Smoker/bbq build

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Farmer Jon

Sous Chef
Joined
Sep 14, 2014
Messages
860
Location
Pender Nebraska
Here is my project. Its a little farther along now. One side is a smoker the other a charcoal grill. Its all made from water heaters and some scrap pipe and an old axle we had around the farm.

modelded after one I seen at bass pro shop for 1700 bucks
 

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That Horizon you are modeling yours after is made from 1/4" steel. Do those water heaters have the same thickness? I own a Horizon 16 Classic. Got tired of replacing the junk, home improvement store, offset smokers. I also added a tuning plate which I had to order because Bass Pro doesn't carry them.
 
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That Horizon you are modeling yours after is made from 1/4" steel. Do those water heaters have the same thickness? I own a Horizon 16 Classic. Got tired of replacing the junk, home improvement store, offset smokers. I also added a tuning plate which I had to order because Bass Pro doesn't carry them.

"tuning plate" ? TIA
 
Gotta put some mag wheels on that trailer and a MINIMUM of 4 bottle openers on that trailer. :) Looking good. That's gonna put out a lot of great ribs, chicken, brisket, corn on the cob, etc..

That shop looks awesome. I'd love to have a workspace that big.
 
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Cool as heck Craig. You might remember i was considering upgrading my tunnel smoker and this is the thing I wanted to make. But I was not exactly sure how to go about it.
It seems a bit pricey for a piece of metal. I'm retired now and do not have access to a machine shop anymore.
Had i still been working, the picture would be all I needed to have my machinist make it for me. I notice its welded to another small piece of stock. Did you have to get yours welded?
Thanks very much.
 
The water heaters are 1/8 inch thick. I think. I will double check that. Also it will have a convection plate. The inside of these water heaters are coated with a vitreous glass. (I googled it). I had to grind like hell to get it off so I can weld on the inside. I tried to melt it off with a rose bud on the torch. It melted then hardened right back up.

The charcoal grill side was started by someone else who lost interest. Basically they cut the water heater in half and put some crappy hinges on. I took it and ran with it. I would have done it a little different but its good. I changes some stuff and made it my own.

That was a last minute thing. I thought hey lets make the cart into a trailer and throw this charcoal grill on the other side. I drew the trailer design on the floor with a piece of chalk and here we are.

Made a little progress. There was a little warping of the metal when I welded it. Not bad. Just needs a little tweaking. I got the doors on. Now that it rained we will be stuck in the shop. Maybe I can have it done by the end of the week. We are on the down hill slide. I really want it done by memorial weekend.
 

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Its been a while since I worked on this. Got a bunch done yesterday. With help from my 18 year old son a friend of mine came over and a few bud lights. Got everything attached to the trailer. Fire box done. Its pretty well ready to fire. Need some handles and latches and a couple odd and ends. Once its useable I can focus on the trailer its self. Box to put a cooler and wood/charcoal. Storage under for a folding table and chairs. Pretty much everything I need self contained.

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These racks are removable so I can hang things in here Like sausage.

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Fire box
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The water heaters are 1/8 inch thick. I think. I will double check that. Also it will have a convection plate. The inside of these water heaters are coated with a vitreous glass. (I googled it). I had to grind like hell to get it off so I can weld on the inside. I tried to melt it off with a rose bud on the torch. It melted then hardened right back up.

The charcoal grill side was started by someone else who lost interest. Basically they cut the water heater in half and put some crappy hinges on. I took it and ran with it. I would have done it a little different but its good. I changes some stuff and made it my own.

That was a last minute thing. I thought hey lets make the cart into a trailer and throw this charcoal grill on the other side. I drew the trailer design on the floor with a piece of chalk and here we are.

Made a little progress. There was a little warping of the metal when I welded it. Not bad. Just needs a little tweaking. I got the doors on. Now that it rained we will be stuck in the shop. Maybe I can have it done by the end of the week. We are on the down hill slide. I really want it done by memorial weekend.

I would suggest that you find thicker material for the fire box and the side of the smoker where the fire box will be attached.
 
The fire box is the same thickness. Where its attached I doubled it up. I cut the end off the water heater I am using g for the cooking area and capped it off. Then the one I'm using for the fire box got capped off also. Then I welded the flat sides together. I also put a leg under the fire box to hold it up. I was t worried about heat I didn't want it bouncing around Going down the road.

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Just remember, that fire box is going to be seeing temperatures that it never experienced as a water heater.
 
Oh yea should be alright. I did some research. There are a lot of them around. Google water heater smoker. If it don't work I get out the torch and grinder lol.

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