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LazyPBar

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2009
Messages
140
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Location
Nevada
hey guys i figured i would post this. its a project i started back before the 4th of july and just finished it in november. i dont think that quite qualifies as procrastination... ok maybe a little bit. since i salvaged pretty much all of the metal this entire project (though not 100% completed) has only cost me the amount of a bucket of paint, a few seal beam lights, and two sheets of expanded metal.

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i started off with the bbq. it was to be a free standing grill possibly with wheels to roll around the yard. the body was a water tank salvaged from an ancient cement truck. it was too perfect not to use. it already had a 6 inch vent out the top with a removable lid and brackets that bolted right to the angle iron frame i built. used the plasma to cut out the lid and welded stanley door hinges to the back of it. built the grill out of rounded angle iron and expanded metal. the rod is 3/4in black gas pipe welded to a ratchet reel for strapping down loads on trailers and semi's. the ratchet reel then is welded to the crank handle, thus enabling the grill to be raised and lowered. i will take some more photos to illustrate what i am describing, as my ability for comprehensible directions leaves something to be desired!

finally when the beast had to be moved for painting we realized that a mere stand with casters was not going to cut it. so we toyed around with the idea of building a trailer for it out of an old 4-wheeler frame. but i always say go big or go home. so we searched through our junk pile and came upon very large trailer hitches for mobile homes. heavy duty suckers with 10 in I-beam frames. so we started chopping them up and built the frame to the new bbq trailer. we also found the axles that went with the massive hitches. the square frame of the trailer ended up being approx. 6ft x 10ft with a 4ft tongue.

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finally finished the wiring, and surprisingly all the lights work! still need to find some fenders and throw on some reflective tape before i can get her licensed, but as its winter now and not much barbecuing going on, it can probably wait.
 
Wow, nice work! I didn't realize the scale of this until the trailer photo.
 
That's got to be one heavy trailer. That is alot of steel. Looks like you even have room up front on the trailer to mount a brewing rig.
 
This may be in the top 10 coolest things ever....


:mug:

I would HAVE to add a side box for cold smoking (or indirect) though.
 

yea it is just a grill, i must admit though it does have the 'smoker' look. i wanted one big enough that i could cook with wood. namely oak, we do a lot of lamb and i have yet to find a better way to cook it than grilled over black oak with my grandpa's 100 year old red wine sauce. I am thinking of adding a firebox so that i could smoke with it. i will get some closer pics of the grill and the inside.

as to the weight the trailer, it isnt quite as heavy as it looks. without the axle two of us were able to lift one end up and stand it on its side. it does look beefy though. definitely enough room for a couple of kegs or camping equipment (or both :ban:), whatever the venue happens to be.
 
Prost!That is one tailgating machine! Still has plenty of room for a satelite dish/LCD and portable keezer. Awesome
 
hey guys i figured i would post this. its a project i started back before the 4th of july and just finished it in november. i dont think that quite qualifies as procrastination... ok maybe a little bit. since i salvaged pretty much all of the metal this entire project (though not 100% completed) has only cost me the amount of a bucket of paint, a few seal beam lights, and two sheets of expanded metal.

Are you building this pit to compete? I have a competition BBQ Team here in the northeast. We have won Reserve Grand Champion at a number of events but a Grand Championship has eluded us. Maybe we will get lucky this season. We cook with a Lang 84 Deluxe Stick Burner and a couple of Big Green Eggs.

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yea it is just a grill, i must admit though it does have the 'smoker' look. i wanted one big enough that i could cook with wood. namely oak, we do a lot of lamb and i have yet to find a better way to cook it than grilled over black oak with my grandpa's 100 year old red wine sauce. I am thinking of adding a firebox so that i could smoke with it. i will get some closer pics of the grill and the inside.

as to the weight the trailer, it isnt quite as heavy as it looks. without the axle two of us were able to lift one end up and stand it on its side. it does look beefy though. definitely enough room for a couple of kegs or camping equipment (or both :ban:), whatever the venue happens to be.

Very cool ! Can you give the recipe for the red wine sauce?
 
Very cool ! Can you give the recipe for the red wine sauce?

sorry its kind of a closely guarded secret, most of my cousins don't even know it. ;) but if you are interested in trying it and up for a road trip, come to the potter valley rodeo in california on may 30, 2010. my grandpa always bbq's for the rodeo, i usually make it every year.

Are you building this pit to compete? I have a competition BBQ Team here in the northeast. We have won Reserve Grand Champion at a number of events but a Grand Championship has eluded us. Maybe we will get lucky this season. We cook with a Lang 84 Deluxe Stick Burner and a couple of Big Green Eggs.

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thats awesome congratulations! no i dont compete, i would like to, but the closest competition to me, that i know of, is the Reno Rib Cookoff, and you have to own your own BBQ restaurant and be invited in order to compete. i have heard a lot of different people use the big green eggs but i have never seen one in action, how do you like em?
 
Nice project. I can't beleive you were able to find that much channel for little or no cost. That was a great score.
 
Prost!That is one tailgating machine! Still has plenty of room for a satelite dish/LCD and portable keezer. Awesome

Agreed!

slap on a firebox and keezer and you'd be set!


I have a large BGE and love it, along with the guru it's makes cookin bbq very easy (and lazy).
 
ok finally got a few more close up pics of the grill. my computer doesnt like uploading pictures. :( The grill is currently off the trailer so I could finish the wiring. It already needs another coat of paint, i dont think i got the old paint off everywhere before i sprayed the high temp paint on. so there was some 'peel'age the last time i used it.

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thats awesome congratulations! no i dont compete, i would like to, but the closest competition to me, that i know of, is the Reno Rib Cookoff, and you have to own your own BBQ restaurant and be invited in order to compete. i have heard a lot of different people use the big green eggs but i have never seen one in action, how do you like em?[/QUOTE]

The big green egg is the perfect cooker! You can grill, smoke and bake with it. It is a ceramic cooker so it really retains heat. At comps it is not unusual for us to make a pizza with the egg because we just can't eat another bite of Q. It is also a steak cooking machine because you can get the temps up to 650 to really put a good sear on a piece of meat.
 
Plenty of room to add a portable kegerator, or one that runs off 12 volt....
 
My Dad has built several cookers and also caters BBQ and smoked meat. You have a nice, big cooker and lots of trailer room. I suggest dropping a Firebox that at's least half the size of your cooker. That will give you total control of your heat plus you can use it smoke meat as well.
Looks great!
 
thats awesome. is that an oil drum? i would love to see some more pics of that one, and a little info on how you built it!

What I know about UDS (ugly drum smokers). It is a 55 gallon drum. You don't want to use an oil drum unless it had coconut oil in it. What ever was stored in it needs to have been a food grade product.

Here are a couple of web sites to check.

http://www.uglydrumsmoker.blogspot.com/

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23436
 
thanks for the input guys. i think you have convinced me, a firebox will soon be in the works!:ban::ban::ban:
 
thanks for the links to the uds blog and the bbq forum. now i will have no free time!!! Im building a UDS this spring.
 
thats awesome. is that an oil drum? i would love to see some more pics of that one, and a little info on how you built it!
This is the drum in action this Thanksgiving. People spend thousands of dollars on quality smokers, I built this one for about 95 dollars..I always use unlined new drums, I can find them here in Dallas for around 45 dollars. If you build one make sure if you don't get a new one, that its previous life it held some kind of food....The link to BBQ Brethren will give you all the info you need..This by far is my cheapest but best smoker! Oh and here is a shot of the inside, before I put the racks in.

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Thanks for the links LiquidGold, that bbq-bretheren thread is epic. It took me all weekend to get through it. I've already located a drum :)
 
Thanks for the links LiquidGold, that bbq-bretheren thread is epic. It took me all weekend to get through it. I've already located a drum :)

Your welcome. Damn that was quick. It took me some time to find a drum. When I did I found 5 of them. Their sitting on the side of the house waiting for me to work my magic with them.
 

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