# Horizontal/vertical WH smoker build



## pollard (Aug 1, 2017)

Finally getting around to building a smoker similar to the Durango and others.













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__ pollard
__ Aug 1, 2017






Probably won't have wheels on it. Don't have any concrete to roll it on. I've got a little tractor so I'll probably put some attachment point for the three-point hitch. Then I can just pick it up and move it when I need to. The other details like handles, hinges, shelves etc are bound to look different as I'm using whatever I have laying around. Could be some old Chevy truck parts on it. LOL Two 40 gallon water heaters and another tiny water heater for the firebox. The big tanks are 18" and the little one 14". Most of these types of smokers use the same diameter for all chambers. I think I'll be alright with the smaller firebox. I just won't try to make a grilling area out of it. If I want to grill, I'll build a fire in the big horizontal chamber to grill on or just build me a grill or just buy a cheap kettle grill. Who needs a grill anyway when you can smoke.

The top of the vertical tank, used to be the bottom of the WH. I cut the end out, flipped it over and welded it back in to have a domed roof. I couldn't see any use for a concaved end on any of this. If I kept the concaved end and made it the bottom, it would just collect crud down in the corner. The top of WHs have fittings so that made a better bottom as I'll have grease drain(s). I set the horizontal tank with the heating element bungs facing down for the same purpose, drains. Just now finished cutting the bottom out of the small tank and welding it back in upside down. Now the fun part of joining that to the horizontal tank with both ends being domed and having fitting bungs all over them.













durango18_01.jpg



__ pollard
__ Aug 1, 2017






I didn't realize all water heaters are porcelain/ceramic coated on the inside. Kinda cool and probably a good thing as the sidewalls are pretty thin. The coating should make them last a little while. With the thin walls, I'll have to keep this thing protected from the wind, else I'll have too much temperature fluctuation. I've got some old corrugated roofing so maybe I'll wrap it around the smoker wherever I can - stood off an inch or two.

I'm still thinking on the smoke path. These types of units usually just dump from the firebox right into the end of chamber #1. Seems like that end will be hot. I was thinking on making some sort of diffuser plate with a bunch of big holes drilled in it for the smoke to come up from below - more evenly.

Well, back to work. I'll take pics as I go and post them here.


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## SmokinAl (Aug 2, 2017)

Man that's going to be a beast!

Al


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## pollard (Aug 2, 2017)

Poorman's plasma cutter - 5" x .040" cut off wheel on the grinder













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__ Aug 2, 2017






Doors all cut with the exception of a small door on the end of the firebox for lighting the fire.













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__ Aug 2, 2017






Round grate from the little brinkmann type smoker. WOuld be a shame to have to grind off the ceramic coating on the inside of the tanks in places to put something in to hold grates. Maybe I'll drill a few holes top and bottom and bolt some standards(vertical pieces for adjustable shelving) in for shelf/grate brackets.













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__ Aug 2, 2017






going to pick up some flatbar this morning for door flanges


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## pollard (Aug 2, 2017)

Looks like a friendly beast maybe?













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__ Aug 2, 2017


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## pollard (Aug 2, 2017)

Door flanges done. Just picked up that travel trailer in the background and haven't washed it yet.













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__ Aug 2, 2017






Here's a shot of the backside of a door while welding on a flange. Notched the doors with a 1/4" thick grinding disc. Sort of a open end plug weld.













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__ pollard
__ Aug 2, 2017


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## ahumadora (Aug 3, 2017)

Looks like you have it all under control...  Nice work


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## motolife313 (Aug 4, 2017)

Looks good. U are a balancing master


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## pollard (Aug 4, 2017)

Thanks. Have things calmed down in Argentina? There was some turmoil several years back IIRC.


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## pollard (Aug 4, 2017)

She's got legs now. Last thing I did last night. There's actually two pipe bungs on the bottom of the vertical tank, front and rear, which is how it's able to sit like that. Couple of things came out a little crooked due to working on crooked ground. I've got a shop I'm building but it's not done enough to work in yet. A workbench, sawhorses and concrete floor will be nice and it's what I'm used to. Now I remember why I liked to stay in the shop as opposed to working out in the field doing installation. I built electric signs for 25 years. Mainly worked with aluminum which is much nicer, lighter and cleaner to work with than steel.













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__ pollard
__ Aug 4, 2017






Old Chevy truck parts finally found their way onto this thing. Clutch linkage from 47-54 Chevy truck. The two on the left are the two preformed ends with built on flange. Those made the vertical door hinges and I welded the end closed on the female half which faces up so it will shed rain. They both go the same way so I can lift the door off if I want. The other four hinges are completely hand made using more of the linkage, bent in a vise after heating with a torch. Made flanges with small slivers of the tube. Couldn't find any washers and this probably looks better than washers anyway.

Here's the vertical hinges in place.













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__ Aug 4, 2017






Horizontal door hinges













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Getting close to being finished with the fabrication.













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__ Aug 4, 2017






Those legs on the firebox end are just sitting there in this pick. They got welded on to the other end of the firebox and the long legs got welded under the center of the vertical tank. Those are running board brackets from the same truck(s). I've got 3-4 of those trucks sitting here, 2 came in pieces. One's in the beginning stage of doing the S-10 frame swap.

Grates, a flue pipe and some handles/latches is all that's left for fab work. Maybe some little shelves below the horizontal doors as it seems to be a standard thing to do. I suppose it prevents people from bumping or leaning on the hotter surface of the tanks too. Especially the firebox. That would leave a mark on a bare leg. Paint and thermometers and she be done.Might hold off on the paint until I use it a few times.Might decide I need something welded on to hang BBQ tools or something. Maybe a flat area on the top of the firebox to use as a burner etc. Hoping to season it this aft/eve and test it out tomorrow with 20lbs of chicken leg quarters. I've got a Boston Butt pork roast I might throw on there too. After all the leaning over and contortion, I'm ready to sit in a chair and monitor it for 6-8 hours.


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## ahumadora (Aug 4, 2017)

Pollard,

ou are knocking that out pretty quick.

Yep Argentina is all F%#$# up and always will be.   

Only thing I can see is you may want to reinforce where the hinges are welded ontothe door seal of the horizontal cooker.   They may flex or work the weld on the flange.

Post us food pics and a selfie of the well deserved beer drinking while it cooks.


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## JckDanls 07 (Aug 4, 2017)

Here's a feature that I really like every time I open the CC door... A self locking door holderer opener...  works perfect on the horizontal tank door ... 

On the left side of the door is a piece of round stock (1/2")....  when you open the door far enough it catches and holds door open... to close you lift door , lift round bar out and let door close... 

(click on pic to enlarge)

latch on the left side of door when closed ...  bent to the radius of the tank













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__ JckDanls 07
__ Dec 18, 2016





 

open and it locks behind a short piece of same round stock that's turned sideways...













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__ JckDanls 07
__ Dec 18, 2016






A different angle.













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__ JckDanls 07
__ Aug 4, 2017





 

Especially if not using a counterweight on the door ...


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## JckDanls 07 (Aug 4, 2017)

Also...  think about 4 wheels with a tow bar for moving... notice the tow bar on mine..  I hook to lawn mower or golf cart..  you'd be surprised how easy it is to roll around the yard by hand ..


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## pollard (Aug 5, 2017)

Ahumadora said:


> Pollard,
> 
> ou are knocking that out pretty quick.
> 
> ...


Good catch. I'll run a couple beads of weld at the flange/door right at that spot on the outside. Can't weld the flanges on solid because the door is so thin. I bought some wood stove sealant to use as a seam sealer so that rain won't go down between them all the time.


JckDanls 07 said:


> Also... think about 4 wheels with a tow bar for moving... notice the tow bar on mine.. I hook to lawn mower or golf cart.. you'd be surprised how easy it is to roll around the yard by hand ..


We live on 8 acres of what used to be forest until we got here a few years ago and it's rocky and hasn't been graded much. I would have to have a 4 foot wide axle so that it wouldn't rock back and forth and tip over. I'm going to build a pole shed for it with a wall or two to block off the predominate winds. At any rate, I don't plan on moving it but if I need to, my tractor lift arms pick it right up.

I probably won't do the door prop exactly like you have but it did give me an idea. I happen to have two e-brake pedal arms from the old Chevys and they're curved just about right. I'm thinking two of them. One as a front prop like yours and one aiming back to keep it from opening too far. With my thin tanks, if I had the door propped up and a gust of wind blew it all the way back, it would bend the tank. Either that or do it like a lid on a chest that has the arms with a slot and larger opening on one end of the slot where the rod drops in and locks it.


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## JckDanls 07 (Aug 5, 2017)

that was my purpose...  just to give ya more ideas... Thumbs Up


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## pollard (Aug 7, 2017)

Got a fire grate and horizontal cooking grate made. Cooking grate is ugly and thin so I'll make a better one sometime. I'm just far enough along that I could have smoked some leg quarters Saturday, which was my plan. Supposed to be 82F and sunny. It rained on and off  Sat ans all day Sun. Killin me. Been drooling over smoking vids on utube which doesn't help but I'm learning a few things. Mon and Tues are supposed to be nice. I've got very little small wood covered from the rain. I don't plan on using charcoal but I might have to on this first go around. I'm sure I can dig down in my oak and hickory piles of bigger stuff and find dry. Only got a few pieces of cherry but I'm not going to use them right off the bat.

I did manage to light a fire in the box friday night. That small tank had been painted on the outside so I wanted to burn it off. Won't be able to use the vert until I get some shelf standards put in. Not finding much for those online so I'll probably be making them. I closed up the doors when the fire had gone down to coals. Heats up pretty good. Kind of hot in the horiz chamber near the FB so I built a heat management plate yesterday.

Pics - yes, I moved the plastic drum before lighting a fire













durango18_12.jpg



__ pollard
__ Aug 7, 2017






added some mesh on top of the fire grate - not shown here













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__ pollard
__ Aug 7, 2017


















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__ pollard
__ Aug 7, 2017






This little starting fire got me up to 200 F real quick so with some coal base plus a split going, I should be good. I was worried since my firebox is smaller than what the calculator says and smaller than all the retail units.

Thought I had a pic of my heat management plate but I guess I don't. 15" wide in my 18" tank, full length, firebox end bent up a bit with radius to fit the end, started with two rows of four 1/2" holes near the fire box, then two rows 5/8, two 3/4 and two 7/8". That gave me 10-20 degrees difference from right to left on the horiz chamber. Going to season it for 2-3 hours and make sure I can hold a temperature. I've got 10 lbs of leg qtrs brining that I'll cook this afternoon and a 16 lbs butt in the fridge that I'm not sure what I'm going to do with or when. That's one big butt.


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## motolife313 (Aug 7, 2017)

Nice. I bet it will take a bigger fire when u got meat in there tho. I was building a fire rack for mine but decided not to. Just Gina burn right on the fire brick. Have u considered making a grease catch under the exhuast if u are doing a center stack?


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## pollard (Aug 7, 2017)

Hadn't thought of the grease/creosote dripping down but I guess I'll do something for that.


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## motolife313 (Aug 7, 2017)

Or u could put the exhaust on the side and not center. It would run down the smoker wall that way. That's how I'm building mine


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## pollard (Aug 7, 2017)

Already got a stack in the center. 1st smoke is done.


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## pollard (Aug 11, 2017)

Finished it up enough to do a couple of test runs, one with leg quarters and one with butts and briskets



Managed to keep the smoke blue most of the time -- after some practice -- I'll be putting some door latches on before I use it again so I don't have to lean logs on it













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__ pollard
__ Aug 11, 2017






Did chicken for the first go around - meat was good -- skin was leather although I did turn up the heat towards the end so it was crispy leather













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__ Aug 11, 2017






Brisket and a couple of butts













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__ Aug 11, 2017






Here's one of the butts - came out awesome -- brisket came out pretty good -- after being up every 1-2 hours all night, I lost patience and never got it up to 195-205 F to where the collagen changes to gelatin so it wasn't super moist or super tender. Definitely edible and it had a perfectly defined 1/4 inch smoke ring. I used some old McCormick Grill Mates as a rub but I think it had lost all it's uumph. I'm going to try another one with a better rub or do it Texas style with kosher/pepper rub. If I can't make it flavorful, I'll start corning it before smoking. We used to get pre-smoked briskets at Sam's Club and they had tons of flavor but they weren't cheap. If I could come close to those, I'd be a happy camper.













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__ pollard
__ Aug 11, 2017






That's about 230 F but at 250 F the smoke chugs out pretty fast. My stack is probably too tall considering it's coming off of a vertical tank which also acts as a stack. That's a 5 inch gas appliance vent and it's galvanized. I'm going to swap it for a piece of 6 inch stainless steel stove pipe.


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## motolife313 (Aug 11, 2017)

Nice looking cook out. Isn't it good to have the smoke come out fast so it's more fresh smoke that way?


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## pollard (Aug 11, 2017)

I suppose. I watched a video from Yoder and he was looking for blue smoke puffing out about like my pic but I suppose it depends on how hot you're running.


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## motolife313 (Aug 11, 2017)

I found I always get blue or clear smoke if my fire is burning good. If it almost goes out it will get white. I'd only go with a bigger exuast if u have to keep ur fire really small. Pry make it easier tho if u had a bigger exuast so u could have bigger fire but you'll go through more wood


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## pollard (May 4, 2018)

Spring has sprung, the grass has grew, time for outdoor cookin'.
Got some latches put on and a couple of thermometers put in the lid and smoked a butt a couple of days ago. It looked kind of lonely sitting in there all by itself. So today I hit the grocery store and grabbed a whole pork loin, a filet of salmon and two racks of baby backs. 






I might move the thermometers down lower and I still need one or two for the vertical chamber.


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