Fully Insulated 500+ Gallon W/ Squared Off Doors on Trailer

[onesquin]

I made a jig for welding the rack rails. It worked great. The blacked out areas are where to weld and the R and L remind me which side to use as the rails are right and left handed.

[Clover Ridge Smokers]

In the pictures it looks like the cooker is offset to one side of the trailer. Did you put larger springs on that side?

[onesquin]

Pic of rack rail jig

[onesquin]

In the pictures it looks like the cooker is offset to one side of the trailer. Did you put larger springs on that side?

Not yet. It drops about 3/4 inch so far from side to side. I already looked and the 5200 lb springs are the same dimensions. Does anybody see a problem with mismatched spring load sizes? Thanks CRS, I keep forgetting to ask that question.

[Gizmo]

Excellent jig idea

[The Czar]

Wow that thing is a monster...

I'm guessing about 3300 pounds

[Rodcrafter]

I'm guessing 4200lbs with the trailer. I had to add additional leaf springs on some of my work trucks when they are setup heavy to one side because of torches or some stuff that always stays on that side causing it to be heavy on one side more than the other. It seems to work just fine if you could just add the small leaf and check for level then another is the way I would do it.

jm2cw

[onesquin]

Thanks RodCrafter


I think $50 for springs on the one side is worth a piece of mind.

[onesquin]

I am doubling up the bottom of the log rack to prevent smaller coals from falling through. Does anybody think this will restrict too much air?? I always got sick of dozens of good coals laying on the ground after I pulled the log rack out and raked the coals back together before adding more wood.

[Wicked4x4]

i know my opinion is about as useful as an a$$hole on an elbow...

i actually considered cutting a few bigger holes in the bottom of my FB basket for more of the ash to drop through. i don't mind too much if a handful of coals drop through too, but i like the ash to drop out for sure so the coals are not getting smothered and can get better air flow to them. with your bottom doubled up, you should not have trouble with air going through, but if the burnt coals and ash can't drop through, you may then have trouble with it stopping the airflow?

that's my 1.5 cents...

[The Czar]

I'd say run it a few times and if seems to give problems then like Wicked said you can always cut some holes....but I'm thinking it should work..

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[onesquin]

I am down to FB log rack, WC racks, CC rails and racks, finish damper details, season, test cook!!!! Paint too.

[Rodcrafter]

Very impressive!!!

[bluecatfish]

That is a super great looking cooker! I bet it will cook just as good as it looks! Great detail and really great looking welds! Wish I could make my welds look like that instead of looking like a dirt dobber did them.

[onesquin]

Log rack done

[Rodcrafter]

[onesquin]

FB Dampers

[Clover Ridge Smokers]

[Smokeone]

Me like!

[The Czar]

I like that damper design… Can you get a picture of that larger handle right above the dampers?

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[onesquin]

DC, there are a couple pics of the handles. They are 1 inch black iron pipe cut in 45s. The dimensions are 3 x 12. I thought these would be much easier to clean than spring handles.

[onesquin]

Well. I have a setback. Not going to make my cook probably. I thought that since I was insulated I could raise the firebox some to increase ground clearance. Well there is a VERY good reason the top of the firebox is 1 inch below the baffle plate. The heat will be trapped in the chamber and my FB door got super hot and was warping.

Been thinking about it since midnight when I had the issue and I am going to have to cut the FB and warming cabinet off and drop it down. I think if I use a plasma cutter to reduce heat transfer and cut the inside and then the back seams and make a straight cut across the bottom back under the trailer frame I can fix it. It will take a little work on the inside but not much. The hardest part now is that the damn thing is welded to the trailer and hard to get to the back of the firebox.

I have made hundreds of good decisions and obviously I made one very bad one. I got over it pretty quick but I was pretty sick over it last night.

[Wicked4x4]

Log rack done

damn that is a nice basket!
Great work all round. This has been a fun build to watch. I'd love to try to mimic it if I had any use for a pit anywhere near that size.

[Clover Ridge Smokers]

We've all had setbacks during out builds and they've all been learning moments. Take a deep breath and plow forward to the finish.

[onesquin]

I have been working on the smoker. Getting some detail work done. I about have it cut in half. A couple more cuts. I am going to wait till Saturday morning to finish that task and work on detail work in the hotter weather after work.

I beefed the trailer up a little. It was a little soft from the smoker to the coupler.

I almost have the dampers done in the WC. The damper from the FB is 1/4 plate with 5 in channel welded to it and I torched some holes and welded them so the plate couldn't cup under the channel. I then put gasket to seal it up and the 12 lb piece slides with ease and should not allow very much heat into the WC. I have to finish the baffle plate as well for the WC.

Still a little (lot) stressed about cutting the smoker in half and getting it all to work right. It should all be ok though. Once it is apart I am back in control.