Comp trailer build

garyeng · Posted: Fri Jun 29 12 2:10 am Post subject:

Over the last couple of evenings I managed to get the doors cutout of the 150gal tank. I cut them out with the plasma and took it slow but as many have said on here, sometimes it does not matter. If there is tension in the tank, it will release when you cut the doors out. The door on the right came out pretty good but the left door, not so much. The top and the left side of it is okay but the bottom and right side sprung. I was really really hoping that would not happen but oh well, what can you do but try to fix it.

The right door

The top of the right door with the hinges I made last weekend, they are just sitting there.

The left door

A bad pic of the top edge of the left door

Another bad pic but this time of the bottom of the left door

The right side of the left door at the bottom. You can see that it moved quite a bit so I have a little work ahead of me to straighten out this mess. At least I cannot say I do not have anything to do. Smile

Gary
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3rd Coast Smoke

k.a.m. · Posted: Fri Jun 29 12 11:17 am Post subject:

Gary, very nice cuts on your doors. Very Happy

I would not fret about the twist until after the straps are on. The doors will most likely do a bit more tweaking on their own. I have found that heat on tank steel does very little to help while over bending the door and impacting the area with a big hammer works wonders. When whipping them into shape keeping pressure on the area is the key or it will spring back on you.
I have some pics of how I use a chain and binder if you need them.
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Always remember slow and steady wins the race.

Reverse Flow
Hybrid Cooker

garyeng · Posted: Fri Jun 29 12 1:09 pm Post subject:

Kevin,
If you could show me how you handled the twist, I would appreciate it. I know the door is not twisted real bad but it is bad enough to cause me to want to fix it.

Gary
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3rd Coast Smoke

k.a.m. · Posted: Fri Jun 29 12 11:56 pm Post subject:

Gary, Here are some pics of how I handle a mounted door.
In this pic you will see the angle iron between the door and chamber. I place this just above where the door sticks out.

In this pic you see the binder holding the door under tension.

In this pic you see the small angle iron under the chain, I use this as a standoff when I have straps on the doors so the chain does not bend them.

Set this up and start whipping the door the chain will loosen when your making progress so check your work often. It is a process that takes time but I do not mind as I do not have a plate roller.
I hope this helps. Smile

_________________
Always remember slow and steady wins the race.

Reverse Flow
Hybrid Cooker

garyeng · Posted: Sat Jun 30 12 2:54 am Post subject:

Thanks Kevin, makes perfect sense to me and I will give it a try tomorrow. I did manage to get the straps tacked on the door that was not tweaked and it still looks pretty good. I will fire up the TIG in the morning and fully weld them on so we will see how it turns out in the end. More pics to come tomorrow evening if all goes well and I do not wear myself out again. I know one thing, I have been sweating out about a gallon of water and hour with all the humidity we have been having.

Gary
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3rd Coast Smoke

garyeng · Posted: Sat Jun 30 12 11:15 pm Post subject:

Kind of a late start today but this one was completely out of my control. We had thunderstorms rolling through this morning and power went out about 5:30 and did not come back on till nearly 10:30 this morning. Once power came back on I could finally get to work.

I worked on getting the straps on the doors that I cutout. I welded them out fully and ground and sanded them smooth. Once that was finished I positioned the hinges and fully welded them on also.

This door is still twisted the same amount after I welded the straps on it. It will have to wait and get fixed when I have the tank mounted on the trailer. If I try to do it now, I am going to be chasing it around the shop as I try to beat it into shape.

Just a shot of the backside of the patches I installed in the holes I filled where the fitting where. Need to get in ther with a grinder and clean them up a little.

Gary
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3rd Coast Smoke

GF · Posted: Sun Jul 01 12 9:45 am Post subject:

garyeng, your cooker is coming along nicely. Very Happy

The door doesn't look too bad, i'm sure some quality time with a hammer will fix it right up. Wink

Keep up the good work.

garyeng · Posted: Mon Jul 02 12 1:23 am Post subject:

What in the world. I cutout the doors on the 250gal tank and can you believe they did not move hardly at all? Not enough anyways to make me want to try a fix them. We will see what happens when I put the straps and hinges on this week sometime. I know, sense I said they the did not hardly move, murphy is going to come visit.

To tell you the truth, I tought I was headed to a disaster when I went to cut them out. I cut the sides of the doors, let them cool, cut the bottom of the first door free and it popped up about 1" when it came free. The second door did the exact same thing. I let everthing cool again and cut the top free and the doors feel free. I carried the tank outside with the tractor and cleaned it out really good. Then I took it back in the shop and let it dry. I put some tabs on the doors just so I could see the work I had ahead of me. Needless to say, I was plesenty surprised how well the fit. I guess it pays to cut the doors out with a plasma.
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k.a.m. · Posted: Mon Jul 02 12 1:26 am Post subject:

garyeng · Posted: Mon Jul 02 12 1:35 am Post subject:

Kevin, i know the plasma was not the differance as the smaller pits doors were cut with the plasma and you know how much one of those moved. Laughing

Gary
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garyeng · Posted: Sat Jul 07 12 1:58 am Post subject:

Made some progess over the last couple of days. I installed the straps on the 250gal doors to include the hinges. I also managed to get the supports for the pits cutout and mounted on the trailer. Today I tested the fit of the pits in the supports, had to make a few modifications but over sll, they fit pretty good. I then took the pits back off and finished welding the deck down and finished welded the pit supports onto the trailer. Once that was complete, I put the pits back onto the trailer in the proper position and tack welded them to the supports.

Tomorrow I will work on weaking the 1 door that is not fitting well. Then I will start building the fireboxes. Building the fireboxes is going to take sometime with them going to be insulated.

Here are a couple of pics with the pits sitting on the trailer just before I pushed it back into the shop so that I could tack them to the supports.

Gary
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3rd Coast Smoke

auto5man · Newbie Joined: 04 Jun 2009 Posts: 88 Location: Memphis, TN

Awesome build you have going on! I'm really enjoying watching your progress and can't wait for more posts.
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New Braunfels el Cheapo offset
Born in the Que-S-A Comp Team
36in x 120in Homebuilt

missionsusmc · Posted: Sun Jul 08 12 8:39 pm Post subject:

Great looking build. Wish I had your skills.
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"Never trust a skinny cook."
"Real men pass gas and use hickory."
"Happiness is...a belt-fed weapon."

Mary had a little lamb, a little brisket, a little ribs, and boy she was full!!!

garyeng · Posted: Sun Jul 22 12 3:23 am Post subject:

I have to apologize for not posting updates to the build. I had to work last weekend for awhile. All I managed to to was to get the 1/4" steel firebox for the 24" pit cutout and welded out. During this week I welded on all the flat bar so I could insulate the firebox.

Today was a busy day. I had to do some non pit building chores as I had to trim the trees away from my private road, not a fun thing to do in July. Then I did some grass trimming, never a dull moment around here.

This afternoon I managed to cutout the 10ga steel for the outer skin of the firebox and get it tacked on. Tomorrow I plan on welding it out and getting it installed onto the pit. That should be fun as that thing is getting heavy! I will get some pic taken tomorrow and post them up so you can see some of the progress. Still need to make to door for the firebox but still need to do allot of things. Smile

If I get the firebox on at a decent time tomorrow, I will start on the firebox for the 30" pit.

Gary
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Ronny Grady · Joined: 22 Jul 2012 Posts: 6

nice build!

I'm looking forward to seeing the functional pieces come together.

Razz

garyeng · Posted: Sun Jul 22 12 11:38 pm Post subject:

I managed to get the firebox welded out and welded to the pit this afternoon. I did not get around to starting the firebox for the 30" pit today though. Here are a few pictures of the pit with the firebox attached.

Need to get a new wire wheel for the grinder so I can clean the welds up a little.

There is just small lip from the firebox to the bottom of the pit.

Gary
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garyeng · Posted: Mon Aug 06 12 2:04 am Post subject:

Still here....
Over the last 2 weekends I managed to get the firebox for the big pit cutout and welded together to include insulating it. If I said this firebox was heavy it would be an understatement. It should be all kinds of fun lifting it in-place so I can weld it to the pit. Before I do that thought, I am going to take the pits off the trailer one last time so I can blast and paint the bottom of the pits and the trailer under them as it will be almost imposable once they welded down with the fireboxes on. Doing that will have to wait as I found the paint I want to use on the pits and it had to be ordered and will not be here for a couple of weeks. I wanted to use pit other than the standard high heat BBQ paint and I could not spray zinc primer as I do not have the air to run a paint pot with an agitator. I am not sure what the cost is of the paint as the paint store was going to have to call and get me the price, should find that out early this coming week I hope. Rolling Eyes

Gary
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3rd Coast Smoke

garyeng · Posted: Tue Aug 07 12 2:27 am Post subject:

Got a call this morning about the paint I ordered for the build. All I can say is it better be good stuff for the price of it. It is the first time I have ever heard of the primer costing more than the top coat. Can you believe they were out of the primer and they are going to have to make some for me? This is the manufacturer mind you that is out of it. They say they will make the primer next Monday and I should have it by the following Thursday.

Oh well, just glad I found some good paint to use.

Gary
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3rd Coast Smoke

Wreckless · Posted: Tue Aug 07 12 11:00 am Post subject:

What, no pics of the FB insulate install? Looking good tho! Very Happy

That sure is a nice dance floor in front of the cookers. Wink

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k.a.m. · Posted: Tue Aug 07 12 1:56 pm Post subject:

Gary, what brand of paint are you using?
_________________
Always remember slow and steady wins the race.

Reverse Flow
Hybrid Cooker