My new BBQ pit

admin

I have this strange hobby of building BBQ pits. I took a fabrication course at school and for my project i converted a 250gal and 150gal propane tanks into a giant smoker, large enough to cook about oh 50-60 chickens if you wanted to.well after i finished that one i started on a small pull behind because whats the use of a pull behind large enough to cook a whole hog when you only want to cook for say a few friends. well i converted a 24" pipe (3/8" wall) from a small cooker with casters, to an indirect heat smoker with a solid axle welded to the frame. well it was fun but still, it has to be moved, and when i bbq i like to cook alot, when i grill i like good meat, with some good veggy's, maybe some fish and a small steak, grilled corn and maybe a few ribs, for a little more detailed. i currently have a $10 stamped 18gauge mini dome grill (much like this one but wussier)http://www.carparts.com/KINGSFORD-14...4_N__10618.car and it just doesnt do the job.well today i started my new grill, did some O/A welding as i prefer it and didnt have a large enough tip, the weld ended up cracking (too cold!), im debating whether to tig it or mig it, havnt yet decided. im basically taking 8" strips of i think 12 gauge or so, piecing them together ( i prefer doing things the long and laborious way, and i have a small supply of old rusty metal that just needs a little cleaning up). well enough babbling i will start posting pics as soon as i fix my truck.Note: i will be constantly updating this thread. this is the only place i find myself going everyday on the internet so i figured just a long detailed post including pictures and details. I always welcome constructrive criticism.PLEASE!!! post up your home made pics, i sometimes get my ideas from pictures, not trying to be a copy cat thats just how i work.I break things for a living...
Reply:I'am the same way on the pics.  I love pics that where it all starts.Here's a few pics of the bbq smoker i started.  I need to get back on it.Daye Attached Images
Reply:Very nice, i like the pipe. what did you use? what type of jig did you use to cut it?here is a picture of my big pit. she is dirty and unfinished, sadly i have no pictures for it completely done, i was just glad to finish it.let me add a little info for the pics. the smaller tank on the front is the firebox and then the cooker is in the back so you face it when you face the rear of the tailgate. that way the doors are at your height and come to you, you don thave to walk around, just back it up to a truckbed and you have a small kitchen. i ended up changing the rack for the flame to some angle spaced out, allotted for maybe another 200 degree's capable. i painted the pit with 1000degree paint and they burned the paint off the corner opposite the door to the firebox it got so hot.Last edited by smokin_dodge; 04-10-2009 at 12:13 AM.I break things for a living...
Reply:That thing is a monster!  I couldn't afford to feed it with steaks or wood.Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
Reply:Originally Posted by BrainfarthThat thing is a monster!  I couldn't afford to feed it with steaks or wood.
Reply:Here is one we built in 2000. That was before we had any digital cameras so I found the old pics and ran them through the scanner, that is why they are grainy. We used this rig in cookoffs and for good ol' beer drinking parties and then sold it last year. We have another one started, and I will post pics later. Attached Images.............................."Look Good Doing It"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reply:2 more pics. Attached Images.............................."Look Good Doing It"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reply:Originally Posted by Coyote2 more pics.
Reply:I...Must....Do...This....Is there any good how to/helpful sites out there i can read before diving in?
Reply:yes. i started out by just looking at what other people have done and took ideas from that.http://www.thesmokerking.com/customsmoker.html there's one for now. then there is this guy, i found this site after i finished my second pipe smoker.http://www.compuvices.com/smoker.shtmlI break things for a living...
Reply:finally found my camera so i decided to upload a few pics. this is a pit that was a project for the ag mechanics department club, we call it the ag technology club.well it was originally on rollers and rusted through the firepit really a piece of junk, so we decided to revamp it a little. everybody ended up backing out when it came time to do the work, so i ended up building it to suit me.i took the pit itself and cut everything off of it, then built the firebox and racks for the side. i then added a tongue and axle so i could pull it with the truck for backyard bbq's. so far the best pit ive made. im using the same idea of a dropped firebox for the pit im working on currently. ill  post up those pics when i get them sorted.i put a woodbox on the side incase anybody ever towed it and didnt have space for the wood, but when i actually started using it i would need twice as much as it would carry...here's what i believe really gave it the great cooking ability, was the baffle. i used a very large one to deflect almost all the heat around the pit, instead of directly to the meat. im gonna play with this idea in my new pit.here's the charcoal tray that i made so we could just make burgers. now here's a little pit that i didnt build, but i did a little work on. its a fantastic design and cooks great. originally it only had air holes on one side and it cooks burgers great. Last edited by smokin_dodge; 07-13-2009 at 03:30 PM.I break things for a living...
Reply:finally to the new project. its a used 250 gallon propane tank i got from a friend. so far i have cut the tank open, lowered one side for the firebox. to cut the tank open i completely filled it with water and drilled a hole large enough for my sawzall blade to fit in. then just cut along the dotted line (i used a punch so i wouldnt lose the line when the water goes everywhere)i had to put a piece of 1/4" sheet between the two parts to get them to mate up properly and took me about a week to trim it down and put some clean welds on it. Ive used mostly 7018 for the visible welds, a few mig here and there for bridging holes and tank mount welds.im currently in a bit of bilder's block as i cant figure out how many doors i want. i prefer 1 big door but a lot of people prefer the 2 door.Here's the pit before the i mounted it to the trailer frame.a little bridging. i filled the small gap (around 3/4" in some places) with a mig gun, then built up a large surface and ground it down, then i layed an outside bead and then one between the wall and the outside bead to help squeeze the metal together, i couldnt do it in all places, but its definatly not the weakest link in the chain.here's the trailer frame i built, had some spare tubing laying around, been there for about 2 years, decided to donate it for the cause. it also proves the point you can never have enough clamps.mounting the pit to the frame.finally my homemade spring mounting kit. i found the springs laying in a pile, and so i went to tractor supply and copied down their kit and made my own. probably would have been cheaper just to buy the kit, but i have the satisfaction of building them myself.I break things for a living...
Reply:These look sooooo cool. Where do you get your cylinders? I know where there are hundreds laying at a gas dealers lot but, if I walked in there and tried to buy one they are sure to ask what for and if I told them they would throw me out. Is there a good source for finding these that the average guy could use?
Reply:just go to your local propane dealer and see if he has some old tanks.if you dont want to work with an old propane tank, you can buy a pipe and end caps and make your own cylinderthis particular one my buddy had laying out in his fieldI break things for a living...
Reply:Some good ideas in this thread and nice work.This question  is for the guys with the smokers. What all kind of meats do you smoke. I have only used mine to smoke turkeys, but I am sure there are other things you can smoke. What all do you use yours on ?? What woods do you favor for smoking ?
Reply:That first set of pictures, with the fire box in front of the pit, and the feeder pipes - that is very, very cool.
Reply:Originally Posted by 6010Some good ideas in this thread and nice work.This question  is for the guys with the smokers. What all kind of meats do you smoke. I have only used mine to smoke turkeys, but I am sure there are other things you can smoke. What all do you use yours on ?? What woods do you favor for smoking ?
Reply:update: so ive been working in the shop the last few days, been raining pretty bad, decided to do a little more work on the pit. my biggest milestone so far is i cant figure out what to do next, i have a habit of building pits off the top of my head and get a little bit of builders block.so below i have the new latch and the new intake pipes for the firebox. the only problem i have run into so far is the steel yard gave me the wrong steel for my hinges so the door hangs a little bit, thus the style of hinge ive made.here are the handles ive started making for the doors, making them out of some scrap cedar we had laying around the shop from a project a few years ago. made a 1.75x1.75 piece about 4" in length and threw it on the old lathe.finally my intakes for the pit, it is a total of 6 4" pipes, with 3 on each side accounting for 12" of intake on each side and 24" total. my exhaust pipe will most likely be around 12-16" to help build smoke.hopefully ill get some more work done by this weekend. im gettin real anxious about firing it up now.I break things for a living...
Reply:update:made some progress this week. finalized on a design for the stacks and decided to cut the door. all thats left now is the axle, tongue, baffle, racks, and caps for the pipes.also did some work on my buddy's pit his dad built back in the 60's or 70's. he's been letting me borrow some equipment from time to time for jobs, figured id fix it up for him. not much done to this one, just some metal brushing and a few coats of OSPHO she's good as new. went to the steel yard and got a few joints of 1/2" x 1/2" angle and some 1/4" hot roll for a side rack for jerkey in the smoke box.gotta love OSPHO, i didnt take a before picture, but if you look at the firebox you can tell it was a little rusty before i cleaned it. just a few cups of the suff and stripped every drop of rust off.he also wanted another door put in for more grill space.here's the original door, ready for new racks.and finally what i added to the smoke box, the 1/4" rods span across the angle, there's one in the back. they are offset 2" each and designed for hanging jerkey, sausage, hanging hooks, anything you wanna smoke.now onto the new pit, added the exhaust pipes, and cut the door. not much left to do now. infact after this post i think im gonna head to the shop, i just got a new idea for the intake pipes and want to play around with it. after than i just need to install the baffle, baffle plate, and the woodrack and coal rack. im having difficulty deciding on the exterior color. right now im thinking of caterpillar yellow, grey, and black.anyway, here's the score from the local yard,about $22 for 3 joints of 1/2 x 1/2. here are the exhaust pipes, took me a day to get the angle right with a folding pipe angle tool, i forget the name.here's the door for the cooker, gotta do a little a little grinding, it doesnt wanna close properly yet, but i can get it with a bit of influence from the ol 8 pounder.here's just a side pic. im contemplating adding a 3rd exhaust pipe, it would be much lower than the other ones, pimarily for releasing heat/ better heat control.now i just gotta build an axle....I break things for a living...
Reply:Freaking wow!Lincoln Power Mig 210MP MIGLincoln Power Mig 350MP - MIG and Push-PullLincoln TIG 300-300Lincoln Hobby-Weld 110v  Thanks JLAMESCK TIG TORCH, gas diffuser, pyrex cupThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 101My brain
Reply:I think it looks great. I build a few myself. A friend brings me tanks, and I do little welding repairs for him in return. He happens to work at a scrap yard that his uncle owns here in PLANT CITY,FLA. I get free tanks,and he gets welding done.Keep up the good work. Go to facebook, Then type in( creative design welding). you will see some of my work.
Reply:Originally Posted by sirweldalotI think it looks great. I build a few myself. A friend brings me tanks, and I do little welding repairs for him in return. He happens to work at a scrap yard that his uncle owns here in PLANT CITY,FLA. I get free tanks,and he gets welding done.Keep up the good work. Go to facebook, Then type in( creative design welding). you will see some of my work.
Reply:Wow - I just saw this thread and havn't seen it for years - kinda took me back.I guess I should update on the pit - its completely finished and I ended up selling it to pay for my last semester of school. Made almost $2k from it - didn't have that much in materials, but I had god knows how many hours. I loved this pit in the end, and for a while would let anybody borrow it who wanted to (the local AA chapter was a frequent requester and I always obliged).I break things for a living...
Reply:Smokin......I'm likin the small smoker you posted some pics of. I know that's a while back, any pics of the inside? I'd like to build one like that.Nice work on the larger ones.Miller 252Miller Bobcat 225Lincoln MigPak 1801959 Hyster forkliftHarris OA torch
Reply:Unfortunatly I do not have any pics of the inside of the little smoker. It is just a small piece of expanded metal with 3 pieces of 1/2" angle supporting it.If I was to build a small pit like the one in the picture, the only thing I would change would be to add a small piece of 1" pipe with 1/4" holes every 1/2" or so on either side that ran the length of the pit in the bottom and came out the back, terminated to a pneumatic QD - I have found that if you use a little compressed air with the pit once its started, you have a great bed of coals in about 3-5 minutes.I break things for a living...