It doesn't appear you've cleaned the rusty metal before welding, that can contribute to a number of issues that might be giving you a less than ideal weld. To save key strokes I offer this article: Can You Weld Rusty Metal? Problems and Best Options - WeldPundit
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I do clean right around the weld. Usually at least a half inch away. I didnt do a GREAT job on that one above, the weld did encroach on the rusted area because I was weaving large and holding edges to fill a little gap. But that one turned out the best of the day. Lol. Go figure. Actually, that was 100% better positionint and wasn't an open corner - I always struggle with open corners, but not as much as overheads. Ai carumba!
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Ready to mount the tank! The ugliest of the welds are ground down, trailer tank supports in place... Now to test fit this thing!
Neighbors swung by to say hello.
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The dogs are thinking "I wouldn't have done it that way but you got away with it".Comment
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Well, she's coming along. Only 98°F today.
Tomorrow the door. Or firebox hinges and handle, collector and exhaust, I haven't decided yet.Comment
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On FB someone raised some concerns about height - it looks a little tall, and according to 'popular' convention, it probably is. Most people say keep grates at 36" or so. My last one was at 38", I think, and this one will be right around 40" probably. But I kind of mocked it up a few days ago and this is just around the top of my hip bone when standing, and I'm not a tall guy. The orientation allows one to stand in by the frame, just forward of the fender and easily reach everything. I find 38" quite comfortable and 40" isn't a stretch at all.
Now, the door handle itself MAY end up being a little high, when you have it opened up - I'll evaluate that, and there are ways to mitigate it, to a certain extent, as well.Comment
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Man...
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Got some work done. Yesterday, in the 104 degree heat, all I got done was taping off the tank/firebox and doing a few coats of paint on the supports holding the smoker off the trailer. Then used my HoboFreight surface prep tool to remove any scale or stuff from the endcaps and collector and sprayed it down with saltwater & distilled white vinegar before heading home. Trying to get some rust formation. Not a lot accomplished in the 2 hours or so I was out there, other than getting wiped out in the heat...
Today, I managed to get out there around 3PM. Temp low 90s and overcast, so it was definitely a much better day. Managed to get some serious work done.
Managed to get the door laid out, hinges and door handles spotted - all of this is extremely meticulous work. Lots of measuring, remeasuring, moving around, trying this and that before finally settling on the final positioning, then pulling the smoker out of the shop, grinding off ONLY the very specific areas that need to be welded, cut out only the portion of the door under the hinges and handles, then pull it back in, go ahead and tack them all in place, recheck, remeasure, eyeball, second guess yourself, then decide to weld it all up for good.
Then pull it back outside, cut the rest of the door out, praying to GOD the door doesn't spring badly on you. Now, if you remember, this pipe was pretty misshapen and had to be rerolled, so I'm seriously worried it's going to have a LOT of memory in it, that it's going to spring out to hell and I'm going to be stuck trying to reshape this door so it's presentable.
Well... it sprung...
If you can't tell, that's the right side of the door, and it sprung out maybe about... 1/8". Top in the very center sprung about that much too. If you're wondering... I'm ecstatic that's all I have to deal with! This is literally like NOTHING. It'll prolly straighten back out a bit when I weld on the door trim, since I usually do outside trim. I just like the look of it. I've toyed with the idea numerous times of going with internal door trim, but I like the external look. And I do spot welds every inch and a half, and use a straight piece of round bar between my hinges... it's just kind of my 'look' almost a signature. I may not do it all the time or for every pit, but for now, I like it. I think I'ma stick with it. But honestly, a 1/8" door pop is literally nothing. Super happy with how it came out!
External view, door closed, hinges and handles in place.
Sprayed it all down again with more saltwater & vinegar.
Lighting kit and such came in today - lights on this thing are going to be sick, just wait.
So... I am off tomorrow morning (work in afternoon, so... ugh), all day Thurs, Friday afternoon and all Sat and Sun. So, I should be able to get a LOT of work done. I might conceivably have it completed by the end of the weekend and ready to oil down and burn in, but, I don't know. Lighting is a new thing to me, and I'm planning a little special lighting kit, so we'll see how long that takes. Gonna plan basically a whole day for lighting installation. Figure a day for building racks. Exhaust will be an hour or so. Door trim will be a couple hours' work, I am pretty methodical with that part, too.
But it's definitely conceivable it could be completed by Sunday evening. I dunno. We'll see.
Overall, I'm pleased with how it's coming together, though.Attached FilesComment
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Also, I have been debating about if I want to do a counterweight for the door or not. It's a bit higher than the 'recommended' height for doors, and it is pretty large, at nearly 40" wide. But it didn't seem that heavy to me when I lifted it. I'll play around with it, we'll see. If it seems too heavy later after I do door trim, I might revisit the counterweight idea.Comment
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Yes, my wife complains about the weight of the door on my backyard smoker, too. Oh well - it's almost never a thing for her to do anything with it. she's not a weakling, just she has to balance herself and grab it to get it up, where I can just grab it with one hand and swing it up. I'll see how it works out when it's all said and done. A counterweight can really help a lot - and I don't mind the look, personally, some people hate them.
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Just a little today - got door trim done. Didn't get out to the shop 'till after 5, so didn't have a lot of time to get TOO deep into some projects.
Door trim - now, kind of like the placement of hinges and handles and the layout and cutting of a door, lots of measuring to get all my spot tacks done and looking reasonably even, as well as measuring and cutting the trim and getting the side trim rolled to the proper arc. Luckily I bought a band roller/trim roller last year, which was a significant investment, but definitely pays off for things like door trim and making round cooking grates, like I put in The Duck, my 80-gallon backyard offset. I love that thing. Only problem is, I can only roll circles so small - I want to say like 12" or so is about as tight as I can go with a true full circle.
Looking like it's coming together...
Getting some really good rust formation, which is great.
So tomorrow, I have all day. Literally the whole day. Weather should be fan-freaking-TASTIC in the mid 80s and sunny.
I think tomorrow I may work on the lights. Not sure 100%, I may work on racks, drain and exhaust, but I'm kind of wanting to jump into the lighting, as it's something all new to me and I have two other trailers I need to rewire at some point, so I might as well get after it, right?? Right!Comment
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Working on wiring lately...
I spent most of the day out Thursday working on things for the wiring setup. Some worked out, some didn't.
I cut small pipe nipples, about 2½" long, to weld to the trailer to run wiring through and keep it all up and somewhat secured. I cut them with my Evolution metal saw (God, what a good investment that was), then used a grinder with a flap disc to smooth the outside edges and the ends. Then I used a deburring tool on each one to smooth the inside of the nipples, all so that the wiring would be protected and wouldn't be rubbed by sharp edges and get worn through the jacketing.
Welded these on in various spots down the length of each side to run wiring through.
Next I ran wires tried to find proper channels to get them through the back - oh yeah, I had to find a place to mount taillights, too!
If you remember the back of the trailer, I mounted the axle way far back and the fenders actually stick out an inch or so behind the back of the trailer. Also, the fenders were pretty floppy, so I welded on a single piece of angle iron on the front, but I knew I would eventually weld one on the back, as well. I just wasn't sure how I was going to mount everything, and I knew I would need a place to mount taillights, as well. Here's what the back looked like:
So I worked on that for a while, tried to mockup various things - eventually I found a couple of pieces of 1¼" square tubing I had cut off at a 45º angle for something or other, about 8" long and I realized these would go great on the back of the trailer and provide me a sort of mounting bracket for some more angle iron to run out across the fender. The angle would serve both as a stiffening mechanism AND as a mounting surface for my taillights.
Here's what I ended up with eventually:
It doesn't look like much there, but it was a major accomplishment for me to manage to cobble together something that actually looked half decent, like it 'belonged' there, but was also functional for my needs. Finished pics upcoming, don't worry...
Ordered some oval taillights from Amazon, along with a bunch of wiring stuff. I wanted to do a really good job on the lighting. I'll let you guys be the judge of the eventual outcome, but I think if you're building something, you've got a couple different ways you can go with it. You can slap something together that's ugly and functional, which is fine for a lot of folks. Call it the Geo Metro or the beat up old Ferd you bounce through the pasture. You can build something that is more middle of the road, looks decent, but isn't "high end" and most people would be happy with. This is the Camry or Accord of fabrication. Then you can build to a very high standard, aiming for the market of people who have more to spend and want something 'nicer', something they can show off and be proud of. Is it more functional? Probably not really, except in terms maybe of a few features that are considered luxuries, but also may be built more to last and be trouble free for longer. I don't know that I'd say my builds are the Mercedes or Range Rover of BBQs (actually, certainly NOT!), but I would like to think I'm working towards a higher-end product, spending extra time and effort to try to get things right, to try to make things more durable and feature-rich, as well as working toward a more polished final appearance. I'm not a high end builder by any means, but I'd like to think my work is getting better and is starting to get out of the 'shadetree builder' category. lol I certainly don't want to claim more than I am due, but I am working to try to get better and pay more attention to detail.
So... on to the lighting.
Trailer lighting is one of those things that can be 'rednecked' to death and people spend forever patching and rebuilding, etc. Of course, people who can't back a trailer and are constantly banging into things contribute to this as well. Lighting is always at risk of damage. But the wiring... the wiring is particularly vulnerable.
I ordered a 5-conductor roll of wire, which is also sheathed in a clear plastic jacket on top of it as well. I ran a run of this down each side of the trailer, instead of crossing over from one side to the other to reach the opposite - this was intentional, as someone is going to be burning wood and cooking meat in the middle of the trailer and I wanted to keep the wiring out from under the middle - probably not a huge deal, but it's also a little redundant as well, so even if something happens to one side, the other side still has a good chance of working.
I also had to choose between 4-wire, 5-wire and 7-wire plugs and wiring. Now, my truck, and I think most modern trucks (which mine ISN'T) that are equipped to tow, probably have a round 7-pin plug, and this provides lots of functions - L/R blinkers, parking/running lights, reverse or backup lights. 12v power, ground, and brake controls. Now, on this small trailer I didn't need, nor did I install an axle with brakes. So I don't care about brake wiring. Also, no need for a 12v power source. 4-pin is for running lights, L & R blinkers and ground. I also wanted the backup lights to work, so this means I need 5 conductors, but most 5-pin harnesses are wired for brakes, not backup lights. But that's ok, I can wire things however I want or need.
So I bought a 7-pin harness, plug and wiring box from Amazon and figured I just wouldn't use a couple of the wires - I don't need brakes or 12v, but the wiring is there to the box if someone wanted to add them later. Problem is, this is from China, and they don't always DO things the way WE do them over here. All the wiring colors were the same, and all the wires terminated in the box in the spot they were supposed to, as in, they were labeled by color and bolted the appropriate spot. However... it seems in reading the reviews that the wires at the PLUG end may not be in the proper places, according to standard US 7-pin wiring diagrams. Sure enough, when I tested them, they were all in the wrong plug spots. I had to do continuity testing and make a chart for myself to compare against the standard wiring diagram and make sure to wire everything up in the appropriate position so it would work right. A little bit of a pain, but I knew this was a possibility going in.
Thought I had a better pic of the wiring box, but I can't find it.
Anyways, that's a long explanation of why I decided to spend 2 full days working on the wiring. I'll continue with more wiring pics and explanation in the next post...Comment
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I decided wiring was one of those things that I wanted to be right, to be solid and durable and to have a few little 'extras' that would make this small trailer build a little more... appealing? Marketable? Desirable? I don't know. Anyways... all wiring was run initially trying to tap in with various connectors and using electrical tape (the good kind, I think Super 88?), but I wasn't happy with it. I just didn't like it, thought it was too hillbilly/redneck and even though I didn't use the typical "T-splice" connectors, it still wasn't up to the standard I wanted.
So I went back yesterday and tore down every connection and replaced them all.
Every wire is crimped together with either butt connectors (for side marker LEDs) or spade terminals (for rear tails) in case of desire to change them out. Then each crimped wire is individually sleeved with heat shrink tubing. In the case of the rear taillight harness there is an additional overall SECOND layer of heat shrink tubing over the whole bundle. Then a few zip ties to keep things somewhat tidy. I'm still not 100% super happy with the look, it still seems to stand out, but it is definitely solid, I know that. On to the pics:
Rear tail light bundle:
Grommet for rear tail bundle - this required at least 2 runs to Lowe's still couldn't get a damn grommet that would fit the 5/8" hole I drilled, so I broke out my step bit set - holt SHITE, do I love those things! I don't know that I've EVER used a step-bit, but they are one of my new favorite toys! Yee-haw, baby!
Rear bundle all individually sleeved:
And the larger group sleeve:
Final pic of the rear taillight - the blue has an additional connection (this is the reverse/backup light) because it needed to be extended. Came with a pigtail with a large bullet connector on it of some type that I didn't have a match for - so I cut it off and just crimped a spade on it, then heatshrinked it (heatshrunk it??).
Those taillight brackets are actually painted over galvanized, I found out when I started trying to weld them. I hate welding on galvanized. Ugh. But I got 'em done. I know that one looks like it isn't level (plumb, actually) but it is, I think the camera angle was weird, or something, or I straightened it later, but the taillights ARE level AND plumb, trust me. lol
I think the final fab of the rear of the trailer and taillights came out pretty good. Not bad for a shadetree self-taught guy who is just flying by the seat of his pants, making shit up as he goes. lol Certainly not perfect, not 'high end', but eminently passable. lol
One more pic of wiring, side LED marker.
These LEDs are 3/4", I drilled holes for them with the hole saw - before I realized I had a set of 5-sized step bits and HOW FREAKING USEFUL THEY ARE, but they were a little loose in there, so I also ran to the store for more heat shrink tubing and bought some clear RTV gasket maker and sealed those up, so they'll be more solid. I'm happy with the appearance of the side marker lights.
Here's some final pics.
Overall, I was very pleased with how everything turned out, especially that the lights all worked 100% in the right order and sequences when I turned it on for the very first time! No replacing any connections, no wires in the wrong spots, etc. I'm pretty happy, this was the first time I've ever done this, but I'm proud that I got it RIGHT. Hopefully, this little bit of going above and beyond to make sure all connections are secure and protected will help when it comes time to finding the right person who wants to buy this smoker.
A little video I shot of the lights in action when I got home. So exciting... trailer lights. Whoo hoo. lol
I know, I know, for ME, this is exciting - it's a milestone. This is my first trailer build and to get everything right and DONE right is very satisfying for me. And to know this wiring SHOULD be solid and last for many years with no problems.
Hope you guys enjoyed the long volume here. lol I just like to explain my thought processes on some of this stuff.
Next up - the exhaust, firebox door handle and the drain should all be done today - may get started on racks if all that goes well.Comment
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You got MAD SKILLS...love that thing!Comment
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I kinda feel like I should have done 3 or 4 lights down each side. I will definitely do more lights on my next big trailer build, but I I'm thinking that's going to be the 500 gal. I have a 250 as well, and was PLANNING on putting that one on a trailer, too, but I've got someone who wants me to build it out for them on a yard cart like my last one, so... I dunno. I said I wasn't going to take 'orders' for builds, because I wanted to do things how *I* want to do them - but, when you've got someone essentially waving money in your face, lol... it's pretty hard to say no.Comment
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Hey, check out what this guy did with an old Gleaner combine chain that was laying in the field.
Pretty cool!
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Thanks for posting. I really enjoy your builds.Comment
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