Brinkmann Trailmaster Limted Edition - mods

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Great job on the mods. It is reading info such as this that is seriously tempting me to purchase one of these units. I would very much be interested in doing all the mods mentioned, my only concern and I'm hoping someone will chime in and help out is can this unit be used throughout the winter months? I live up in Canada and we have been known to see temps in the -20 degrees C range here. I just love to smoke food and was able to smoke pretty much all last winter with my Masterbuilt. Was just looking to expand my collection of smokers and thought stick burning might be a challenge.
 
I live in the Chicago south suburbs.  My Brinkmann Trailmaster Limited Edition is used all year, summer and winter.  I have a few miner modifications, a fire box basket, a water pan on the fire box side, a baffle plate on the fire box side, and a stack extension to the cooking grate.  I have a "lean to" cook shanty to break the wind.  Works well in all kinds of weather. 
 
 
I live in the Chicago south suburbs.  My Brinkmann Trailmaster Limited Edition is used all year, summer and winter.  I have a few miner modifications, a fire box basket, a water pan on the fire box side, a baffle plate on the fire box side, and a stack extension to the cooking grate.  I have a "lean to" cook shanty to break the wind.  Works well in all kinds of weather. 
Good to know thanks very much for the reply! 
 

This big tub was so heavy that he legs broke off and was put in a barn for years.I made a offer and took it home. I use my old table saw stand that scissors open and holds this grill when it's on the ground and I made a plateform under it and welded the hole thig so that the bad roads don't tear it apart. The handle by the smoke stack is from a snowmobile. on the fire box I welded a step that went to a 4x4 truck. I have had this thing in all kinds of events.
 
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This big tub was so heavy that he legs broke off and was put in a barn for yaers. I made a 100.00 offer and took it home. I use my old table saw stand that scissors open and holds this grill when it's on the ground and I made a plateform under it and welded the hole thig so that the bad roads don't tear it apart. The handle by the smoke stack is from a snowmobile. on the fire box I welded a step that went to a 4x4 truck. I have had this thing in all kinds of events.

Looks awesome.
 
I purchased a btmle at Home Depot. It was on sale $100 off couldn't pass it up.

I got it home and sealed every seam I could find as I was putting it together. I used 3m Fire block fb 136. It had a lot of air gaps and the lids did not fit very well.

I used FireBlack125 for the Cook chamber gasket and LavaLock firebox gasket for the fire box.

I have a better fire basket for the box. Also have two tuner plates for the cook chamber. Also two hold down toggle brackets.

I will season it this weekend.

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did these changes work to control fire and temps cause this is 1 of biggest pc of junk ever bought

same thing end of season discounted down to $125- metal thickness to thin and cant control temps

put 2 small pc of wood in and rises temp to 400+ and sticks only 12" long 1"x1" pc wood

and its not temp gauge checked temp and was right with thermometer

       unit itself has plenty of cooking space but that about it

did you get all material to modify unit at home depot also // thx gary
 
did these changes work to control fire and temps cause this is 1 of biggest pc of junk ever bought


same thing end of season discounted down to $125- metal thickness to thin and cant control temps


put 2 small pc of wood in and rises temp to 400+ and sticks only 12" long 1"x1" pc wood


and its not temp gauge checked temp and was right with thermometer


       unit itself has plenty of cooking space but that about it


did you get all material to modify unit at home depot also // thx gary

I'm out of town till later today. I'm going to try to cure it today and get a first smoke on it this week. I'll let you know how it holds temps.

I know this smoker is not the best. I liked this style and was going to just build one. But I figured for the same price and a lot less work with some modifications I can get the same results.

You can get the materials to build the basket and the plates at Hd. You can get the clamps at harbor freight. And the gaskets online or any stove store.

I just went online to bbq smoker mods http://www.bbqsmokermods.com/mobile/Product.aspx?ProductCode=BR-TR-HOR-DLX

They had everything I needed on one place.

I did pick up the sealant at HD.

Hope this helps.
 
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Ok I got it all together and have it smoking to season. First thoughts.

1. The sealant I used is crap be it hardend and it leaks all over like I didn't even use any. That sucks cause I'm going to have I scrape it all off and use something else.

2. The original gauge is crap as well. No secret they are junk but it's not even close. I'm going to just mark on the gauge where the temp is on the grates.

3. The doors are not sealing even though I used good gaskets and rtv.
 
Good looking work!  Let us know how the sealant holds up...especially on the firebox side.  
 
Good looking work!  Let us know how the sealant holds up...especially on the firebox side.  

Thanks. Unfortunately it didn't work. The sealant dried hard and cracked under the heat. A lot of it just fell off. I will have to take it all apart and use something else.

So do not use it.
 
Pulled-apart steel wool pads (the kinds without soap!) can take a lot of heat and make a pretty good smoke seal between loose or irregular-fitting surfaces.  
 
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Just ordered a baffle plate and a seal kit for my tmle. I have had it for about 3 years but its time to get my cooks under control! Anyone purchased the baffle plate from bbq smoker mods?
 
Ok guys,

I am still trying to figure out the finer points to smoking. I have the BTLE and haven't done any mods yet....yet. I'm working on aquiring some plate steel for tuning plates, but right now I'm averaging the temps from one side to the other with a dual digital probes on the grates. The stock therm on top is usually around 275 when I have an avg of about 200. So here's where I screw up......

I have a tendency to change too many things from one smoke to the next. This go-round I tried mesquite lump rather than strict stick. I tried the minion method and it took over an hour to bring the pit DOWN from near 575*!!!

Did I use too much fuel? Is there a trick to lump? I want to be able to leave the pit alone (and I realize that this will be more possible with the tuning plates), but this temp regulation is killin' me!!! I spent my entire Sunday last week standing over the FB with a water bottle, 1. trying to keep the temps down and 2. trying to keep the smoke flowing over my brisket!!

Thanks!
 
I would start with the tuning plates and a stack extension down to the cooking grate.  That should balance the temperature.

Keep the stack wide open and control the fire with the damper on the firebox.

I use a water pan with mine, it helps to keep the temperature from running away.

Good luck and happy smoking!
 
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