How to Mount Kettle on DIY Grill Table?


 

Yong

TVWBB Member
Hey guys,

I'm gathering material and drawing/thinking about plans for a custom grill table I want to begin building. One thing that I just can't wrap my head around is mounting the kettle. I plan on using a OTG. I've seen some others do this too, but they weren't really clear on how they mounted it. Do you guys have any suggestions/recommendations? Can I just hang them by the handles? Should I use hooks? Brackets?

Any help is appreciated!
 
Yong - perhaps you should just check out a weber performer on craigslist and start from there - it is designed with flanges to be hung -
 
Hey guys,

I'm gathering material and drawing/thinking about plans for a custom grill table I want to begin building. One thing that I just can't wrap my head around is mounting the kettle. I plan on using a OTG. I've seen some others do this too, but they weren't really clear on how they mounted it. Do you guys have any suggestions/recommendations? Can I just hang them by the handles? Should I use hooks? Brackets?

Any help is appreciated!




We have needed a thread like this for a long time. I too have been thinking about this for a long time. Here are ideas I have had and/or have seen here, each with it's own drawbacks. Hopefully, together we can perfect a method with a group thought process.

1) Drill holes in the bottom somewhere to place a few bolts, and support the weight of the kettle from underneath using the bolts.

2) Drill holes in the kettle sides, roughly where the Weber Performer has a flange welded on. Hang the kettle from bolts.
3) Create 3 metal "stub" legs a few inches long. Drill holes in the bottom of those legs to attach an eye bolt. Hang the kettle from chains mounted to the bottom of the table top that attach to the eye bolts.
4) create a tight fitting round table top that supports the weight of the kettle on the rolled over lip, with or without an extra metal band under the lip.
5) Find a material to cut an 18" hole in and settle the kettle into that hole. the material needs to be fire resistant and non abrasive. I have no idea what that perfect material is. I have though about using wood and using an over gasket to line the hole with.

6) Do not "mount" the kettle. Build a lower shelf that is wider than the table top and just let the kettle stand on it's own legs on the lower shelf. This is not too different than building a regular table right next to your free standing kettle.
7) Weld some sort of fabricated mounting flanges on the exterior of the kettle.
.
.
10) Buy a Weber Ranch, whose straight legs seems better suited for mounting on a horizontal cross member of a table structure.


1 & 2 have the problem of drilling your kettle.
4 & 5 have the problem of the kettle touching potentially combustible material
7 - I don't weld
6 seems kinda silly

Which leaves 3 and 10 by process of elimination, but #10 is probable a $2000 proposition.
 
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Yong, Stanley corner brackets work great. The corner bracket will sit under the lip of the kettle bowl.
 
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Nice write-up, Darrel. Thanks for those ideas.

Noe, are you talking about these? How many did you use?
3091corner_bracket.jpg


With any sort of hanging application, I worry the lip will eventually warp with all that heat and weight of the food, water pan, coals, etc.
 
Yrs ago my bro made a table out of redwood for his OTG. The legs got trashed from a storm so he just used the handles to hold it.
He used a router to cut a ] shaped slot per handle bracket to lock it in.

Tim
 
Drilling into the bowl of a kettle is not difficult. Use painters tape with a small bit to make the original hole. Beware you will ruin your 10 year warranty with Weber. I would suggest no more than two quarter inch holes on either side of the bowl much like what George has shown in the last two links. I would drill the holes slightly larger in diameter than the bolt to allow for movement and ease of installation. 1/8" flat bar 1/2" to 3/4" wide is easy to obtain, bendable and can be shaped to the curvature of the kettle then drawn into shape by the fastener. 16 ga. metal also welds up pretty well and is easier to bend. Always make sure you do not over tighten as this will chip or crack the porcelain. Flat bar can easily be welded to accommodate various bracket configurations which you can then bolt to your kettle and the frame of whatever table design you are contemplating.
 
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Yrs ago my bro made a table out of redwood for his OTG. The legs got trashed from a storm so he just used the handles to hold it.
He used a router to cut a ] shaped slot per handle bracket to lock it in.

Tim
So it's just hanging by the handles? How's it holding up over the years? The handles didn't seem all that sturdy to me.
 
He had it like that for 5-6yrs till he bought a new house. The table was built into the side of his deck, so he left it when he moved.
The newer handle brackets do stick out farther than the older ones, so they might feel a little un-sturdy.

Tim
 
Nice write-up, Darrel. Thanks for those ideas.

Noe, are you talking about these? How many did you use?
3091corner_bracket.jpg


With any sort of hanging application, I worry the lip will eventually warp with all that heat and weight of the food, water pan, coals, etc.

Yong similar to those but the stanley brand, google the stanley corner brackets to get a good visual. Use 3 or 4, set under the lip then drill thru one of the holes in the bracket thru the bowl.
 
You can see my mounting method pretty clearly here. It's only been that way for 1/2 a year but it doesn't seem to be stressed even by my obscenely heavy pizza stone. The table's at Sam's Club.

9322083853_d4075ac7a6_c.jpg


9322084003_35736d6a5e.jpg
 

 

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