Brinkmann Trailmaster Limited Edition

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I had limited time today, attached the legs and bottom tray to the sons Trailmaster.

I visited the metal distributor, bought a sheet of 10 gauge steel, to cut into 14'" x 6" deflector plates and a 4' x 4' sheet of expanded steel enough to make a couple of charcoal baskets. Then went to ACE hardware to buy two tubes of the Rutland high temp silicone and a gasket kit. The label on the Rutland gasket kit described the product as being saturate with graphite and not suitable for contact with food, so I was weary and only got the silicone.

I would like to use a 4" dryer elbow to extend the stack to grate level, but I am worried about that piece being made of galvanized material.

can anyone provide info on the type of dryer vent used.

Thanks

Joe
 
Joe,

+1 what Grimm said.  Use aluminum.  There are still some galvanized ones out there, but most are aluminum anymore.
 
Thanks Piaconis and Grimm. That's the same piece I installed on my dryer vent a few years ago. Was right under my nose (or above it) hope the wife don't miss it.

Joe
 
Today I installed the dryer vent/stack combo, handle and cut the deflector plates. I added Rutland silicone and tightened the screws and nuts on legs. I gegan to assemble the SFB and noticed that there were three bolts per side and none on the ends. I drilled holes and added a 1/4" bolt/lock washer/nut combo to each end as well as Rutland silicone before tightening. here are a couple of pics.

Joe

 
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Looks good, where did you find the wheels?

Joe
 
Harbor Freight. $5.99 each. They are 10" dia so you don't have height issues. The hub bore is 0.6" and the axle shaft is 0.47" so there's some play there, but I packed it good with axle grease and it rolls just fine. I also had to add a couple 5/8" nuts on each side as spacers as the hub is narrower than the wagon wheel's.

It's a LOT quiter now as well!!! Rolling that thing across the patio sounded like a freight car full of nails!
 
Not saying it's wrong or a problem I've just always had a floor all of mine.

I shake the charcoal box to drop out the ash and move the coals around, without a floor I would think it could become a hassle trying to keep the coals contained when moving the basket. I've also taken out the charcoal box during cooks before to remove some coals because the temps were sky rocketing.
 
Didn't really see the need for it. Just easier to make the loop box.

Seems the bottom grate is probably sufficient. Any reason why I'd need a floor on it that I'm missing?
I don't have a floor on mine . Never thought to put one in, I don't move the basket during a cook and the ash falls thru on it's own.  Could be handy if you wanted to remove the basket as Grimm suggests.  
 
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My horizon convection plate  came in about a month ago. ordered it before Xmas had to call to find out what was going on. They had them in stock and shipped that day.   I am still tinkering but so far in several test burns I have maintain even heat all the way across the cooking chamber once It got up to temp. Thermos at firebox bout 6 " in ( I use a loaf pan full of water ), 1 in the middle tip even with the stock thermo, and 1 at the chimney extension. I have the plate sitting on 1 of the fire grates, I tried raising it with 1" square tubes, but didn't work for me. I also built a fire grate keeps the charcoal from falling through and helps to maintain heat longer.

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How long did it take them to get the plate out their door. Ordered one last week. Called them twice and emailed them once. Heard nothing back from them.
 
I live in Virginia Beach and at my local BJs tonight they still have the Smoker for 279.00 and their frontier lump on sale ( which I use all the time seems great) for 16.00 for 40lbs. just figured I would pass it on. Happy smoking I have 2 butts going on in an hour for a hopeful dry weekend!

John-
 
I did another "dry run" burn over the weeked after implementing the mods (vent stack extension, silicone sealant, charcoal grate, and dual thermos at grate level). Ambient temps in the mid 80s and wafting breezes up to ~10mph. I started the burn with the smoker under a tree, but moved it into the sun after an hour. A couple of things:

Observation:  It just didn't draft anywhere near as well as my first couple of runs.

Conclusion & Steps Taken: My guess is that the vent stack extension is too long and stifles draft formation. I decided to remove the end piece to get the exit a little further away from the grate level.


Observation:  I filled the charcoal basket (10" x 10" x 6") with good-sized pieces of Cowboy brand lump charcoal (never buying this bag of splinters and dust again...), made a little crater in the pile, started a full chimney with more lump, let it ash up, and loaded it into the firebox basket ala the 'minion method'. Stack vent and intake vents were both left all the way open for the duration.

I just could not get grate temps above 200-205F. After a couple hours of this, I guessed that the basket was just too small for such a large chamber and, to test my theory, I removed it, letting the coals kind of fall loosely into the firebox. This started my temps to climb gradually and was able to reach ~230F at grate level (which corresponded to ~300F+ on the top gauge... what a joke that thing is!)

Conclusion & Step Takens: You can definitely make a basket that has too small of a surface area for the internal volume of the cook chamber. It just can't keep up unless you have a HOT fuel source. Dissassembled the charcoal basket, rebent the arms out, and reassembled it. It's dimensions are now 10" deep, 11.5" long, and 6" tall. I also found that sliding the basket closer to the intake vent side allows me to add my chunk wood on the outlet side which REALLY helps with heat production.


Observation: Compared to my first runs, very little smoke escaped from the cooking chamber.

Conclusion & Steps Taken: That Rutland silicone sealant is the bomb. I need to add some more thickness in a few spots, but it totally sealed up the firebox joins and did a great job minimizing the loss through the cooking chamber door. My two grate thermos, which are 13.5" apart, were within 5-7 degrees of each other. Nice. I was lucky though... the fitment out of the box was pretty damn good.


Question: Does anyone see any benefit to adding another air intake to the firebox -- maybe above the existing one -- to help with getting temps up? I'd like to be able to get grate temps up to 275-300F if I want to. After the firebox sealing, I think that my fire chamber isn't getting enough air now! Can one actually seal these things up too much? When I'd open the firebox main door, the coals would burst into flame.


Question:  In breezy/windy conditions, do you guys point your firebox air intake vents toward the wind, away from it, oblique to it, or does it matter? I'm hoping my vent stack extension cutback will solve this, but I was actually getting smoke wafting out of the intake when the wind luffed...
 
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My guess is that your fuel may be betraying you. My basket is 10x10x7 and my extension goes down the the rack. I prefer lump to briquettes, but I have had to use briquettes since I am unable to find a lump brand in my area with a consistent size. All that to say I can maintain consistent 325 degree temps. My theory is that the regular shape of the briquettes allows for more efficient heat generation with minimal air space between the coal.

I can't speak to the wind orientation since my driveway is like a wind tunnel, but i generally have the fire box away from the wind. Here are some pics of the extension, basket, and some wings I did at 325 for two hours on Father's Day, the skin turned out perfect, thanks to the advice on these forums.

 
If I need to get more air into the firebox I shut the intake vent and crack the ash pan on the bottom.. It works awesome for me. Might be something to play with.
Thanks Mike. I never thought of that! I'll give it a try.

I want to get this thing dialed for the 4th of July. I have a really nice 6.5lb bone-in pork butt for the day's BBQ, bourbon baked beans, chipotle buttered corn-on-the-cob, etc I want to all do on the smoker.
 
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