Burner Advice Requested

[leeshall]

I am requesting advice on locating a propane powered seafood/turkey fryer type burner that will last a long time and be heavy duty enough to not collapse and dump 200+ pounds of molten lead on me yet not break the bank. Some of the burners I see on line just look too flimsy for this chore. I've got a pot made from a propane tank. I've "smelted" several thousand pounds of wheel weights using a borrowed "smelting" set up but want gear of my own. Looking for a good dipper as well. I have plenty of ingot molds. I've got quite a lot of wheel weights and range lead yet to do.
Thanks!

[Minerat]

This is the one I have about $87.00, Amazon is where I got it. It do melt stuff and is pretty sturdy. I have a 10# propane tank cut in half so had to adapt the top grate for the smaller circumference but a 20# should be just right.

GasOne 200, 000 BTU Square Heavy- Duty Single Burner Outdoor Stove Propane Gas Cooker with Adjustable 0-20Psi Regulator & Steel Braided Hose Perfect for Home Brewing, Turkey Fry, Maple Syrup Prep

286237

[leeshall]

Minerat, Thank you very much for your suggestion. I was looking for one with a "jet" type burner. The folded, sheet metal legs on your illustrated burner is what I'm leery about being strong enough to reliably hold up a honkin' heavy a** molten lead pot safely. Thanks for your input though!

[hoodat]

That pic that mineral posted looks VERY stout to me. I've got a taller two burner version with the same basic design, and even it is pretty sturdy. If you put cross struts on the front and back of that one it would support a ton. -- well, 500 lbs.:wink:

[Winger Ed.]

Another option I've seen done is put cement blocks on the sides and at the height of the burner rack.
With pieces of rebar going across, it'll keep most of the weight off the burner itself.

[Minerat]

I know it holds 218 lb cause I set it in the driveway and did an monkey jig on it and it held me with on problems. The legs are pretty stout and doesn't sink into soft ground as bad a the round bar used on some turkey fryers. Also it is only about 10" from ground to bottom of burner.

Monkey jig = jumped up and down and rocked back and forth on it.:redneck:

[Mk42gunner]

My smelting setup started out as a ~54,000 BTU fish fryer that was built about like the one Minerat shows. It worked fine until my daughter backed over it with a pickup tire.

I welded up a frame out of 1¼x¼" angle iron. I think it would support the whole truck now. I do tend to over build things a bit.

I also did the monkey jig on mine. You really don't want to find out it isn't strong enough or stable enough when it has 100 or more pounds of molten lead on it.

Robert

[Jhopson]

GasOne B-5350 270,000 BTU Rugged Propane Burner Cooker With 0-30 PSI Regulator with Pressure Gauge For Outdoor Cooking, Turkey Fry, Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08HCRRRMQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_vxv2nXGhtLlL2

I bought this one because I was worried about the weight of my pot and lead.


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[iomskp]

I use a Duckbill chimney burner or a Mongolian chimney burner, you have to specify LPG or Natural Gas when ordering.

[Stephen Cohen]

I put extra re enforcing on the frame of my Turkey fryer and would suggest you think of doing the same with which ever model you by, that much molten lead letting go could and will cause injury. JMHO. Regards Stephen

[georgerkahn]

Another option I've seen done is put cement blocks on the sides and at the height of the burner rack.
With pieces of rebar going across, it'll keep most of the weight off the burner itself.

Similar to Winger Ed, I stack plain-Jane red bricks to make a square with re-bar atop and my LP burner within. The bricks I have are the ones with holes in them, so they afford ample air (oxygen) to the burner, while blocking WIND while both providing added support for my 1/2-Freon jug pot and -- imho -- an added margin of safety re possible tip-overs.
geo

[Cosmic_Charlie]

I enjoy seeing the pics of the guys who do it with a wood fire. I have a gas burner similar to the one above. My propane seems to go a long way and the cost is negligible.

[leeshall]

This is the one I decided upon and have ordered. It's got all the features I wanted and will hold up to a 162 quart pot of water capacity (over 300#).


https://www.meatprocessingproducts.com/bayou-sp40.html?msclkid=896eff8cdf371ff412139f7f826749ed&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping%3A%20Shopping%20-%20Catch%20All%20-%20Bing&utm_term=4580977760166423&utm_content=Catch%20Group%20%2311

Thanks to all for the comments and advice!!!

[Scrounge]

My smelting setup started out as a ~54,000 BTU fish fryer that was built about like the one Minerat shows. It worked fine until my daughter backed over it with a pickup tire.

I welded up a frame out of 1¼x¼" angle iron. I think it would support the whole truck now. I do tend to over build things a bit.

I also did the monkey jig on mine. You really don't want to find out it isn't strong enough or stable enough when it has 100 or more pounds of molten lead on it.

Robert

There is no such thing as "over build." Particularly when you're talking terribly hot fluids that will stick to you as they burn their way through your clothing and into your hide.

The amount of damage my foot took from less than two tablespoons of melted butter from an air popper tells me so. And that was over 40 years ago.

Bill

[Conditor22]

Now you just need to make/get one of these to put on it :)
https://i.imgur.com/1pwONkm.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/AS1F8HE.jpg

[leeshall]

I have that same pot. Need to get the skirt added.

[jimkim]

Build the pedestal out of two automobile rims. Buy a burner from a hardware store, and build a pot from an old propane or freon tank. Like the one above. Don't forget to reinforce it.

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[Chill Wills]

I built a support out of inexpensive 1" angle-iron and 5/16" bolts. Fast and easy, I bet it will hold up the house.
You can add a bale to the pot which is useful for pouring out that last bit when your liquid lead gets down too low to ladle out.
A red windscreen is added from an old meat smoker/grill.

[Wild Bill 7]

Leeshall, I have a King Kooker that looks exactly as the one you bought. I use a half 20lb. propane pot. My opinion is support the bars that the pot sits on. I used bricks until a friend of mine welded some rebar supports for me. Don’t take any chances on a pot full of molten lead falling. Just my opinion but safety is the big concern.
Bill

[oley55]

I built a support out of inexpensive 1" angle-iron and 5/16" bolts. Fast and easy, I bet it will hold up the house.
You can add a bale to the pot which is useful for pouring out that last bit when your liquid lead gets down too low to ladle out.
A red windscreen is added from an old meat smoker/grill.

Drilling holes and Bolts!!! I too think it sucks not having a welder.

[GregLaROCHE]

As for a ladle, I use a normal stainless soup ladle. My ingots are not that big and it works fine for me. They do come in different sizes too I’ve noticed.

[Brassmonkey]

I enjoy seeing the pics of the guys who do it with a wood fire. I have a gas burner similar to the one above. My propane seems to go a long way and the cost is negligible.

I plan on using wood to heat mine. It's Just a 30lb propane tank and some scrap metal at the moment. Plan to have a blower to stoke the fire and wanting to suck the fumes off the pot sending them into the fire. Might not do anything but direct them to the stove pipe chimney that will rise up a few feet.

[kevin c]

As for a ladle, I use a normal stainless soup ladle. My ingots are not that big and it works fine for me. They do come in different sizes too I’ve noticed.
My bottom pour Rowell ladle has a straight handle that doesn't dip into the pot well, filling less and less as the alloy level drops, so I actually fill the Rowell with a soup ladle. Two easy ladlefuls into the Rowell, bottom poured into uniform molds, gives me very close to the same ingot weight across the board.

If the soup ladle has the bowl riveted to the handle, check it periodically: what with 3-4X the heat and over 10X the weight, plus general banging around, mine came apart. Fortunately the bowl came off in the melt before I lifted out a full ladle of hot molten lead.

[BJK]

Be careful of ladles that aren't one piece. I started using a 2 piece riveted ladle but I always thought it was going to break at the connection and ruin my day.

I bought this and haven't even thought of using the other one since. It works pretty good. There are other sources for it.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082N6ZB63/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[lightman]

It looks like you ordered a nice burner. For ladles I'll second the suggestion of looking at Rowell. They make several sizes and they also have a nice skimmer. A smaller spoon and skimmer are also nice to have. I use a stainless one piece solid spoon and slotted spoon from Walmart, along with a Rowell ladle. I wish I had bought the larger skimmer a lot sooner!

[kevin c]

Should have added that I have the same double jet burner the OP ordered. Extremely sturdy, and lots of BTUs.

But I've found what really helps speed melting, despite the high heat output of the burners, are three things:

First, some sort of thermal jacket and lid that allow heat retention around the sides and top of the pot.

Second, wind screens that keep the burners' output from blowing away from the pot.

Third, use of a weed burner played over the top of the melt. Be careful with this technique; you can't cover the pot while doing this and rapidly heated gas pockets in lead items can spit lead out of the pot in any direction and for suprising distances.

Doing all three things not only is faster, despite using a second tank for the weed burner I used less propane per melt.

[Mal Paso]

A windscreen not only saves propane it keeps the sides of the pot hot. Before I made one globs of hardened lead would stick to the sides of the pot as the liquid level went down.