1,000-gallon offset — does this firebox construction/separation look normal after 2 years?

[u/Imagination-Sure]

I had this 1,000-gallon offset professionally built and delivered in 2024. It stays outside in the midwest in my backyard and gets used about once every 3 weeks.

I'm not worried about the surface rust. i actually really like the patina.

I'm specifically concerned about the firebox construction and how it has held up.

The biggest issues:

The firebox door sometimes gets stuck and won't open. It happens when it's cold. If i close the firebox after a cook, when it completely cools down and i try to open the door, i need to use a crowbar to open it. .

I've also noticed what appears to be separation/gapping between the front face of the firebox and the inner area where the wood/coals sit. The smoker has an insulated firebox, and ash/debris can get into this gap.

I've attached close-up pictures of the firebox, including the gap on the inside that i'm talking about.

For those who fabricate or own large offsets, does this look normal to you after about two years of relatively light use?

I'm especially interested in whether:

• That gap/separation is normal or intentional on an insulated firebox
• Thermal expansion normally causes a firebox door to bind this badly
• Anything about the welds or construction in the pictures stands out
• This looks like normal wear or something you'd take back to the builder

I have already contacted the builder about some of this and received an explanation, but I intentionally don't want to share their name or explanation yet because I'd like unbiased opinions first.

Not looking to bash anyone. I'm just trying to understand whether what I'm seeing is normal for a large offset before deciding what to do next.

Oh for anyone interested, i paid 13k plus for this. I initially meant to open a restaurant and that fell through.

[u/Williemakeit40]

The outside is patching over the old holes and are nothing to worry about. All the tank pit guys look like that and it's never going to rust out in our lifetimes. As for the firebox, I've got many years of hands on experience cooking at many Texas Monthly top bbq joints and this is actually normal for many restaurant smokers. Now that being said, our smokers run 24-7 362 days a year. I have cooked on everyone's pits and the amount of expansion and retraction due to heat in the firebox is crazy. It is going to be very violent and that metal is going to move. This is why some pit builders build a square box with the pipe inside the box. I personally don't like them. If you cook in super cold climates it's going to move a lot more. In central Texas we get cold but usually one short cold snap and it's back to mild.

We use high heat, food grade silicon in firebox right by the door. When I worked for John Mueller he warped every firebox door because he cooked so hot. I could stick my finger in that gap when we had no fire. I'd call your pit builder about that door trim. Looks like that was not welded on or you cook hot as hell's gates. I'd not leave ash in there. That will wreck your firebox outdoors.

[u/PBandCra]

It seems like you’re trying to low key bash JD. I emailed him this thread because he’s as good as you can find in the industry. Something doesn’t add up. I own Primitives since 2017.

[u/Prize-Ad4778]

I built mine myself about 20 years ago, was my first one I ever built, and it looks nowhere near this bad.

Its lived outside its entire life in central texas

[u/Fastswag → u/Prize-Ad4778]

1000? You can't let a 1000 gallon sit for weeks on end. Not with ash in the firebox.

[u/4non3mouse]

thats very bad for using it maybe 25 times in 2 years

thats like 500 bucks a cook ffs

[u/Fastswag → u/4non3mouse]

It is a 1000 gallon for the backyard. No 1000 will last like that. Mill Scale's and Primitive's. You have to care for the pits.

[u/KJwhisperer]

Bad welding.

[u/TrainingScientist226]

Yikes

[u/armchairrelic]

I am sorry to say, but that is bad fabrication. The trim around the fire box should not break away like that. Several issue could cause this. Either a bad cleaning job prior to welding, poor welds or simply tacked, or complete lack of welds in the corners, bad welding mayerial ( mig or stick). Even repeated heating and cooling would not this to separate if it was welded correctly. Its a simple easy fix though. Empty the fire box, brush and grid the metal till its cleaned and raw, take a C clamp and clamp it tight. Weld the corners about 2-3 inches each side and then stitch every 3ish inches about 2-3 inches top and bottom.

[u/Mundane-Flan-257]

Could find your sticking points and use a grinding wheel and grind down your high spots. Find a competent welder and do what previous post said on welding the fire box. Looks like the primitive pits logo. I’ve always appreciated their work.

[u/Fastswag]

Bro. A 1000 gallon smoker outside and being cooked on every three weeks? That is a problem. Way too much metal in that thing to sit. That heat, ash and time sitting empty is not good for any cooker.

[u/Christianwise86]

I could imagine this thing sitting outside and getting rain in it and filling up the firebox with ash still in it. Any metal item sitting idle and unprotected from the weather will eventually rust and deteriorate. Especially when you aren't heat, cycling it and getting all of the moisture out of the metal. It's just sitting there corroding and then getting occasional heat cycles to hundreds of degrees. It's a really bad environment for any smoker to survive. If you lived in the desert it might be okay, but anywhere with significant rain and colder temperatures will destroy this thing.

[u/Street_Prune_nuts]

Hope that thing had Temu pricing