Here's the new 80-gallon pit I'm building

[realdocBBQ]

I'm open to ideas on the whole grease management idea for my vertical tank. I'm not sure how to go about it.

My thought was a 'channel' around the inside, near the bottom, that would catch drippings and runoff from the diffuser plate that will be directly over the heat inlet. This would be just a little angled toward the back, to a drain back there. I'm not sure what I would make this out of, or HOW I would make it. I can bend flat stock... I GUESS maybe I could do that, and just mount it kind of... on edge inside the lower portion of the chamber? Does that make sense?

Someone help me out here.

[texastweeter]

Water pan above the hole, angled drip pan around it. Ball valve on lowest portion of drip pan. Hang a bucket off the valve.

[Ahumadora]

Leave the ball valve closed during operation and just open/close as grease builds as an open valve affects the performance of the pit.

[texastweeter]

Seeing how Ahumadora is the resident world class professional TX style Pitt manufacturer, I'd go with his suggestion.

[Ahumadora]

Not sure I would go that far, but have slapped 1 or 2 together.

[Bob's BBQ]

Looking great - can't wait to see the smoke!

[realdocBBQ]

Didn't get much done lately - but I did do some things yesterday.

First, made a trip about 45 minutes away to pick up some pipe for exhausts - I have been looking around quite a bit and it's difficult to find something in the 4-6" range around here that ISN'T thick-walled stuff. I have some 7" OD pipe that is 5/16" thick - I don't want to use that for this small smoker. Too large, too heavy, blah blah.

So I messaged a few people on FB who had listings for some smaller pipe (2 3/8, 2 7/8) just on the off chance - and one of the guys said he had some old gas lines running through his pasture that had been turned off and abandoned by the gas company, so whenever they needed new fencepost or something, they just cut off a piece and used it. He said he would cut off whatever lengths I wanted.

So I went up and picked up 3 6-foot pieces of 4.5" and 3 6-foot pieces of 6", bot around .250 wall pipe. This is perfect for what I want - thick enough to hold some heat and help with 'draw', but not so thick as to be overly heavy or difficult to work with. And it was cheap! W00T! Win/win!


I was originally wanting to get 8-foot sections, but I honestly didn't want to bother with hooking up my friend's trailer and hauling it all the way up there just for a few small sections of pipe - so I cleared out the back of my Tahoe and managed to get them to fit in there. Easy peasy!

On to the door....

This was actually a bit of a hassle. I had the hardest time predicting how the door was going to open and I actually THOUGHT I was not going to be able to use my vertical rod between the hinges. I really wanted to and was quite bummed it looked like it was going to impede the door progress, as this is part of the 'theme' of this smoker. I really like the look of the long rod connecting the hinges, I don't know why, I just do. I've always preferred that.


It was quite a pain getting the hinges lined up properly and trying to make sure they were level and all - I probably spent over an hour just trying to get these all in position so I could see how it was going to look.

Then I tacked them on and tried to open the door - NOPE! Apparently my oreo cookie door design causes some problems. The inner 'lip' was catching on the edge, as the door was a tight enough fit to push in directly like a cork, but NOT to open from one end (like a DOOR! DUH!).

So I had to break the tacks a couple of times, pull the door, go grind down the lip on the inner door face, then come back, put it back in, tack it all back in place again - remember me telling you how much of a PITA it was getting the hinges lined up and even and level? Yes.... that all over again, too! Like... I dunno, 2, 3 times?

Eventually I got the door pried open WITHOUT breaking the tacks on my temporary hinge locations, THEN I was able to see where the door was hitting and grind that down enough with it still attached to get it to open and close! W00T!




A little video of the thing in action:

Let's see if that all works to display properly.

[Jerod Broussard]

Awesome hook up on the pipe.

[realdocBBQ]

Got a couple things done yesterday.

Made a latch closure for the bank vault door. It's kinda ugly, though I think once things are painted black, it won't bother me as much. I was really at a loss for how to make a door latch, and while this works, I'm not overly pleased with it aesthetically. Oh well - if I come up with something else, this is easy to cut off and replace.



Seemed to take me quite a long time to get something so... simple... to actually work. Couple hours on that, I think. <sigh>

Also finished up the round grates for my vertical warming/hot box:


Spent the last, oh, I dunno, hour or so grinding on a round 7" plate. This was a cutout from... I don't know, something or other. Anyways, it's going to be the internal flapper/damper in the heat inlet from the firebox. Had to grind it down from just under 7" to around... 6 5/16", I think? And try to keep it perfectly round - or as close I can. That's a lot of 1/4" to grind down, but I couldn't think of any other way to do it, really. I ended up getting it close before I called it a night.

Yesterday was warm. I think 89ºF here, but that's a far cry from what it's going to be in a few weeks. I was only out there like, I dunno, 4.5-5h, but I felt really bad when I was done, spent the rest of the evening feeling utterly exhausted and wiped out. I mean, I wasn't out in the sun much, just some grinding and some cutting the expanded steel, and did a lot of sitting while welding and such. I just don't know what wiped me out so badly - I'm still a bit tired today, so it's gonna be an interesting Monday at work. Oh well...

Dunno if I'll go back out tonight or not. Guess we'll see how I feel in 10 hours or so.

[realdocBBQ]

Been a while. Not much updated, have tinkered a bit and done this and that.

This past weekend did the collector box. Yesterday added the stack and finished mounting the vertical tank and the flapper that controls the heat to it.

Almost done, really.

Need to add the stack on the vertical and a couple of little touches, debating about a folding front shelf.





Gotta put the exhaust on the vertical tank and add the diffuser plate in.

Then it can go to sandblasting, if I decide not to do the shelf. I dunno... it's been a rough few weeks, I'm pretty exhausted, I'm almost of a mind just to fire it up, skip blasting and paint. lol It's no hurry, I guess I can do those anytime, really. I really would like to put a folding shelf on the front. Gotta decide on a reasonably simple folding mechanism. And if I want expanded metal, or spend some money on a piece of stainless sheet metal.

Anyways, this is finally her, in her near-final incarnation.

[Oak Smoke]

If you decide on stainless look around at a few metal salvage yards. I’ve bought some nice pieces for scrap price and saved a bundle. The other thing is, you’ve worked long and hard on this project, go ahead and take it across the finish line. Sand and paint it. You’ll be so much prouder of your work, as you should be. It’s something like those cars you see with a primer grey fender and two different colored doors. They would be great with a paint job. Just suck it up and finish the race.

[realdocBBQ]

Pretty well finished!

Ok, so here she is, in all her.... errr... nakedness? Somehow, glory just doesn't seem appropriate for something so ugly. lol

Insulated Oreo door open:


Closed:



Vertical chamber w/racks and diffuser plate:



Backside:



Front open:



Front closed:




She's heading off for sandblasting today, then I'll primer, paint and probably a satin clear when she comes back.

Also upon return, I'll do the drains, 1" in the vertical, 1½" in the horizontal, with full port ball valves, and the handles, which are going to be a wooden rod, it's probably 1¼" thick, probably rubbed with mineral oil or tung oil or something.

Pain will be black, high temp, maybe a satin clear. All will be super high temp, although with the insulated firebox, the only parts that will likely get super hot are the portion of the firebox that faces the cook chamber and possibly the very first portion of the cook chamber. I anticipate with the insulation job I did, I'll be able to easily rest my hand on the top, sides and door of the firebox with even a raging fire inside. There is 2" of insulation all around with a 2400ºF ceramic fiber insulating mat.

Still a bit of an ugly duckling, but a coat of black over everything will make her look a bit nicer. Also, I am debating masking off the door trim, hinges and connecting rods (once everything is blasted and bright silver) and just applying clear to them, so they'll stand out from the black. I dunno, though... plain ol' black over all seems appropriate - she ain't a flashy girl, not sure if it wouldn't be just 'lipstick on a pig' or something. Also gonna get some hubcaps for her, too.

It's been a fun project, now it's almost done. I could fire her up now, as-is, but I need to get her to the sandblaster when I can, and I have limited availability when they're open, so it's today, or I wait another week.

Thanks for followin' along!


Hope to get back to work on the 320 next week or so! Stay tuned!

And thanks to everyone who's lent a hand, suggestions and support, especially Jerod Broussard Ahumadora and Henrik as well as everyone else!

[rlozinak]

Looking good! can't wait to see her finished in black.

[Jerod Broussard]

That is awesome, considering how hot it is.

[Henrik]

Yep, that’s gonna be a looker when that paint job is done 👌

[realdocBBQ]

Got 'er back from sandblasting Friday and have been working my butt off to get her painted and finished. Well, mostly.

Behold - 'The Ugly Ducking'

AKA - 'The Duk'




I do actually need to go out today and do a couple small things:

Install door seals - have 30 feet of ½" x ¼" LavaLock
Pick up some 2½" or 3" wood screws and washers to permanently mount the wood handles - maybe another layer of teak oil for them, as well.
A couple little areas of touchup on the spay paint. This isn't going to get much better overall, it's a little splotchy, but it's spray paint - and it's a smoker, what're ya gonna do?

Yesterday was 12 hours in 106ºF heat index, it was one of the roughest days I've had on this long journey. I really need to toughen up some! lol. Gonna look for a big 1-2 gallon cooler to fill with ice and some kind of sugar-free electrolyte solution, I'm up having some muscle cramps at 4AM. I drank and drank and drank, but Diet Mt. Dew doesn't replace electrolytes. lol I need something like that Gatorade powder you mix up - but cost effective, I think. That stuff ain't cheap to mix up a big 2 gallon Igloo personal cooler thing.

I get not-infrequent lightheaded spells when I'm out there working, but yesterday I did hit the ground once. Nothing major, I was in the grassy (knoll) area and had been bending over repeatedly inspecting my admittedly poor paint job. I didn't actually pass out, but the nearest thing to it. I'm sure it's partially my BP meds - I've lost ~40lbs and should probably drop one of the two. Plus I don't eat much these days, 4-6 meals a week, and live mostly on coffee and DMD. I need to work on that (the hydration/electrolyte replacement without sugar/carbs), and I'm not a spring chikkin anymore, pushing 50. I'm up right now trying to replace with pretzels (I know, not low carb, but whatever), prosciutto, spicy V8 (and vodka), hoping to go back to sleep for a few hours. We didn't have any oranges or anything. Oh sheisse, I just realized, we have orange JUICE. I avoid that, so I never even see it. lol No worries, I'm gonna work on Na+/K+ replacement from now on, and probably stop one of the BP meds and see how it goes.

I actually worked super slow yesterday - just light paintwork, building that folding front shelf and drains, really. Added the door clamp for the 30 gallon upright. It wasn't in the spot I wanted, which was the middle of the upright section of door, but realized with the vertical wooden handle, it wouldn't work. This does the trick.

Might have a few mods to do, we'll see how she works out. A new firebox door latch, I'm not particularly pleased with my jury-rigged version. Maybe some door stops. And possibly an internal baffle plate to manage/redirect heat - that will depend on how temps end up, so it's gonna take some experimentation to decide.

Not a beauty queen. Maybe a bit oddball. But I think she'll cook some meat, and for my first ever large project, starting with a couple of old crappy tanks and some steel plate, I'm pretty pleased. Took me a loooooong time to get there, and she ain't all that impressive, but like I said - she'll definitely cook some meat. And I'm hoping she'll be versatile enough to do chikkins hot and fast in the vertical chamber and cook plenty of good smoky BBQ in the horizontal. With some experimentation, I'm hoping she MIGHT do both at the same time, or serve as a warming chamber, instead, or be able to hand sausages at lower temps, etc. We'll see.

And I think I might experiment with Steve Gow's newly-inspired steam injection, too. We'll see!

Cheers, all!


<edit> Oh, yeah, I forgot, I've got thermometers to install! lol. I use my Fireboard and other wireless thermometers, so I never even think of those. Oh well, we'll see. lol

[RonB]

I'm glad you are very close to done, but do take care of yourself. And some photos would be nice.

[barelfly]

SKRATCH Labs makes some great electrolyte mixes. Not full of sugar….but is good stuff.


And can’t wait to see this project in it’s glory!

[Uncle Bob]

Gotta watch the bad combo of BP meds and lack of hydration (including electrolytes as you noted). A week or so ago I was goin' hard at yard work and got that "crashing feeling". Threw the BP cuff on and registered 80/40, reflecting the way I felt. For electrolyte charge, and a few other things, we use a drink called FitAid. Has less than a third the sugar of Gatorade..........works for me.

[realdocBBQ]

Photos not showing???? WTH???

Ok, I see them, but I'll repost pics.





Ok, maybe those will show up.

[HawkerXP]

Where is the driver's seat?

[Jerod Broussard]

Shouldn't take very large splits to keep that baby humming.

[mrichie1229]

Looks great! Great job!

[Jfrosty27]

I think it turned out looking pretty good! But I wonder about pulling it around even with those bigger wheels. It must weigh a LOT. Anyway, fire that beast up!! Can’t wait to see how it cooks.

[realdocBBQ]

I think it turned out looking pretty good! But I wonder about pulling it around even with those bigger wheels. It must weigh a LOT. Anyway, fire that beast up!! Can’t wait to see how it cooks.

It needs bigger wheels. Both to help it roll better and to set off the look. Those are 18" tires on 8" golf cart rims. I want to go with some 24" on 14s to help the appearance and I think it will pull better.

It IS heavy. Rolls fine on concrete, in grass it is 'ok' if it's level and not rough. But yes, it came out heavier than I had expected - probably in the 700-800lb range if I had to guess. The insulated firebox alone is about 400lb.

I think larger wheels would help a lot. Both for pulling and especially appearance. At about $500-750 for a nice set, it'll have to wait a little longer.

[DTro]

It's beautiful! You don't need to do anything. But if that Deere in background don't need 'em wheels anymore...😃

[realdocBBQ]

Last night fired her up after putting in the thermometers, etc.

Next weekend I'll be doing my first COOK on her - this was just a 'temperature mapping' thing, and to see how she runs, etc.

For those who were wondering, this is the firebox connection to the smaller vertical chamber:

CLOSED



OPEN:

DIFFUSER PLATE:


GRATES AND ALL:

So this actually ended up working VERY well to keep the heat down - when the main pit was running 250-400ºF, the vertical upright was running 114-118ºF with 4 probes reading. FABULOUS!

Then I opened it up and was able to get it to cooking temps of 250-300ºF, though I didn't see much in the 350-400ºF range like I was hoping to see. I'll need to work on moving the fire around, etc., but this was with the fire back near the firebox door, OR directly under the 7" vent - so I don't know how much luck I'll have getting it hotter.

Monitoring setup:



Fire running:





And the official startup:

So next weekend going to do a couple of cooks on it, including a probably fairly largish one on Saturday.

My upper rack is probably not going to be super usable, except for much hotter faster cooks - it is a good bit hotter than the middle rack, not surprisingly, given how high in the chamber it is. I'm thinking things like brisket and pork butt on the lower, might throw some chikkins or tritips on the upper for quicker cooks. Don't lecture me about chikkin juices dripping, either!

So overall, she runs well, draws REALLY well, I could see flames getting sucked into the chamber when it was running a medium fire. With a very small controlled fire, I could keep temps quite well. The vertical box is interesting - stays cool when closed off, heats quick when opened, and then closed AGAIN, it dropped into the 160s in like 15 minutes, so even when preheated, it can cool back off to holding temps pretty easily. I'm quite happy about that, though a little disappointed I can't see to get it HOTTER.

I am toying with the idea of putting some adjustable dampers on the stacks, to be able to create a little back pressure and see if I can affect temps, etc.

We'll see.

But overall - pretty pleased!

[Jerod Broussard]

Like me, you look to thoroughly "enjoy" welding in somewhat small circles.