MTF's ugly little scavenger entry
- Miketheforester
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MTF's ugly little scavenger entry
Here we go folks after plan number 1 went to shit I finally found my blank canvas. Prepare to be amazed... Or deeply disappointed?
- Frank_Cox
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Re: MTF's ugly little scavenger entry
I'm sorry my puter must be on the fritz or something mtf - I can't see your picture here ...
And on the eighth day God created barbecue …. because he DOES love us and he wants us to be happy.
Current smokers: Egor (trailered RF) and Easybake (tabletop pellet drive)

Current smokers: Egor (trailered RF) and Easybake (tabletop pellet drive)
- The Czar
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Re: MTF's ugly little scavenger entry
No pics....never happens....
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- smokethis
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Re: MTF's ugly little scavenger entry
Where is the pic .........did u get ur tank from frank
its the new invisible line






Its done well not well done
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- DUAYNE B
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- Miketheforester
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Re: MTF's ugly little scavenger entry
Here is the only clue I'm giving until the build is done, and yes it will be RF, and yes it will have a 10 gallon or less CC.
[ATTACH]11133[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH]11133[/ATTACH]
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- The Czar
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Re: MTF's ugly little scavenger entry

If you can't fix it by sheer force or cursing......then it can't be fixed.....
AKA= The Czar
AKA= The Czar
- Smokeone
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Re: MTF's ugly little scavenger entry
I don't think that plastic bucket is gonna hold up. 

BBQ is just smoke and beers!
Usually more beers than smoke.
Usually more beers than smoke.
- Miketheforester
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Re: MTF's ugly little scavenger entry
Says the man with a plastic bucket....
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- Miketheforester
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Re: MTF's ugly little scavenger entry
So here we go. You all saw the 15 gallon barrel I started with. I decided i was going to turn that into a vertical center feed RF. Next I had to figure out what I was going to scrounge for the RF plates and lid. All I could come up with was some old disc blades that a found laying around an old farm. Everything down hill from there. By the time my gears were done turning I decided this was going to be an all in one disco, grill and RF rig. Here are pictures of most of the sources of material. Most of the normal steel bits came out of scrap piles here and there. One mans scrap is another man's free steel source.
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- Miketheforester
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Re: MTF's ugly little scavenger entry
Sorry folks, I flat out suck at taking pictures, so bear with me. My next step was to cut the bottom 1/3 of my barrel of, then begin making the pieces to go in it. I built my lid/ disco by cutting down one of the disc blades to the diameter of the lip on my barrel and welding in a bung cut out of a drum lid seen in the pile of stuff on the previous post. Next I cut 2 plates for my RF plates, the first with a hole in the center and the second just smaller than the diameter of the barrel. Then I cut 2 rigs out of 1/8 inch steel plate the diameter of the barrel an about 1 inch wide to create a mating surface between the top and bottom part of the barrel. Then I took all of these pieces and wrapped and welded bands of varying thickness and widths of scrap steel around the outsides of the fore mentioned parts to act as a mating surface between the barrel and the parts that could be screwed through, so I wouldn't have to ruin the vintage paint on the barrel by welding on it. I also had to cut a new bottom for the barrel due to severe rust issues, and that is where I put the air intake.
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- Miketheforester
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Re: MTF's ugly little scavenger entry
Next I added legs to the bottom of the lower portion of the drum to clear the air intake, I built a fire basket and a grate. Here are all of the parts ready to assemble.
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- Miketheforester
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Re: MTF's ugly little scavenger entry
I figured assembly would be the easiest part of this build because all I had to do was bolt it all together, right? This part really sucked! The barrel was damaged and bent as is from a long and violent life, so then when I tried to load in several rigid steel ring with 0 tolerance figured in I really had to fight every part and some of the made me adapt to their will. So my "bolt in" assembly ended up requiring a BFH, pry bars, grinding and every other method of persuading that I could think of. Eventually all of the pieces went into place except for one of the mating rings which ended up sitting in the wider portion in the bottom of the upper portion of the barrel. I just wrapped it with Nomex gasket material and ran screws into it such that the pulled the ring tight into he barrel.
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- Miketheforester
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Re: MTF's ugly little scavenger entry
Here is a picture of that last bast**** mating ring installed.
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- Miketheforester
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Re: MTF's ugly little scavenger entry
So here is the finished product in its 3 configurations. Luckily the way the barrels are built to stack the fire box portion of the smoker can be set on top of the cook chamber portion of the barrel for convenient use on the disco and grilling function.
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- Miketheforester
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Re: MTF's ugly little scavenger entry
So here are pictures of the finished product. The brawt was the seasoning run and the chicken was lunch this afternoon. Overall this cooker works really well and is heaping full with just under one chimney of charcoal in it. I do have to watch, because if the cooker runs for a long time the intake plugs with ash, and that thing is hot if you adjust it after the cooker is warmed up. Other than that the thing seals up extremely well which was one of my main concerns, but the tight fitting disco lid and the Nomex gasket on the mating surface really do the trick.
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- Clover Ridge Smokers
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Re: MTF's ugly little scavenger entry
Looks really good Mike!! I bet the Q taste pretty good too.
Driven by Passion, Limited by Imagination
- TuscaloosaQ
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- The Czar
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Re: MTF's ugly little scavenger entry


If you can't fix it by sheer force or cursing......then it can't be fixed.....
AKA= The Czar
AKA= The Czar
- Miketheforester
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Re: MTF's ugly little scavenger entry
So in the end this is a fairly good build that would have been worlds easier if I hadn't wanted to preserve the paint on the barrel and could have welded to it. My final cost for this project is around $20.
- The Czar
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Re: MTF's ugly little scavenger entry
And living up to the name Captain Tightwad!!
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- Smokeone
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Re: MTF's ugly little scavenger entry

MTF you definetly went all out. That will be one useful little unit!
You know samples always help the vote count.

BBQ is just smoke and beers!
Usually more beers than smoke.
Usually more beers than smoke.