So last year at the start of the year My business partners and i came across an interesting add on ebay that had a 8 meter long Pressure vessel dated back to the 1800's Being that we had only been a smoker building company for a short while and being keen as mustard we KNEW we had to have it and it would be a personal side project of ours so as you can see we undertook Cutting grinding straight away Most smokers are 6mm of steel or less and being that thickness are Managable from a manafacturing point of view. in this case it is a 16mm piece of steel with 30mm in parts. it took us WEEKS worth of man hours to grind back the doors and cuts to a point where we were happy with them we wanted to maintain the original feel of the vessel so removing rivets and rust from the outside was not an option. where we could we didnt disturb the original features. We spent a lot of time building custom racks for this pit. each rack is numbered as it will not fit in another shelf due to the fact that no door or cut is identical. The racks are on sliders with stoppers so that you can bring them almost the entire way out and not have them fall off. the mesh is pressed expanded metal so that the surface is flat and wont scrape the meat when you put it on/take it off. there is a pretty big cost difference but there is no point not doing things right For the firebox to be in proportion to the smoker it ended up being 650-700kg. thats the weight of a Large smoker just in the firebox. Andy (my business partner) isnt the BIGGEST bloke going around but you start to get a feel for the sheer size of this pit when there is someone next to it Normally we would go with counterweights on our pits but in this case we wanted to be true to the industrial look of this smoker so pulleys/chains with counterweights at the back is the plan. This also allows us to remove/add weight easily for fine tuning A nice picture of the front where the chains are attached in this picture you can see the chains hanging waiting for counterweights to be put on We were lucky enough also to get piping that came with the vessel that we were able to use as a chimney. I dont think the pit would have looked right should it have had just a plain piece of pipe used We do have some plans for this area later down the track but for now it will just be plugged up (think boiler/whistle) While we dont have the FINAL pics we will update you all with them as soon as its ready Alternatively you can come and see us/it in person at the Yaks Festival this weekend phfew! a LOT of work/blood/sweat ect has gone into this pit. Wives have questioned our sanity, our accountant is like "What the!" but we really couldnt let this piece of historical metal just sit and rust for another 100 years. Some ~ specs 5 meters long 4.5 tonn Doors weigh 90kg each Wheels weigh 65kg each the Firebox is 1.2m^3 HUNDREDS of hours of welding/grinding/design has gone into this amazing piece of art and we look forward to seeing it cook some amazing Q. it IS for sale but only to the right buyer, someone who will look after her. in any case, look forward to answering any questions online or at the event!
OMFG, that is fucking amazing! Can't wait to see finished pics. It needs to be 5th wheeled behind a prime mover
Dont know yet. A lot to get up to temp. I would say 3 logs an hour maybe a little more with cold meat
that's fantastic. i reckon it would look more aesthetically pleasing if the chimney was pointed back over the smoker. i would hazard a guess that it would take several days to cool down enough for transport after using it.
Build a small cabin over the firebox and the thing starts to look like an old steam locomotive.. It is a fucking behemoth...
I was thinking that lol. I thought a couple of carriages on the back, a day trip out and when you get there dinner would be ready. It looks amazing.
Nice build and I guess you're going to paint it in black heat proof paint next? Where is this thing going? It would seriously need to pump out heaps of meat to get value out of all the wood it will burn just to keep it at temp.
It uses 3 logs an hour as apposed to a small bbq that uses 1. The efficiency is crazy in this pit. In relation to painting. No way! We want this to keep its look. If a customer wants to paint it then its their choice but we love the look it currently has.
looks pretty damn good! I agree with the aesthetic suggestions as well, get the pipe turned around or cut and weld it around the other way
