nice build. That's great that your son wants to help out. A second generation builder in the making. He has his confined space training right?

[jwsimpleville]

So after adding as much rebar to the counterweights as possible they stil dont seem to be heavy enough to hold the door open firmly. I can barely give the door a tug (more like a nudge) and it will come slamming down. Any suggestions on how to either increase their weight or simply get them to apply more hold to the door?
I just dont want the door to slam shut on me with a slight breeze.

[Gizmo]

I looked back through your pics but I can't tell for sure if there is a place for this idea. This is kinda "out there" - but is there room for a welding magnet on the back of the CC that the counterweight tube would grab when it's fully open? That should take a pretty major tug to break it loose from the full open position ... fwiw

[jwsimpleville]

I was talking with a friend of mine and he said if I cut them loose and move them as high and as far back as possible, it's kinda like moving the axle under the trailer, and should change the hold of the counter weight. Any thoughts on this? Sounded good when he said it, but I lack in the fabrication background so I figured I would throw it out there and get a second, third or maybe even fourth opinion.

[Smokeone]

That is true. Be sure that the counterweight doesn't hit on anything tho, before the door is fully open. Also be careful not to get the door to light.

[Gizmo]

I like a little closing pressure so I would start it a little past top dead center TOWARD the door handle. When you rotate it back the counterweight will be closer to it's level position than I think it looks like in the pictures - which delivers the most torsional force on the hinge line to help keep the door open. If you're lucky you'll be removing weight.

[Smokeone]

Sorry
Torsional, really? Where do you get these big words Rick?

[Tom_Heath]

OMG LMAO Rick went all dictionary on us again !!!!

You could fill the tubes with lead if you have any type of access to it. Its just not price worthy to buy fishing weights at walmart though .

I make this suggestion since I can occasionally get my hands on scrap lead.

Or, like others said, you may have to move the attach point to change the balance.

[Gizmo]

I hate it when my vocabulary does that - seriously ... sorry!

[Rodcrafter]

If the supports were longer the weight would be moved further across the fulcrum point. Which would seem to have added weight.


ful·crum
noun \ˈfu̇l-krəm, ˈfəl-\
a : prop; specifically : the support about which a lever turns

Just trying to stay up with Rick