ausfire Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 OK, so I got sick of piddly gas barbecues that don't heat up enough and chew up gas. Decided to make a real barby, wood fired and built of stone.I didn't want to use a plain old rectangular plate, so had a look around the scrap and dragged out an old bulldozer sprocket. It's about 70 cm across and 12mm or so thick.I tried cleaning it with a wire wheel and a flap disc, but it appears to have a reddish appearance and I'm wondering if it may have some hard paint coating. Anyone know about these things? I'm not willing to consign the sausages to it for the moment. If it's red lead or something I will get the plate sand blasted back to bare metal.It's a fairly hefty piece of gear. A mate of mine reckons if we call a barbecue on Saturday night I'll have to light the fire on Thursday to get it hot.Here's a pic: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fergy Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 What sort of bull dozer?that looks to be a rather small pitch for track chain was it from the reductinon before the bullgear or something I can't place it it must be old Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 A few thoughts, chemical strip, grind, heat, wash, heat, sand... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWooldridge Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 Looks like the remnants of surface rust from here. Maybe build a big fire under it then start spraying and wiping with cooking oil. It needs to be seasoned anyway so might as well git'r done... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted September 28, 2015 Author Share Posted September 28, 2015 Fergy, the assumption was that it's off an old dozer, as there were a lot of other old Cat parts among the scrap. Perhaps it's from another type of heavy machine - not sure. Agreed it doesn't look as beefy as the track drive sprockets. In the picture it's sitting on a steel ring that happened to be the same diameter.HW, it did have some light surface rust which came off easily with the wire brush, but the reddish colour is hard to remove. It's a bit too big to fit in my cabinet sand blaster. Maybe I could try oxy or, as you say, build a big fire under it.The camp cook I work with reckons lamb's fat is the best seasoning agent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 (edited) Remove anything except the metal and then build a fire under it for a long while. Who knows what soaked into the metal. Finally take the hose outside the sand blast cabinet and point it toward the metal and clean it to bare metal. Another good fire and throw on the lamb's fat and let it cool. No use getting sick from what was on the metal before you got it. New metal costs less than a visit to the hospital. Edited September 28, 2015 by Glenn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yahoo2 Posted September 29, 2015 Share Posted September 29, 2015 (edited) It looks like the old iron oxide rust paint, you probably need a flap disc with a coarse grit or use an angle grinder to remove the top surface.I use a Z60 grit flap disc for most things on a 5 inch angle grinder, interestingly it will barely mark an anvil but tear masses of metal from spring steel.the trick with seasoning is the first few layers needs to be super thin, like, wiped dry with paper towel thin otherwise it will crack and lift. Oils or fats with a high iodine index work the best I have had some success with grapeseed oil when I haven't got any fresh linseed oil handy. Edited September 29, 2015 by yahoo2 slow brain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted September 29, 2015 Share Posted September 29, 2015 Looks like quite the griddle but I'd sure as heck strip it to bare metal before I used it. I'm not about to guess what I THINK's on it from a pic on the internet, I wouldn't base a decision on such. I'd treat it like it's been soaking in red lead paint for 50 years and have it sand blasted, then probably burn through a few sanding disks with my 9" disk grinder. BOTH sides.Is there a hub? It's certainly not a dozer track sprocket, not at 12mm. thick it isn't. Too big around and too thin to be a road grader walking beam sprocket. It's cool and will make a terrific BBQ griddle. Of course not knowing what it's off of just opens the possible stories you can tell about it.Oh Oh, it's part of the speed reduction system to spin a flying saucer! That's it, I knew I'd seen one before. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fergy Posted September 29, 2015 Share Posted September 29, 2015 A few good fires under it before cooking on it I think does look a whole lot better than a square of 5/16 plate a plate that thick will take a bit of gettin used too but once you do you will never go back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSW Posted September 29, 2015 Share Posted September 29, 2015 Hey you know someone had to go and post it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.w.s. Posted September 29, 2015 Share Posted September 29, 2015 Hey you know someone had to go and post it...i had iimagined something more along these lines. J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stan Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 Great stone work and the plate is unique , you need to heat it up dish it slightly and drill a hole in the middle to drain the fat. Nice Ek what the one on the right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted September 30, 2015 Author Share Posted September 30, 2015 Hey Stan, you are very observant. The EK is a ute ( lot of people mistake it for an FB) - we've had it since new (1962) bought from Ireland Holden in Cairns. My favourite car. It's also my blacksmith tool carrier and gets a lot of photos at demos.The one beside it on the right is my race car - Outlaw series stock car racing. I'm no champion racer - just like the fun and competition and getting sideways. Bit of argy bargy. I spend a lot of time knocking out the dents.And the plate does have a hole in the middle - about 35mm with a heavy (axle?) flange underneath it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianinsa Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 Ute is going to confuse a lot of those in the northern hemisphere here they are known as a bakkie .. a pick up/ truck!So you're sorted for 'Mongolian ' and brekkie can you swop it out for a grill? Nice looking stonework and an awesome sub-grid(did you forge it? ) or is it some cast iron grid? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 I fathum its a contraction of utility vehicle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 Not named after the same tribe as Utah was??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted September 30, 2015 Author Share Posted September 30, 2015 Charles is correct. Ute is Australian for Utility Vehicle. Pick up. Some of the older folks call them a 'tilly'. Ian - the plate is not fixed; its weight keeps it in place. I guess you could put a grill in place as well. The fire bars are cast iron bars from an old steam engine boiler I found in the scrap.The plate is sand blasted to bare metal now so we'll give it a try soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 Aut to make a fair griddle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaughnT Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 I'd put a real hot fire under that griddle even after it's been sand-blasted. Better safe than sorry, and I'd want to burn out any nasties that might be down in the pores. Certainly wouldn't hurt to do a wash with muriatic acid (available at any home repair/masonry store) and then sand blast it again, and then put some serious heat under the thing. Of course, I'm a belt and suspenders kind of guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbo7 Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 What sort of drive did the old wire rope dozers use on the winch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted October 4, 2015 Author Share Posted October 4, 2015 Don't know, Brendan. We've got a heap of old dozers around the place but I can't see anything that looks like this plate. It came out of the scrap where there was a lot of dozer parts - old rams, blades, gears etc but it could be off an old crane or any number of mining winches or whatever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted October 10, 2015 Author Share Posted October 10, 2015 Well, I sandblasted and cleaned to plate and here it is seasoned and ready to accept the first fillet steak.I must report that it cooked the steak perfectly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Looks Great! where's the picture of it sizzling steak so we can all drool? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted October 12, 2015 Author Share Posted October 12, 2015 Looks Great! where's the picture of it sizzling steak so we can all drool? Ha! I mainly wanted a picture of the fire ... it was a bit too hot to put the steak on at that time. Had to let it cool a bit! I was surprised that the heavy plate did not take very long to get screaming hot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Learn to manage it and you will be doing breakfast on that thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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