Building a Cooker from a Propane Tank

Post by **Tom_Heath** » January 15th, 2015, 7:39 pm

No steel.... Now that's a tragedy..... You just have to hate it when that happens.

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Puff · Post by **Puff** » January 15th, 2015, 10:39 pm

Are you having it delivered to you? Or is it being sent to the metal supplier?

My fire box cuts and some pieces of the chute, for the 1/2" portion of the gravity feed, had to be picked up 65 miles away OR...they would have delivered it to their auxiliary shop 40 miles closer to me for $75.00. I'm not paying for those charges, I drove 65 miles to go get it.

If not, I would have waited a few days to get it and pay $75.. Not my thing

forty_creek · Post by **forty_creek** » January 15th, 2015, 10:47 pm

They will deliver it to our shop. They made deliveries to the mill today but not my order... Supposed to get it tomorrow. No extra charge for delivery. We order from the company all the time. We repair our own roll-off containers, hoppers and equipment.

Puff · Post by **Puff** » January 15th, 2015, 11:46 pm

Ok, that makes sense. Then it stands to reason that material handling is not a problem. This is my greatest dilemma. I have trouble nowadays moving a 2x4x1/4".

forty_creek · Post by **forty_creek** » January 16th, 2015, 9:06 am

Question or vote- Insulate or not the FB and WC? (I am using 3/8's plate).

Steel is on its way!!!

Post by **Rodcrafter** » January 16th, 2015, 9:35 am

You are building a sweet rig, so if you have the budget of time labor and money I would insulate the FB sides and top, not the bottom the ash will do that. The will help on fuel and you can put your tires close to the FB without concern. And on hot days you will be glad the heat is not on you.

So I vote (Yes) but FB only!

Puff · Post by **Puff** » January 16th, 2015, 10:00 am

My firebox is smaller on my 275 tank and last summer at 85 degrees it was not a place to be near...yours will be double this size so I too, using RC's comment...vote insulate.

Ps: I'm insulating mine over the winter

Post by **Tom_Heath** » January 16th, 2015, 2:13 pm

Well said RC.

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forty_creek · Post by **forty_creek** » January 16th, 2015, 2:19 pm

Insulate it is then!

Steel arrived...now the fun begins!

forty_creek · Post by **forty_creek** » January 16th, 2015, 2:22 pm

Dang doesn't look like much stacked for almost $3K

forty_creek · Post by **forty_creek** » January 16th, 2015, 2:30 pm

I've read about insulation on here... what thickness or type do you guys recommend?

SmokinFF · Post by **SmokinFF** » January 16th, 2015, 4:27 pm

Thickness is up to you. Check out Roxul, it's good stuff.

Puff · Post by **Puff** » January 16th, 2015, 4:49 pm

Great stuff but look for the rigid fire rated to like 2100 degrees. Comes in 2x4 sheets

forty_creek · Post by **forty_creek** » January 16th, 2015, 5:19 pm

http://www.lowes.com/pd_305816-1278-RXSS31525_4294769460__?productId=3394032&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNs%3Dp_product_qty_sales_dollar%7C1&facetInfo=

forty_creek · Post by **forty_creek** » January 16th, 2015, 5:22 pm

That didn't work... Okay I know I have asked a lot of questions but I do not know shat about insulation.

Roxul 12-Pack 47-in L x 15-1/4-in W x 3-in D Stone Wool Insulation Batts
Non-combustible, fire-resistant up to 2150 F

To prove I do not know shat about insulation what do you mean by "rigid"

Smokeone · Post by **Smokeone** » January 16th, 2015, 6:53 pm

That's it. Rigid looks kinda like a drop ceiling tile. It's not flexible like roll or batt type.

Post by **Tom_Heath** » January 16th, 2015, 10:01 pm

The one forty listed is these bats.... That's what I used. Worked great, just tougher to deal with then the board.

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Puff · Post by **Puff** » January 16th, 2015, 10:41 pm

We're you able to find the other insulation?

forty_creek · Post by **forty_creek** » January 16th, 2015, 11:21 pm

The one I listed was batts. I look at some board insulation

forty_creek · Post by **forty_creek** » January 20th, 2015, 5:06 pm

Okay am really struggling with my design as far as FB to CC and having enough clearance for the FB on a trailer and still be able to reach the WC... something has to give or I am over thinking it?

Reminder I have a 36"x108" CC, plus I am squaring the doors off the cooking chamber so my FB dimensions are 32Tx36Wx36D. If I allow 4"s from my lowest CG (which I ma putting it at CL of CC (18"s) for the top of my FB. This will leave me 18"s from bottom of CC chamber to bottom of FB. I feel I need at least 10-12"s of ground clearance. So I guess I need to sacrifice the height of my WC. Plans were for a 48Tx36Wx36D FB.

My plan is/was to build the cooker then the trailer but I realize I need to keep this clearance in mind while building the cooker.

Post by **Rodcrafter** » January 20th, 2015, 6:18 pm

I would say you would have a huge WB even it were only 36" high. That is just under 9 square ft on each grate in it. If you put 5 grates in it you would have 45 sq ft. of grate space. That's a huge amount of space. The closer the axle is to the FB the less ground clearance you will need. Since you are insulating the FB you will likely have your axle about 6" ahead of the FB.

jm2cw

Post by **Big T** » January 20th, 2015, 7:27 pm

I agree with RC, a 48'' WC would be a monster.

Post by **Tom_Heath** » January 20th, 2015, 7:49 pm

As stated above, with the axle just asked of the fb. 6 inches is alot of clearance unless you are taking the trailer rock crawling.

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Puff · Post by **Puff** » January 20th, 2015, 10:29 pm

I can only pass along my trailer build experience. I had emailed a highly regarded member here about the trailer specs. He advised me that the 10" of space to the bottom of my firebox was more than adequate. My single 3500lb axle is about 8" to the rear wall of my FB and it barely moves the leaf springs even with its smooth ride. If I were to lift the tongue over 6 foot, I'd hit the firebox. But that would never happen. That's probably a 45 degree angle. Quite possibly a crazy elevated " Dukes of Hazard" type of road dip might be an issue but that's not too likely.

The firebox sit in the notch that is on the rear of the trailer. As a result my trailer is not 10' long but 8'. Very adequate for this smoker. I still email him on occasion to say thank you

forty_creek · Post by **forty_creek** » January 20th, 2015, 10:33 pm

First of all thanks for the feedback fellas.

Reading into your replies, I am making the WC to tall/big?

I've never cooked on a RF. The options of using the WC as a WC plus as an additional CC w/ a vent from the FB, gets me a little excited and is the reason I decided to go RF w/WC over FB... I envision dual cooks if needed. One in the main CC and the second in the WC.

I plan to insulate the WC also. IMO or thinking the more heat retained inside can't hurt anything.

SmokerBuilder.com

Building a Cooker from a Propane Tank

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