X3~~~First Cook~~~

[ChuckieD]

Troy said,

[TrailerBuilder]

Ran dual stacks on this cooker, cut the openings and when I do I leave just a small tab for the pipe to set on...makes setting the pipe alot easier to do by yourself.


Stack sitting on the tab and ready to be tacked in place.


We have dual stacks


Got the covers on the dampers. Stole this idea from TuscaloosaQ who I believe borrowed it from k.a.m.


Here it is open.



Handles in place.



Backside of handles


Also got the fittings in for the therms


Inside of finished door. Ran an angle to help keep the door straight and also ran the flat strap to keep any grease from running out of the cooker, hopefully this way it will run back onto the grates instead of leaking out. (Good idea Kevin )




Running two slide out grates on this one. This is the bottom side of the center slide rail.



Centered up and plug welded a 1x1 tube on the rail, this will act as a divider for the 2 grates.



Here it is welded in place.



Similar set up on the ends as well.



Put a spacer on top of the tube and then added a flat strap and plug welded it making a channel. This will let the grates slide out and act as a stop to keep them from tipping out of the cooker.



Intake damper and handle are done on the firebox.


Cooker was supposed to be delivered today, but that did not happen. Was supposed to go to the blaster on Monday but I wasnt ready, got him okayed with Wednesday but didnt make that deadline either. Pulled every string I could with the blaster and was going to take it Friday morning and pick it up Friday afternoon...weather permitting We havent had enough rain to get the pavement wet since April and what does it start doing early Friday morning...rain, all day Friday and most of Saturday. Over 3", which we desperately need, but it could have waited til next week Talked with my friend, and she was very understading, not that she had a choice, but we are going to deliver it Friday since Im off work that day. So today I took advantage of a little extra time on the cooker and finished up the outer shelf and did a test burn.



Wrap around shelf is done.



Intake damper wide open.



The wood was a tad damp, so the smoke was rolling out heavy at first. Made it nice to check all my welds though



Got it up to about 450*, she ran up pretty even across the board after a few adjustments on the tuning plates and once it maxed out and starting coming down, it was within a few degrees of each other on the therms. Pretty happy with the outcome for sure.

Its sitting on the trailer tonight, will be dropped off at the blaster Monday and picked up Tuesday. Wednesday looks like a great night to paint and finish it up. Just have to finish up both grates, but hopefully thats only an hour or so of work.


More to come...
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[GF]

TrailerBuilder, looks great.
The dual stacks look cool, glad your test burn went well.

The only problem is when you wrote "only an hour or so", that is a invitation for Mr. Murphy to show up.

[Wreckless]

Looks GREAT Troy! And..."Look Ma, no smoke coming from anywhere but the stacks!" Darn nice fit up when it does that. Fine job and done in Wreckless time.
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[killswitch505]

its official i FU*KIN HATE YOU TROY!!!!!!!!

lol j/k great lookin cooker fu*ker
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Club Disco

[TuscaloosaQ]

Trailerbuilder you have done a jam up job!!!!I myself have been dealing with some doors that will drive you crazy. I told Tyler we are fixing to start going with a different door system and for him to get his thinking cap on. I am sure kam will be getting a ring from me very soon. I have kinda been awol lately. Again great job on your build, a big part of being a craftsman is being able to adapt and overcome, and my friend you certainly have done that

[k.a.m.]

Troy, Congrats on a job well done my Friend she looks awesome. I am looking forward to seeing her up close and personal.
The next time don't listen to mike and ignore me. Hey wait I could change my signature to " Sometimes you need to ignore Mikes signature and listen to Yoda."
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Always remember slow and steady wins the race.

Hybrid Cooker

[Wreckless]

[TrailerBuilder]

GF, Thanks man, I love the look of the dual stacks, the only way to go I figure I have welcomed Murphy with open arms...maybe that way he'll leave me alone and go bother Wreckless


Mike, Thanks Bro, always nice when the smoke goes where its supposed to I dont think I can compare to Wreckless time man.


Denny, You dont fu*kin hate me, you might dislike the chit out of me, but hate, come on bro I was going to make some smores for the test burn for you, but figured that would be hate for sure


TQ, Thanks for the very kind words, means alot to me. Good luck on those doors man, this one whooped me for sure.


Kevin, Thanks my friend We will have to take a side trip while your here and sneak a peak at X3 I dont know about the whole ignore Mike thing, he throws out some good info every now and then


Mike, I didnt ignore Kevin per say, but more just didnt listen when he was talking...come on dude, you've done it I really blame these square doors on you bro, your the one was talking about going to the dark side when it made its first PING! But, I will say, it is pretty hip to be square...I think thats a song
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[TrailerBuilder]

Got X3 home from the blaster this afternoon, they did a great job on it.



Got everything cleaned up good and wiped down and layed a nice coat of paint on. Turned out well.





It had dried pretty good tonight by nightfall, should be cured pretty good by tomorrow evening. Need to finish the grates(still ) tomorrow and also get the spring handles on and make a gasket for the doors to seal them off, there was hardly any leaking around the doors, but want a good seal. Should be wrapped up tomorrow night and ready for delivery and set up on Friday.

More to follow...
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[k.a.m.]

Troy, Congrats on another fine build my Friend she looks awesome. I am sure the new owner will be proud of her. Well I guess your off to x4 now?
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Always remember slow and steady wins the race.

Hybrid Cooker

[J.O.]

Man, you are producing some fine looking cookers up there. I want to come visit the X3 and smell it I'll bring some sticks and tater whiskey and we can all start the X4?
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[erniesshop]

Looks Aweful Purty Troy !!!
Are ya gonna do a cook before it leaves ?

[Blazer]

Great looking cooker Troy , really like the wrap around shelf. Are you sticking with the Wreckless doors on future builds? You really busted that thing out in a short time.

[killswitch505]

.......
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Club Disco

[TrailerBuilder]

Kevin, Thanks my friend X3 turned out much better than I anticipated. Well have to see on X4, might have to wait til I scrounge up some pieces


Jan, Thanks bro, cant wait for you to be here and see X3 up close and for me to get a pic of you with your head buried in it You bring that potato whiskey with you and I think well all be sprung like the round door was on this build


Ernie, Thanks No cook in this one for me, I fired it up for "test" purposes but never ran a grocery one in it. Hopefully Ill be invited to many many cooks this one puts out though


Blazer, Thank You. I love the wrap around shelf on my cooker and knew this one would have it too, just cant have too much space when cooking. Wreckless doors in the future...well I dont know, I like my round doors for sure, but the square door does make for a nice looking cooker for sure and as Wreckless say..."Its hip to be square"


Denny, It be alright buddy
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[k.a.m.]

[TrailerBuilder]

X3 made her final journey to its new home I guess I can let the cat out of the bag now since its delivered. A great friend of mine asked if I would make her husband(another great friend) a cooker for his birthday. I didnt want to post all the information on what the cooker was for because Im not sure if he gets on the Ring and snoops around or not. I have mentioned the Ring to him many times and hes a huge follower of Jarheads recipes so I didnt want to take a chance.


The 15 mile trip was uneventful, unloading was a snap with a helper And here X3 sits in its new home



An hour or so later, my buddy Pete gets home and walks into the back yard with huge eyes and an "oh $hit" Here is the new owner checking out his new smoker



Didnt get as many pictures as I wanted, but we sprayed down the inside good with Pam and got ready to light up a fire and let the seasoning begin Never had a good pic of the grates in the cooker, but here they are resting on the stops that I showed earlier in the thread.


Grates in.



Chuckied...this pic is for you brother. My buddy Pete is one of you guys, but he thinks now his Porcelain UDS might get a vacation since he has a real cooker in the backyard now This is what he had on hand, so we lit a small fire with the chunks and then added some oak to get a fire going.



X3's first smoke at its new home!


I wanted to build a very nice, sleek cooker for my friends. They have an amazing back yard and I didnt want a cooker that was too big or an eyesore to look at. This cooker started off going to be a 24" diameter build but after much thinking, knew that was too much and went with the 20" which Im glad I did.


A view of the back yard over by the Cabana and now X3



A view the other direction.


X3 fits in perfect at its new home and the new owner is still beside himself that its sitting in his backyard This build was fun, a learning process, stressful and very rewarding to say the least. A big thanks to my good friend Kevin and the k.a.m. hotline for the good advice, listening to me rant and the occasional "I told you so". Also to Mike (Wreckless) for listening to the rants and the guidence on the square door world. Both guys are top notch in my books and to have them help is truly an honor. Thanks my friends

Thanks to everyone else also for following the build and the great comments that you have added. Very much appreciated.


Coming Soon...X4
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[TrailerBuilder]

k.a.m. wrote

[k.a.m.]