You need 6" clearance for butts. I would lay it I out so I could have that for the 1st rack and the second will be what it is.
I figure if you use a half moon of 4" high the horizontial will be 18.5it comes out to (44.73) and that is close enough. Come up 1.5" off the baffle plate put your angle iron track for sliders and if you use 1" material for racks you will be a tadd over 2.5' off the baffle plate. I never put a grease bridge on a reverse flow and never had a problem. If you seal weld the baffle plate and put a dam on the opposite end with a drain you r good to go in my opinion. If you r using tuning plates then that is a different story because grease is going directly under the plates. Honestly most of the grease flashes right back up and I have never had any problems whatsoever. Absolutely you can make the top of the firebox a continuation of the baffle plate. I like my half moon to run completely across cooker, that way there is no interruption in flow. all of this is my opinion, it is my story and I am sticking to it!!!!!! Good luck!!!!!!
Ok, here's where I am after laying everything out. Got some questions on the design
1. Is my door ok at 3" below the midline. I had heard you want the door above the midline for grease to drip inside and I want to be able to pull the racks out.
2. I have the 1" slope on the RF plate running from the firebox.
3. should I trim the smoke stack as it comes into the cooking chamber with a diagonal cut... should this be flush welded inside and out or should it stick into the chamber a few inches?
4. This look ok or please give suggestions
I noticed a couple of thing in your drawing you night wan to address. First is FB location. I would raise it to be about 1" below center of the tank. Run your figures through the pit calculator to make sure you have the right size openings. Second there really is no reason to put a slope on your baffle plate. 99% of the time what ever drips on the hot surface will vaporize. I would angle cut the stack into the tank and remove the 90 degree angle. Less resistance for airflow.
Just my opinion....
Clover ridge is spot on on every comment it is exactly why I would say.... Clover I quit putting my baffle on a slop to like you say the vast majority of the grease vaporize If you r make a lot of grease it is much easier to tilt trailr slightly and open drain for a minute
Am I ontrack with this last drawing? Any help would be greatly appreciated... gearing up for serious weekend progress in hopes of firing this thing up 4th of July!
Looks much better. How have you designed your air inlets on the FB? Make sure you run your design through the pit calculator to make sure you size the inlets correctly.
IT'S ADORABLE! Reminds me of a girl I used to date in high school ….
And on the eighth day God created barbecue …. because he DOES love us and he wants us to be happy.
Current smokers: Egor (trailered RF) and Easybake (tabletop pellet drive)
I hope it doesn't become unstable on the wheels closest to the FB. When they caster after you are done building this, it may try to rock as the balance point is very near those legs. I would hate to cause you any additional work, but if it were mine. I would have put those 2 legs under the FB. It is easier to change now than later. Maybe we can get other folks to comment on it?
My $0.02
Current Smokers: Backyard RF Offset and Hybrid RF Offset trailer rig with Cowboy cooker and fish fryer, always room for more........
G`day Brian, should be a great patio smoker your building, I mostly agree with the other guys however if it`s ios going to be a patio smoker the tilt option wont work, I`d leave the slight fall on the RF plate as it does come in handy when hosing out the CC, also keep the bottom of the CC door below the centre line as you greatly reduce the area of the bottom grate by having it up higher, with the problem of the fat running down the door and out, I put a DL ( Drip LIP ) on mine and that fixed the problem, you can see it inside the door in the pic...............
lastly I like the chimney to come down into the CC about half way so the smoke doesn`t have a direct route to get out by following the roof of the CC.......I am no expert these are just my thoughts on the design.........
great tips all.... I really appreciate the help...
+1 on the wheel config... I will rework that a bit... I don't like it at all yet but i'll get there
+1 also on the grease drip on the door .... I will take that one
I'm still thinking on the slant to the RF plate... I think I might just do a 1" or something yes to mainly for cleaning as long as it does not fall away too far from the cooking grates... I have to calc all that... I know I'm close to my drawing... but the drawing is a guide... for a true fabricator... I've already decided to move the FB door to the side.... for airflow and it just seems more logical than opening that door up to tend the fire when folks might be close... id' rather go to the side to tend it... thinking and planning for next weekend... more to come .... including some July 4th pics of that first brisket... mmmm mmmm mmmmmmm and some ribs, and chicken and sausage and all the fixins.... damn maybe should have gone with the 100 gallon.... gulp...
And on the eighth day God created barbecue …. because he DOES love us and he wants us to be happy.
Current smokers: Egor (trailered RF) and Easybake (tabletop pellet drive)
inaugural burn off last weekend... Well folks I MADE my goal... and I will be smoking on the 4th of July... I have a nice brisket all trimmed and rubbed and two pork butts ready to go.
got a few last minute questions as I prep for managing fire and smoke...
1. To use water in the smoker or not... do I fill up the RF plate with 1" of water or apple juice or something or put a bucket in there somewhere with juice or water to get some steam going?
2. To do all wood or wood&charcoal... (I have apple and oak wood). This is a overnight cook and I like sleeping so whatever holds the temp the best is what I'm thinking... and charcoal seems more up to the task...
3. I'm planning to fire up the smoker tonight at say 8pm as the sun sets... get my fire/smoke/temp managed to 225-ish for a few hours and maintain it... then meat goes on a little after midnight to smoke for 4-5 hours...
I have my Maverick ET-732 baby monitor to keep me on alert through the night...
big burn to get all the blue air compressor tank paint off... I cooked some eggs on the firebox top... with a little pam and seasonings... turned out nice...