Smoker / Grill cart

I have been reading this website for the past 6 months or so, as I have aquired a free ECB that I cleaned up, painted, and modified to try and be like a WSM smoker (fat chance of that, huh?!).

I know it ain't a Weber (YET!!!) but I have taken my modified ECB and built a cart for it...I got tired of bending over to put wood in, check coals, etc...and I am 6'7" tall, so I needed to raise that puppy up quite a bit...anyway, just wanted to show you all and maybe it will give someone a spark of an idea for their WSM smoker...

Again, thanks to all the posters here, your information is invaluable.....I "ALWAYS" check here first when trying to smoke something new and have always found the info needed to insure a fruitful smoking event....

Anyway, enjoy the photos of the cart at my online website
http://www.pbase.com/ytailhtr/smoker_cart

Kelly

Nice cart Kelly....looks great. I've had my fun with ECBs as well. Here are a few pics of some mods I did on a Brinkmann. ECB Mods

It usually takes me three tries to fit two pieces of wood together, but that looks like something even I could build. Thank you for posting it.

Kelly,

That's really nice setup. I was thinking of something similar but was a little worried about radiant heat. Even with pavers I'm still worried about heat from the sides scorching the wood.

Let us know how it works out after a few cooks.

-Dave

Looks great.

Will it hold a WSM? When the 22" WSM's are out, the old small WSM's will be had for a song.

Well, I have smoked twice on it since making it last weekend.....once was brauts up to 300º degrees for 2 hours and last night was a couple fatties and some hotdogs around 225-250º for a couple hours....the deck wood got hot, but no charring or scorching....I read somewhere were wood starts to char/burn around 300ºC, which with my calculation is around 572ºF....and with the 1.5" of airspace between the side of the smoker and the deck I should be safe......When I was smoking those two smokes, I checked the smoker's 'feet' and I could easily hold them for days, as the temps were slightly warm to the touch, not hot in any way, shape or form, heck the paver is only there in case some coals fall out the bottom two 3/16" holes (remember, the bottom is a Brinkmann LID, so there are handle holes in it)....and the wood framework did not even get warm to touch....plenty of airspace there to keep it cool....but, the deck was very warm....so I will definitely keep an eye on that and may even cut the hole bigger to provide another inch of clearance, since I have another inch or so before I get to the frame.

Thanks for the input guys, and I will keep you all posted on any modifications I may need to do...but so far, I love having the smoker UP to where I can work with it...if it doesn't work out, I will be figuring something else out, because I ain't going back to terra firma!!!!...Kelly

Kelly,

Nice work station.

In the event you need to modify the deck for protection from heat, cement board finished off with ceramic tile would do the trick.

Q'n, Golf'n & Grill'n... too many choices!
Gary

Nice job Kelly! A lot of people started out on the Brinkmann.

Wayne, nice pics!
I just found an ECB and was thinking of doing some mods to it and giving it to a friend that SHOULD start smoking. I've not seen any ECB mods using a coal basket like you have. I know the Gourmet is a bit larger, but what are you typical burn times with it? How much briq/lump do you use?

Kelly -
That is really nice.
One of the members here has a great wood waterproofing recipe that you may want to check out to at least put on that plywood top. That cart is too nice not to protect.

Nicely done.

Brian - thanks for your interest. The coal grate is a replacement grate for the Smokey Joe grill and I used 3/8x5" carriage bolts with fender washers and nuts to elevate it above the brinkmann pan so ashes wouldn't smother the air flow. To hold the lump/briq in place, I used a piece of 1'x2' expanded metal cut in half, lenght-wise, from home depot and bent into shape using my knee. I just kept placing it on the new grate until it fit and then used small lengths of copper wire, 12 gauge I believe, to hold both sections together. Burn times at 225 using Cowboy lump, full basket, and no water in pan is usually about 8 hours. Using the new Rancher Lump Briqs from HD, I did a 300 degree smoke last weekend and 8 hours was not a problem. About quantity, I've never measured the amount using a chimney - I just fill it up and use what's left the next time. Hope I answered your questions and I'll try to answer any more you may have.