Front Shelf Mod on #3 Cart

[KY Smoke]

Just finished a fold down front shelf today for my #3 cart.  Didn't like the fact that there wasn't anything to set a tub on, when loading and unloading the smoker.  Should keep a lot of the sauce/meat juice off the deck and mat.  Pics don't show it but have a rubber mat under and out front of cart now.

Shelf and frame are all aluminum and hardware is stainless.  So nothing will rust either.   

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[Grampy]

Jeff, nice job! The shelf looks great!

[SuperDave]

I like it!  Unfortunately, my #4 has no cart but I'm always needing a place to set stuff down.  Nice mod.

[KY Smoke]

Thanks guys!  The shelf itself is a repurposed aluminum sign blank from my wife and I's specialty coffee shop, that we closed a couple of years ago. The rest is Tractor Supply aluminum stock and stainless hardware. I've got about $25 and a few hours in it total. 😎

[DivotMaker]

That's great, Jeff!  How about posting a drawing/plan of the project?  Of course, dimensions would help.

[coachB]

I want to second Tony's suggestion.  This is one of the best ideas for our smoker stands that I have seen and I would love to fabricate your shelf.  Great job.

[Pork Belly]

Nice project, it looks great. The lack of a folding front shelf (or any front shelf) is why I will not buy an SI cart.

[SuperDave]

I was thinking that a shelf might be able to be put of drawer guides and pull out rather than fold.  That way, access to under the cart isn't blocked. 

[DivotMaker]

All great ideas!  I've passed to Steve, and he likes it!

[KY Smoke]

Hey everyone.....I've got the parts list put together and now I need to put a diagram together.  I will post as  soon as I have time this week. Traveling  this week, so may take me until later in the week to have everything posted, but will get the plans to you all as soon as possible. 

But in the meantime, I did take some more detailed pics of the finished product and will post for everyone to review.  I'm sure that Steve already has his own thoughts for its design as well. 

Stay tuned!   

[Pork Belly]

All great ideas!  I've passed to Steve, and he likes it!

I'm glad he finally got the message I posted about this June 24, 2015
http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=1843.0

[Limey]

Brian, you mean 2014.

[KY Smoke]

I hadn't seen your post Brian, as I just took ownership of my #3 and joined the forum about a week or so ago.  But as soon as I took delivery and assembled the cart, I saw that a modification was indeed in order.  So my buddy and I went to work on designing a drop down shelf on the front of the cart.  I didn't put the smoker on the cart until the shelf was finished on Friday.

Again, the shelf itself is a repurposed 12x18" aluminum sign blank. The rest of the aluminum stock and stainless hardware came from TSC.   

Hope the rough design ends up helping others that also feel a front shelf would be a huge help.  Have a great week guys!

Jeff

[Pork Belly]

Hell thats even worse.

[DivotMaker]

Steve loves the idea, and is working on it!  Sorry Brian - should have had some pics to catch everyone's attention!