I want to build a stump clone?

Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 10:36 pm

I want to build a stump clone I have been a member of another board for a year now and just found this site last night. I have been looking at stumps smokers for a while but cannot afford one. Could someone give me a material list and some directions or a link to find these. I will provide pics as I go!! Thanks and Q it up!! Jason Surprised

Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 10:49 pm

Welcome bigbroiler ..All you ask for is in here .. Read through some of these pages there is a ton of pics/material lists/ direction etc ... Then if your stumped ( Laughing

) start asking questions...

Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 5:14 pm

bigbroiler what part of kentucky you from? I'm in southern Illinois and built one you could look at if your close.

Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 5:21 pm

I live in Bowling Green its about 1.5 hrs from Louisville..

Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 5:59 pm

I'm a good 4 hours from Louisville.

Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 6:09 pm

Wes, Read my help topic and see if you have any ideas for me..What do you think of building a stump clone only a little smaller?

Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 6:45 pm

You can build a clone any size you want, I think of all the ones built so far no two are the same size exactly. The height is pretty close but the rest is usually based on how big a guy wants to build it. I used stainless hinges and latches then painted them, would have been several bucks cheaper to have just used plain old steel ones since they got painted anyway. There are other ways to save money on building one too, I bought all new steel you might be able to scrounge up some used pieces if you look around, also I wouldn't put two therms on if I built another one the bottom one is useless. Use regular legs instead of castors will save some bucks. I used an extra ball valve on the drain that nobody else did, check with some local scrap or salvage yards for some square tubeing and angle iron. If you don't get in a hurry you could probably find alot of the steel used.

Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 7:46 pm

OK, I have been eaves dropping for a while now and I think I am the reason that SStory from Broken Arrow OK is posting amoung your midst.

I have been off all week and I have been collecting materials to also build a Stump clone. As of today I have spent $227.50 and about 6 hours of phone time gathering up materials. At this point I have everything except the skin, the insulation, and the latches. The best I can calculate, I will spend about $250.00 more on those items. A 4 x 10 sheet of aluminum diamond plate is $95.00, the insulation is $0.55 per square foot (2" thick), and the sheet for the skin is $40.00 for 4 x 8 (16 ga). All total for material will be approximately $500.00. My cook chamber will be 36 x 42 x 24. The overall size will be 48 x 60 x 28.

I have purchased new: 120' of 2" 14 ga square tubing for the frame, 60' of 1" 14 ga for the racks, 40' of 1 x 1 x 1/8 angle for the slides. I bought scrap at $0.25/#: 53" of 6 x 8 1/4" wall tubing for the chute, 4" round for exhaust, 7 x 9 x 1/4" wall tubing for the firebox, 4 x 6 x 1/4" wall for the cook box inlet, five 2.5x4' sheets of expanded metal for the shelves ($5 for each sheet!) , and a 26" x 96" piece of 1/4" plate. I have dumpster dove for several miscellaneous pieces of tubing, bar, and other stuff.

Now if I just knew how to weld and had a welder. Actually I am still hoping to get help from Steve's welder. He is liable to get tired of BBQ because I think that is what Steve is planning on paying him with also.

I will keep things posted as I start.

Robert Cathey
HOT WIRE BBQ

Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 8:00 pm

Am I correct in assuming that you are the robert that Kari C refers too? If so you are a very lucky man. When I to reciepe searches I will usually enter her name and I know the results will be excellent. John

Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 8:31 pm

Yes, that would be me. I am the "TOWEL B!TCH" that she proudly refers to. Instead of Tall, Dark, and Handsome, I am Short, Pastey white,Fat and Ugly.

She is the chief cook and I am the bottle washer. I rub the butts, trim the briskets, skin the ribs, stoke the fire, run the boxes. I do all of the work and she gets all of the glory.

What a team we are.

Robert C
Hot Wire BBQ

Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 10:13 pm

I can get 2" square tubing for free all day but it is painted and I am not sure what it is painted with. My brother (the welder) say's it can be burnt off if anyone here has any ideas then please chime in. This would save me enough money to go ahead and build...Thoughts/Opinions..Thanks Jason

Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 10:56 pm

Start gathering it up, you can sand or use a wire wheel to remove the paint. Might take some time but you will save some money. The problem with the painted steel is gonna be welding unless you remove the paint where you need to weld, the cook chamber should be sealed off from the frame work with the interior panels.

Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 12:16 am

Bigbroiler, if you can get painted 2" tubing for free, load up with it. All you will have to do is remove the paint where you intend to weld and that can be done quite easily with a sanding disc on an angle grinder. If you already found that mat'l, then scrounging some of the other required mat'l shouldn't be too hard. Good luck.

Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 12:21 pm

Robert -- glad you finally chimed in around here. You were the one that pointed me to this site after I talked so much about these Stump pits and my desire to build a clone.

And thanks to Jim for putting this forum up so we can all share our building experiences.

Robert -- sounds like you just about have everything you need. Hopefully I'll be getting with my steel guy this week. I'm guessing he's been on vacation for the holidays. If I can get with him this week, I should hopefully be able to start welding this next weekend. That's a good price on that diamond material. I still don't know if I can get that from Derrick.

Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2006 10:40 am

I am finishing up my clone. The cooking cabinet on mine is 28" x 28 x 36H. We have mounted it to a trailer. have smoker will travel.