Finally have a source for materials!

[realdocBBQ]

Naturally, this comes about a week after I spent a bundle buying new steel!

Last weekend I drove over to Ponca City, about 3 hours round trip and picked up 2 pieces of 10" pipe, 8 feet long, just under 3/8" wt (wall thickness). A little heavier than I want, but it will serve better than the 8" 5/8" pipe I have when it comes time to build out the 500 gallon tank I have. That stuff is stupid heavy.



Same guy was selling some little tanks, but had this one sitting around, too, and I picked it up. 30" diameter, 48" to the ends of the heads. Listed at 125 gallons.



This one is an interesting tank, it feels heavy wall, I'm guessing over 1/4". But, it's only like 24" between the seams, which is where I will be cutting a door - you don't want to cut through those seams and try to include them in your door, for several reasons. It's just not a good thing. So, if do this horizontally, it will be limited to about a 22x29" grate, though I'd do two levels, so that would give it decent space, but it's not really ideal for a traditional flow offset, honestly. I considered making it into a vertical offset, I could make better use of the space, I think. Additionally, the way the valves/bungs are situated, I'm going to have to cut out a whole section, then replace it, and the patch will need to be shaped to fit that 30" curvature, if it's going to look nice. So, a bit of work, but definitely doable. Considered putting this on my new little trailer build I'm doing, but, like I said, for a traditional flow offset, it just doesn't offer a lot. So, I was hoping for something else - the 120 gallon 24x60 or so I had turned out to be galvanized and I'm scrapping that. Well, turning it into a chikkin watering/bathing trough, probably.

Those two piece of 10" pipe (16 feet total) and the tank, I ended up getting for 100 bucks. Pretty much robbed the guy at gunpoint.

Anyways, next post will show the... ummm... new source I found. Suffice it to say, I don't think I'll be making any more 3 hour round trips just for a piece of pipe.

[Bob K]

it would make one hell of a firebox... you could even cut in a swing up door for direct grilling, if you like that sort of thing

[realdocBBQ]

So, a fella I been taking care of in the office the last 6 years told me the other day he could find something for me to work with. I was telling him about my projects, and that my galvanized tank is going to have to be scrapped, so I need to find something to replace it for this small trailer build.

Now this guy is in his 80s, and I knew he owned a business that had something to do with selling/sourcing some stuff for oilfield folks - we got a few of those around here, smaller yards, etc. So this guy, I didn't realize all this time - is probably worth... oh, I'd guess somewhere between 20 and 50 MILLION, now that I know he is the owner of the largest pipe yard in this part of the state.

I knew of this yard, in fact I went there to purchase the 30"x42" 3/8wt pipe I used for the firebox for my first big build, but it was purchased through the guys in the office for $200. I was pretty pleased at that time, as I had NO sources. But... still... at nearly $60 a foot, I knew I wasn't going to be buying there very often.

Turns out, my patient, this fella, owns that yard. The whole thing. And by the whole thing... I mean like an entire SECTION probably, of pipe building and metal working business. He called me up on Friday and told me to come out, he'd found some things they were not going to use and he thought I might could use some of it. He's going to sell me whatever I need at essentially scrap pricing. We're talking big rolled pipe, from 22 to whatever - I mean they roll 1.5" thick plate into like 10 foot pipe at this place. They're big time.

Some pics of whatever I want to choose out of it:

36" x 72" 1/4wt - about 315 gallons


26" x 48" 1/4" wt - this one I picked up this morning for my small trailer build. About 110 gallons.

Some more stuff:






I LOVE these, at 23-25" diameter and 79" long, but... they're just about 1/8" wt, so pretty thin. I'm a little bummed about it.



More of the thinner stuff <sadface>

[realdocBBQ]

Then there's the section of rectangular and square tubing they sell to the public for 65 cents a pound - my price is considerably lower than that.






In fact, based on my research - the 6 pieces of 2x4 11g (1/8" wt) rec tubing at 20 feet long that I bought last week for $96 ea plus tax, would have cost me more like $23 each from here. And I did see at least 2 or 3 just like that. Although this has been sitting out and is a little rusty on the surface, I couldn't care less. Lots of 1/4" wt, which is heavier than what I want, but there's a fair bit of 11g out there in various shapes and sizes, so I know I can get more when I want it.

I'm stoked. I can build forever with this stuff.

Of course, some of these pipes are rejects for a reason, some are a bit out of round, including the one I got today, but it's not bad, I can work with it. The other ones that were more misshapen, he told me don't worry about it, he'll throw 'em on the roller and get 'em straightened out for me, Dang, what a nice guy. I had no idea he was this guy - like I said, I knew he had a yard, but I thought it was one of the myriad small yards guys around here have. No... this one... sheesh. He drove me all around, took an hour, went through just one of their many warehouses full of pipe, showed me where they were rolling some 1 3/4" in bundles, just CHURNING it out - then out of there into a warehouse that is 200' x 500' and absolutely stacked full 5 feet high with same pipe. Several million dollars' worth in that warehouse alone. He said for that small section of the facility, they go through about 2500 TONS of steel for rolling small pipe - a MONTH!

Oh yeah... and steel. Plate. Flat plate. Drops. Which are hard as hell to find - he's got all I want. He has a ton of 3/8 and 1/2". which I don't want to mess with, but he has plenty of 1/4" as well. So when I'm ready, same price for all those drops, too. And that 6" and 8" and 10" pipe I've been scouring FB Marketplace to try to find for over a year.

Man, talk about the jackpot!

I don't want to wear out my welcome, though. I have been effusively grateful, and I've taken good care of this fella - in fact... don't want to brag, but recently helped sort out some problems for him and potentially... well, I don't want to say I "saved his life", but definitely helped sort out some very much life-threatening issues. Thinking after it's all said and done, he'll have a few more years left working the yard - he's over 80 now, so he says he's "cut back" to 5 1/2 days a week. lol

Needless to say, I'm stoked!

Can ya tell??? lol

[Uncle Bob]

Looks like rust, but...................................it's a gold mine...............

[Smoker_Boy]

Wow!!
What a find!!!

If it was me, I would use anything I could get my hands on, even the thin stuff.
I think super thick walls are over-rated.

[realdocBBQ]

I dont need super thick, but I do want to do 1/4 or 3/8 on fireboxes. 1/8 on cook chamber is a little thin for what I like, because I think it's more likely for doors to warp or get bent, etc. I would consider 1/8 as an outer shell on an insulated firebox, however. If I find some 20" diameter 1/4 wall, I might do an outer shell of that 1/8 on it. That would be perfect to help keep weight down.

I've done a cook chamber as thin as .155, which is about ... What, 5/64"? Just a bit over 1/8. That what my first one, that's in my backyard, The Duck, is made of - and it works fine!

Maybe I'll try some of that 1/8 wall stuff... Once I use up everything else he's got out there!!!

[Jfrosty27]

I relate your situation to mine with wood for my woodworking hobby. Whenever I have someone ask me if I need wood, or want wood or whatever with wood, my automatic response is YES! I worry about what it is, what I could use it for, and where I will put it later. In fact, I just ordered brackets for more wood racks in my storage area because I have more free wood coming my way. I stack it and rack it and worry about how to use it down the road. Actually, I am about to start a project using free wood I got 15 years ago. I knew it would be a long time before I needed it. But poof. The day is finally here.

So the moral of the story is to grab the material when you can. You never know when you'll need it or when the sources will dry up.

[Dan Deter]

I would love to do that but SWMBO would kill me for getting stuff I knew I was just gonna store for a while...

[RonB]

Congrats. Finding good stuff cheap is always a rush.

[captainlee]

Nice haul, now start fabricating !!!!

[Skip]

Great find for you! It never hurts to "Know a Guy".

[Henrik]

Wow, great find! Sourcing pipes like that is a big win.

[Dan Deter]

That is an awesome scoop of luck!