Butts,
I have made several patio smokers over the past few years. Here's a pic of one I made for my old man. I call it "Double Barrel Darrell" after an old nickname he was given back in the firehouse.
I have also began the process to assemble the parts and pieces to do a trailer smoker. A couple of buddies and I are going to split the cost and labor associated with the build. We are going to do a half smoker/Santa Maria grill trailer. We all have kids approaching graduations and weddings and feel like the effort will pay off when the time comes to party.
Being a Steamfitter by trade I have access to a lot of piping associated items and raw material. That said, it is still going to be expensive and time consuming to say the least.
Best advice I can give you is to scour the web for pic's and designs that suit your eye and that are within your wheelhouse skills wise. There are also several styles of smoker to consider, all of which have their plusses and minuses.
There is a lot of information out there from folks that have done it before if you look around. This will definitely help you avoid some speedbumps along the way. Seems like you are already doing the legwork!
For instance, when I built my first one I didn't make the smoke stack tall enough and it wouldn't draft worth a damn. I also made the firebox a little bit too small...
The next one I did was much improved overall, but after it was done I learned about "reverse flow" smokers.... so back to the drawing boards for #3.
In my opinion now, after cooking with both, reverse flow is the ticket. Much more even cooking across the surface. DBD here is a vertical reverse flow and runs like a top.
Best of luck to you in your endeavors and keep us posted as your project progresses!
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