Let the work begin

My father pretty much epitomizes the definition of a modern Renaissance man- it's a large part of the reason I was willing to jump into this endeavor.  THANKS DAD!  I also have a cousin- shout out to Mike T.- who is an insanely talented welder.  While they both live 4 hours away in Oklahoma, I pulled the trailer to my dad's shop and work began.  First things we did included grinding down some of the really nasty welds and rewelding- especially around the seams of the tank.  We also put the metal plate about 6 inches below the grill surface to create a reverse flow smoker.  This created an even heat distribution, and the rounded end of the tank made for amazing air circulation.  We used some expanded metal and installed the shelf as a sliding shelf- this allows easy access to meats that go to the back of the grill and would be otherwise difficult to reach.  We also ordered a 4" cast iron stove damper and installed it inside the smoke stack before cutting a hole and welding the smoke stack on.  Finally, we painted the trailer with black primer- I had to something cosmetic so it wasn't so overwhelmingly ugly when my wife saw it.

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