Triangle Rolling Platform For Weber Smokers 2009 & Newer -Chris Allingham - The Virtual Weber Bullet

[@banksh0t]

I followed the instructions for the 22" WSM and it came out perfectly! Thanks for the wonderful video!

[@TheVirtualWeberBullet]

Wonderful!

[@jasonjohnston3415]

I built the base today for my 18” wsm. It works great, thank you for the idea. The only issue I had was the local Fastenal will no longer sell to you if you’re not a commercial customer. I bought angle and wheels from Amazon. The wheels studs were wider than the holes in the angle so I just reamed them out with my drill press.

[@Mac7504-OG]

I've been running this exact setup on my 22inch units and wouldn't have it any other way. I personally decided to ziptie my unit down but have never had an issue. Shoutout to Chris and tvwbb!!!!

[@andrewyoung3230]

Put this thing together in about 5 minutes, and I can already see it's an absolute game-changer. The new height makes it much more accessible as well. Total project cost was $58 here in St. Louis. Thank you very much for the video.

[@TheVirtualWeberBullet]

That's great news! And thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it!

[@kimpham7519]

Thank u for this informative video, really helps!

[@bmxracernc]

I made this a few years ago. Works great and I still use it! Best add-on for the WSM in my opinion.

[@shutterbiker]

Thanks for posting this video (and all the other things that you do)! I have an 18.5, so I bought a 6 ft section of the material that you recommended. Thankfully my wheels aren't here yet, so I was able to paint the metal pieces after cutting. I'm looking forward to being able to move my wsm more easily. Thanks again!

[@TheVirtualWeberBullet]

Glad I could help!

[@eranthompson8707]

I love this mod. I was debating just drilling a hole into the legs and adding wheels like most, but I prefer to spend a bit more and make this one and and not drill into my WSM. Thank you for posting this

[@TheVirtualWeberBullet]

This mod puts zero stress on the legs, which are not designed for wheels. A better choice, I think. But to each his own.

[@tombauer5762]

The amount of stress is the identical whether or not you use brackets or drill into the feet for the casters. The weight is still evenly distributed among the 3 legs​ @@TheVirtualWeberBullet

[@TheVirtualWeberBullet]

@@tombauer5762 I should have clarified that what I was referring to was stress while moving, not while stationary. The legs don't have a lot of lateral stability. Over the years, I've seen several bent legs when they catch on something in the bed of a pickup truck or on a crack in the driveway, both with and without wheels. The legs bend a lot easier than one might think.

[@WildWestBBQ]

Great video! I will likely do this for my WSMs as I keep them all by the house and being able to move them around a little easier would be nice. Thanks for the great info!

[@TheVirtualWeberBullet]

I think you'll like the results a lot! Good luck!

[@tbogner32]

I just built mine for my WSM 18. However, I found that the ends at the wheels felt a little flimsy. I used casters with 7/16 threads, which perfectly fit the holes. Since I had to cut my sections anyway, I was able to have enough excess material to cut three smaller sections of the angle to make braces underneath (basically each leg triangle, is a triangle). It's really solid now!

[@TheVirtualWeberBullet]

Sounds like a good addition to your triangle. Thanks for sharing that detail!

[@MemphisMike901]

I am thinking with my patio which has grooves in it between the sections, i may need a larger/softer wheel for my 22" WSM to avoid tumping over. great vid/idea!

[@TheVirtualWeberBullet]

That’s definitely a consideration. Especially important to NOT move a hot cooker during cooking regardless of wheel size.

[@MemphisMike901]

@@TheVirtualWeberBullet yes sir. I really do not have to move maybe 10ft. Occasionally we all pull out grills and smokers into the cove for holiday cooks tho!

[@roadking62]

Thanks for all your videos! I have learned a lot from watching them. I'm going to do this for sure. I've been smoking on the 18.5" WSM for about 2 years. Before that, I'd only ever had gas grills. I do have a question for you about cooking on both racks. I have yet to use the bottom rack, but am concerned about the temperature difference between the top and bottom. If you're doing 4 racks of ribs, do I need to swap them top and bottom during the cook? That seems like an accidental waiting to happen. How do you handle cooking on both for additional guests?

[@TheVirtualWeberBullet]

I would not swap slab of ribs between top and bottom grates during a cook. Even slabs cooked on the same grate for the same length of time may not be done at the same time due to differences in thickness, weight, or hot spots in the cooker. I would not even assume that ribs on the top grate will be done before the ones on the bottom grate for the same reasons. My recommendation is to check each slab individually for doneness, and when done move it an oven set to the lowest temp possible. If you find that the slabs on top are done first, then move the bottom ones to the top just for ease of managing them. Hope this helps!

[@fantsteele3416]

Chris, Nice project. Harbor Freight has some 3" locking wheel stem casters for $5.99 each, No idea of the quality but an option. Lowes has an 8 ft section of the 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 oblong hole iron that might be worth the trouble to save some waste.

[@TheVirtualWeberBullet]

Thanks for the info, it may be helpful to some of my viewers.

[@thelog86]

Just picked up a 22 today on my 18 i drilled straight thru the legs. It works but if you dont drill those holes just right the legs will bend

[@tamibuck6363]

I made one for my 18 1/2” and 14 1/2”. Be advised the quoted 14” length for the sections for the small WSM are wrong. I made it and it didn’t fit, too small. I drew it up on my work bench, and cut new sections to 16”. 16” lengths are perfect.

[@TheVirtualWeberBullet]

I will double-check my measurements. Thanks for letting me know.

[@TheVirtualWeberBullet]

Tami, I double-checked and my original measurement of 14" for the 14.5" WSM and it was definitely wrong, so thanks for pointing this out. It looks to me like 15" is correct for my 14.5" WSM, but maybe there's a difference in the stance of the legs on yours that makes 16" necessary. In any event, I have created an updated video that includes this correction, including a visual on how I determined 15" and advising folks to double-check the recommended measurements against their particular WSM to make sure they cut the correct length of steel angle: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hWPFmn2PZrqch5o

[@kevink6420]

Hey there, Ive been binge watching your videos for a few hours here and I JUST picked up my first wsm tonight off a guy for $125 . It’s pretty new and I couldn’t pass it up. It’s the 18” version. Can you use the minion method with lump charcoal or would you stay away from lump all together and go with briquettes? I mainly do stuff like pork butts and ribs. I’ve been using a modified electric for years before this. I may do this platform at some point as moving the thing around my patio is kind of a pain.

[@TheVirtualWeberBullet]

If you're just starting out with the WSM, I always recommend starting with briquets, especially Kingsford. You can read why in the linked article below. Yes, you can graduate to lump with the MM once you master the WSM using briqs. www.virtualweberbullet.com/all-about-charcoal/

[@FernandoReyes-vt1il]

Hello there. Could you make a video showing the diference of capacity betwee 18 and 22 wsm considering avoiding the burn zone?

[@TheVirtualWeberBullet]

I'll add this to the list of potential future topics. Thanks for the suggestion!

[@andrewyoung3230]

If I wanted to save some money and go with 2" casters, would that be ok? I'm thinking yes, but figured it was worth the ask.

[@TheVirtualWeberBullet]

I think so, but check how the stems on those casters fit the holes in the perforated angle. I'm guessing the diameter is a little smaller than on the 3" casters but should be OK when tightened down with an appropriate washer that matches the stem size. Good luck!

[@andrewyoung3230]

​@@TheVirtualWeberBullet Went ahead with the 3" casters. Didn't really seem worth it for saving $8, and figured the 3" would be better anyway.

[@TheVirtualWeberBullet]

@@andrewyoung3230 Good decision!

[@chrisklob]

i have an older 18 (from 2004) and as i believe in the concept of measure twice/cut once, i measured and found that the measurements given in this video were too large for my cooker so i had to cut them shorter. After I put it together, I stacked my completely empty cooker on the cart. Although I had used the identical angle iron from HD shown in the video, it immediately began to sag and bend. This was without any charcoal, water or food in the unit. I pulled the smoker off the cart and used the excess angle iron to make a smaller triangle to fit inside the triangle shown in the video. This seems to be considerably sturdier than the original design but I've not added anything to it yet to see if this will hold the weight added when the cooker is in use.

[@chrisklob]

sounds like i did something similar to what Todd did from the comment he left four months ago

[@TheVirtualWeberBullet]

Measurements were for 2009 & newer WSMs, I have updated the video title and description to reflect this. I'm not sure what to say about your comment and that of Todd Bogner reporting a flimsy feeling at the wheels, I have not personally experienced that and yours is only the second comment about it. But it sounds like you arrived at a good solution that works for you.

[@chrisklob]

@@TheVirtualWeberBullet i want to point out that my comment was not to be meant as criticism, but rather commentary regarding my experience. I can understand the measurements being off as the WSM design does get tweaked from time to time. What is puzzling to me though is that everyone but Todd and I got good results building as described in your video. Maybe we got sub par angle iron? Also want to point out that when I got my WSM in 2004 there were very few online resources but i did find your site and taught myself how to smoke using the docs here. I do want to thank you for maintaining it all these years and you should know that I have sent dozens of people here over the years as their first source of reference material. Smoke on!

[@jeffw.6203]

I have a pre-2009 model as well. I too discovered that 20 inches was to long “after” I had put it together. What were your final measurements for each side. Figured I’d ask before I start the guessing. 😂

[@chrisklob]

@Jeff W. two sides are 17 inches and the third is 18.

[@mogschrauber6651]

I have a coworker here in Germany from Sacramento. He sometimes were a T-Shirt with a similar logo I guess. Something with Sacramento “something” Hornets. Maybe I’m wrong but Hornet was the first thing coming into my mind. :-)

[@TheVirtualWeberBullet]

Yes, that's right!

[@thelog86]

Will some good aircraft snips cut this matetial

[@TheVirtualWeberBullet]

I don't think so.

[@thelog86]

It didnt. I purchased everything today, i used jigsaw. Super easy only took a few minutes. Total cost was 88.00 with my 10% cardholder discount

[@thelog86]

I was able to get 1 six ft. and 1 four ft angle steel. All material is so high. I wantvto put up a 75 linear foot fence up but the material is so expensive, i dont think it will come back down either

[@hooks61]

I used 3/4” copper pipe, cut to length, flattened the ends in a vise, and then drilled.

[@TheVirtualWeberBullet]

I wouldn't have thought to use pipe. I did consider using aluminum angle without perforations, cutting to length, and drilling. But I didn't see the point in using a valuable material like aluminum vs. steel that was already "drilled."

[@erniewhite4961]

Looks like Sacramento State football to me!

[@TheVirtualWeberBullet]

Ernie, you are correct! CSU Sacramento Hornets! Stingers up! Alumnus from 1987. Send me your mailing address at mail at virtualweberbullet dot com and I'll mail you a selection of TVWB stickers.

[@WHYBS]

Sacramento State Hornets! Brian De

[@drpoop253]

well it certainly is NOT a UCD hat. Go Ags!

[@TheVirtualWeberBullet]

UCD is a fine institution! Enjoyed my years at CSUS.

[@drpoop253]

@@TheVirtualWeberBullet just rib-bing you (sorry couldn’t resist)!

[@TheVirtualWeberBullet]

That's how I took your comment! Stopped in Davis three years ago for a burger at The Graduate. It's a shame the one near CSUS is long gone. Good times!