Santa maria grill build

[Chris]

I used to ho pig hunting outside Pasa Robles and we would camp and cook our food on oak that was there, its the best flavor I've ever had on beef so I decided I'd finally build a grill made for cooking that way. So here is my start, a sheet of 10 gauge steel

 

[Havasu]

Do you need air vents for the box?

 

[Chris]

Heres my fire box, it measures 24x48 with 8 inch sides

 

[Chris]

Do you need air vents for the box?

Some do some dont. Most the original hand made unit don't have them. Most Chinese ones do.

 

[Chris]

Put some 2 inch angle iron around the top which will be the support for the rack

 

[Chris]

Put some legs on, wasn't sure what I was going to use for wheels so I went rummaging through the shop. Found to antique casters and a couple model A wheels. Out back we had an old Ford 9 inch that was blown up so I cut the ends of the axle off and then the shafts were a bit wobbly so I found a couple sets of bearings that fit in the tube and tack welded them in. She rolls nice, i bet she is good for at least 40mph. Unfortunately that put my grill top at almost 4 feet tall. I think I might cut a foot out of the legs tomorrow and see if I like it better.

 

[Havasu]

Ok, that is really cool looking!

 

[Scout734]

Love the wheels!

 

[Chris]

I wasn't happy with the height of it so i cut 10 inches out of the legs.

 

[Havasu]

What is the cooking height now? Normal BBQ cooking surface should be about 36", just like a kitchen counter.

 

[Chris]

Since I didnt plan on 11 inch tall wheels it ended up 49 inches which really was OK for me because I'm tall but I cut it down to 40 inches which seems much nicer, I was going to do 36 but I'm tall. Whenever I build my outdoor kitchen I'll probably chop the legs and mount it in the counter but who knows when I'll get to that.

 

[Chris]

Started on the top section, made a pretty cool lock to hold the grate out of some old gears and a hitch ball for a counter balance and handle.

 

[Havasu]

Loving it