SmokerBuilder.com

Solid start! Much easier to work with once it's on wheels.

I'll not be the one to tell you not to use water but I feel that it is unnecessary if you are able to manage your fire properly. I built mine with the ability to use an inch of water on top of my baffle plate but found it completely unnecessary. I completely loose my bottom heat causing both fuel co...

Can never have too many pits....lol. Glad you found us!

Keep at it....looks really good!

Every design is a bit different and is filled with compromises. Three inches is a lot of vertical space to take up for a grease dam and really only needs to be a out an inch or so. I'm not sure anybody actually puts water in the bottom of their pit so the only purpose is to keep grease drippings out...

Moving along nicely.....

Glad it worked out! Now just have to keep smoking!

I see a new pit build in the near future......

I find pork butts very forgiving. You can wrap them and turn the temp up a bit to speed them up or let them sit in the warmer for an hour so you have a lot of adjustability. When I plan a meal, shoot for having meat ready an hour before serving time because something always increases the cook time, ...

Sounds like you are set for a nice build with a shop and skills to match! Welcome to the group...we are glad to have you.

You've got more ambition than I do, lol. Pretty gutsy getting that much meat without even knowing if you like the flavor of it. Hope it works out! Most of the wild game I've dealt with over the years has been pretty lean as compared to farmed meat. If this holds true with hogs, I would think you wou...

No need to make it longer than the calculator calls for. It just adds needless top-heavy weight and looks goofy. It can also affect the operation of your pit as proper combustion and airflow depends heavily on the proper sized stack. As mentioned, you could make it longer and add a damper but that j...

Remember, it's based on internal volume of the chimney. You can increase or decrease the diameter of the pipe to get the desired height while maintaining the required volume.

I'm not a big fan of vertical smokers and rounds are extremely time-consuming to build and work with. Sounds like fun, tho.

Sounds like you are on the right track....it's nice to see that steel prices are finally slipping downward a bit and we can all get back to fabrication.

Yep...old riding lawn mower as well.

I ran a plasma cutter on mine...it is 0.25" thick...and had no issues. I was conscious of the heat in the metal and careful not to put too much in. Make short cuts and give it time to cool and you will be just fine.

Nope....nothing on carts specifically but lots of builds on the site have had similar needs. Just do a little searching on the build threads for ideas. I will mention that these things are heavy so wide tires are needed if you want to roll on grass.

Yep....what Big T said! Just a note on the bottom shelf...The goal is to have the top of the shelf at dead center so it is as big as possible. I frame my shelves with 1" angle so make the bottom door cut 1" below center. If you are going to use the bottom lip of the shelf for the "pull", instead of ...

Bummer on being dry, not a lot of marbling in that tho. Turn your heat down a bit, wrap earlier and pull it from the smoker 10 degrees earlier next time.

I trim fat on all my cuts pretty close...sometimes completely. My reasoning is nobody wants a mouthful of perfectly seasoned fat so why waste the rub on a surface of the meat that is just going to get trimmed after the cook anyway. You may need to wrap it...I typically use a butcher paper wrap on bi...

I've not done one but I would do the same. Maybe pull it off a bit earlier than the 203 we shoot for on a brisket as I feel it would get tough/dry pretty easily.

Hard to go wrong with jack daniels.....

Follow the calculator, it will make for a proper running pit.

Secondly, why in the world would you want a longer stack....it just adds weight and looks goofy!

Weber makes a good quality product. They have a lot of size options as well, we had one a while back that they called portable and geared to tailgating/picnics. Pretty small but might fit your requirements.

Makes absolutely no difference....whatever is easier to work with. If you are going to have a cut out of your tank, some guys will use that material so as to match the curve as well.