I wanted a standard utility trailer that my medium size SUV could pull easily and I didn't want to block a whole lot of wind as the car uses plenty of gas the way it is.
While still in the planning stage, I got a note from a friend that River City Rub (Theron Malone) who is also a Backwoods contest cook has his small trailer for sale.
Theron had really done a lot of work on the trailer by installing the roof and it was perfect for what I wanted to use it for so we made the deal and met on the road about half the distance between us and swapped the trailer over to my car.
This is what it looked like when I got it home and I also purchased the very heavy duty lockable tool box that he had mounted in the front of the trailer. Theron had also done some wiring in the trailer as well and it sure was perfect for my plans.
The trailer is heavy duty with a real 3500# axle under it with springs and it also came with 15" tires.
The first thing I did was put it together for the way I wanted to do a contest and it worked out great.
The cooker in the picture is the Backwoods Fatboy and I have the trailer setup with one 4 foot prep table and then I found another big lockable storage box that fits perfectly under the prep table so I would have plenty of security in my travels. I also wanted to be able to cook on or off the trailer as well as both heat an air condition the trailer as well when the cover was on the trailer.
Next job was to make a tailgate.
Then the air conditioner mount.
I also made a spare tire mount.
At this point, I decided to try it out and purchased a cheap tarp to use as a cover for the first contest to see if everything would work like I wanted.
This picture shows us all loaded up and ready to roll. The cooker of choice for this trip was the Backwoods Fatboy. Was able to keep everything pretty low in the trailer so I wouldn't be blocking much wind. I planned to take the cooker off the trailer at this first contest as it was cold and we needed the cover so we could heat the trailer. The cooker is strapped to a dolly and the loading ramps are on the trailer as well.
I wanted options for this type of setup and we now have them. We can use the trailer with a tarp cover for a contest with the cooker on or off the trailer, or we can take an EZ-UP and then just set the trailer up for cooking with the cooker on the trailer, or just use the trailer to haul all our contest equipment to an event.
We are now cooking the contests with one Backwoods Party cooker and we lay it down in the trailer and we just don't block any wind at all with this cooker. Using this cooker, we did eliminate taking the loading ramps and the 2 wheel dolly as it is very easy to handle this cooker by hand. The picture shows the trailer all loaded up and ready to roll.
If the gas price goes back up, I am sure we will be using this setup again for the contests that are a good distance from the Po-Farm and we will continue to improve upon this project.
I also didn't include a picture of the trailer with the tarp over it as it looks kind of trashy and my good friend Dr Chuckie calls it Old Dave's Shanty! It Fits!
The old mans work is never done....
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