An old smoker gets moved over to a big boy trailer.

[bamaboy]

 

[raptor700]

Lookin' Great Tom, I have taken so many notes I had to get more paper! I wish I had a brother-in-law with some good ideas

, I love the door idea, actually I love all of the build! Thanks for keeping us up to date

 

[jonnyrod]

Tom, I really like your smoker. You are doing a lot of work there and it will all pay off when it is done. If you are like me though, it will never be done.

Are you welding that with an A.C. machine? Those uphills look pretty dang good to me.

 

 

[tom37]

My stick machine is the little hobart ac/dc 235/160

There is a frame weld with a wide cover pass on an inside corner, the main front cross member mates to the channel that heads to the tongue. Its about a 45° angle ¼ on the cross member and 5/16 on the channel. I ran 7018 DC reverse stringers (3) and then the cover. The heavy stuff seams easier then the light stuff, I can concentrate more on the puddle and less on burning thru.  I have a terrible time with a butt joint, but its getting better.

I recently started running the 6013 5/32 on AC and wow what a difference from the same settings on DC.

Some of the thin stuff was welded with .035 flux core and the stuff I built on the bench was with .035 mig c25.

The piece that I was most proud of was the torque tube I built to take the flex out of the frame. But I cheated and welded it up on stands with the 7018. Keeping most of the weld in the flat makes a giant difference.

My goal is to someday be able to run what ever rod I want in all positions with confidence.

I painted up the coupler lock last night, here is the final pic. Did this with the mig and they are less then perfect, the AR plate needed alot more heat then what I was set for but for the application it will be fine and I learned from it.

 

[kcbluesnbbq]

Great work on the lock. That will keep the thieves away.

All the little details are making this thing pretty slick.

 

[jonnyrod]

It's looking real good, I like the lock. You can tell that you took your time to make it right.

  On butt joints, as you travel up moving left to right.... I like to pause just for a second on each side. 7018 is a low hydrogen fast deposition filler. By pausing at the sides and passing quickly over the center your welds will flush out better as the side to side pausing takes care of filling the center. You can run the 7018 in ACRP or DCRP but I think it does better DCRP.  What size are the new 5-Ps you brought home?

 

[tom37]

Thanks KCBlues I appreciate the good words man. Did work slow down enough to sneak in a smoke or two? I haven't seen ya on in a while.

Thanks you as well Jonny, the 5P rod I got is 1/8"

I really like the puck locks, I have three of them now. Two for the trailer and the original goes back on my tool storage area in the garage.

Its a little chilly today and a little snow on the ground, I'm having a tough time deciding if I want to go out and work on the trailer.

 

[kcbluesnbbq]

Still busy at work. I took off the Saturday after thanksgiving and smoked 2 fatties and 30 abt's for one of my friends birthday parties.

Got some brisket and butt I froze in single serve size that I have been eating. Only a couple more left, so I need to squeeze in a smoke real bad.

I would excuse you if you did not work on it today. I stepped outside earlier today and between the wind and the cold, I almost left the paper in the driveway.

 

[tom37]

Thought I would post here in-case someone watching the build missed the team name poll I started.

Here is the link if you haven't voted yet.

My Team Name voting poll

Right now my build is reminding me of a long term pork butt stall. It seems like forever since I have worked on it.

I hope to be back on it this next week.

Thanks for following my thread.

 

[dyce51]

Very nice build!  Makin me more and more jelous as the thread/build progresses!!  Keep it up!!

 

[smoke dawg]

Great project. I have been wanting to build a trailer mounted smoker / grill and got some new ideas from yours. I have been gathering materials for awhile but since my smoke house burnt up tonight, I better get started.  Keep the updates coming even if the project is slowing.

 

[fourashleys]

Lookin' good  

 

[bmudd14474]

Tom did you get the rope lights yet? If not I saw them at wally world. 38' for 13 bucks.

 

[tom37]

No I still have not pulled the trigger on my lighting yet. Still can't make up my mind. 

I have made a little progress, its been a slow go with the weather. I picked up a commercial frig from a friend for cheep, the plan was to use it as my new stumps clone smoker for the trailer. But after some thought and research I have finally made up my mind to build the clone from scratch. 

So that left me to figure out if I wanted to repair the freezer to a working unit or use it for storage. Done deal, its getting used as a dry storage now and its great. I will have no cabinets or totes anymore. Everything is going to fit nicely in the freezer with room to spare. 

The freezer is mounted to the wall and I have one of the two tables and shelves mounted, working on the mounts for the second table. Along with the second table I still have a double basin sink to get mounted as well.

 

[tom37]

I have also built a storage area to help with the storage of my tents, chairs and other misc items that come in handy while at events of different natures. This will also provide a really nice place for me to drag out my sleeping bag and catch a little sleep. If its cold I will be able to close the front and sides, close the doors and have a nice nap out of the elements and away from the pranksters who may want to play a trick on me while they are in there drunken state. 

I also had to refine my table to shorten it to fit where I wanted it. It started out being 4 feet long and I only had 40 inchs to fit it into. 

My youngest was over last weekend and was helping me with the trailer, he ask if he could try the tig welder and after a minute or two he was off and running. Tell ya what, I was pretty stinking proud of him. One, he wanted to try it and two, he did a fine job. 

Here is a little vid I took while he was working on the table.

And here is the table finished. When I do the other table I will take better pics of the process. The second table is 30 inchs front to back and needs to be 24 inchs, so I have a little more work on that one.

This is what I had to cut off.

 

[bmudd14474]

Tom,

Looks great. I saw those rope lights at walmart fairly cheap if your still looking.

Brian

 

[tom37]

Thanks Brian, I think thats the route I am going to take for general lighting. Then I can install direct lighting over my tables and a spot light to shine into the smoker. 

I hope, maybe. LOL I just can't make up my mind.

 

[chefrob]

this has turned out to be a great project.....thx for sharing!

 

[tyotrain]

Now thats what i am talking about.. Real nice build

 

[SmokinAl]

Excellent job there Tom!