What a tandem of ingenuity and skillful hands have not made a barbecue from: from a washing machine drum, a water heater, a barrel, a car disk, gas cylinders, and other household utensils that have served their purpose. And if you want to make a barbecue inexpensively in a couple of hours, a tank from an old washing machine is something worth taking a closer look at.
Perhaps the old automatic washing machine has been collecting dust on the loggia for a long time, and it’s time to disassemble it to give new life to the surviving spare parts.
Well, if the machine works properly, you can go another way:
- look at recycling collection points;
- scroll through Avito, olkh;
- contact repair specialists or service centers;
- ask friends or neighbors in the garage.
This option is even better because it allows you to choose a more suitable tank.
Are there drums from washing machines lying around on the road? But no! They lie and wait for someone who will give them a second life.
Advantages of making a barbecue from a washing machine tank
Among the positive characteristics of a barbecue made from an old washing machine it is worth noting:
- high degree of resistance to elevated temperatures;
- presence of anti-corrosion coating;
- convenience during operation;
- safety during use;
- high level of wear resistance;
- long service life;
- relatively light weight of the structure;
- there is no need for intensive disinfection of the drum;
- no difficulties in assembly/disassembly;
- mobility;
- compact dimensions of the fryer;
- sufficient number of holes for air passage;
- economical fuel consumption (coal, firewood, briquettes);
- no difficulties in care;
- interesting appearance;
- there are no restrictions in terms of design.
You can make a convenient and practical barbecue from a drum from a washing machine in one day if you have the necessary tools in your arsenal
What materials and tools will be required
To quickly make a barbecue from a washing machine drum yourself, you need to acquire the following set of accessories:
- a tank from a broken washing machine;
- scraps of fittings/pipes for a stand 80 cm long;
- metal plates;
- bolts and nuts (10 mm) 6 pieces each;
- roulette;
- marker;
- Bulgarian;
- hacksaw for metal;
- file;
- welding equipment;
- angle grinder with brush attachment;
- a brush with stiff bristles;
- pliers;
- set of wrenches;
- electric drill;
- anti-corrosion heat-resistant paint for metal surfaces.
Stand options
Heating element for the indesit washing machine: purpose and replacement instructions
The ideal option is to choose a high flower stand and bolt the roaster to it.
Another approach is to make three identical legs of the required height from a metal tube and attach them to the bottom of the grill. You can also make a tripod from a pipe. Welding during fastening is not necessary; it is easier to use bolts and angles. As a result, the stand will be removable.
There are drum models with pre-fabricated holes used for fastening to the body. Such holes can be widened, threaded on the pipes and screwed into place.
A mobile barbecue is useful not only in the country. The owners take it with them when going out into nature, fishing, etc. The originality of the design will certainly arouse interest among others, and the owner will always be the center of attention, proud of his own brainchild.
How to make a grill from a washing machine drum
To make an original mobile barbecue from a washing machine tank with your own hands, you must follow the following step-by-step instructions:
- Disassemble the body of the failed automatic washing machine and carefully remove the drum from it. It is important to take your time here and do everything very carefully so that the surface remains intact and without damage.
- Using a sharp knife, it is necessary to remove all rubber seals and plastic elements on the tank. After this, you need to get rid of dust, debris, and scale on the outer and inner walls of the container. In difficult places where plaque is deeply ingrained, it is worth using a brush with stiff bristles. An angle grinder equipped with a brush attachment will help.
- By using welding equipment, legs are attached to the drum from a household appliance. For these purposes, metal pipes in the amount of 3 pieces and a diameter of 40 mm are perfect. They are mounted to the bottom of the base.
- After all the preparatory measures, it is necessary to clean the welded structure - the future barbecue - with a soap solution. Then degrease it using a rag and a solvent (white spirit, acetone). The surface after this treatment should dry well in the open air.
- The cleaned drum should be coated on the outside with a heat-resistant compound for metal, including the legs of the grill. Acrylic paint for painting metal surfaces and silicone enamel, which contains a resin-based varnish, are very popular. For greater effect, paint is applied not in one layer, but in two or three. Between procedures, you need to let the previous layer dry thoroughly. Thanks to painting, a homemade grill made from a drum from an automatic washing machine will be reliably protected from corrosive changes, which will significantly extend its service life.
- This DIY roasting pan is ready for use.
Advice!
For greater stability, the barbecue from the washing machine tank must have 4 points of support. There is another interesting option for arranging a barbecue, where there is a rectangular hole in the side of the tank. This design is intended for grilling food. Here you will also need to make a door so that the temperature inside the chamber does not decrease. The body of the tank can be cut crosswise using a grinder, connected with bolts, and get a full-fledged mobile roaster, which camping lovers will appreciate.
There are several ways to install a stand made of metal pipes to a drum grill:
- Using welding equipment or bolts. Racks made of suitable material are mounted to the side fastenings of the structure’s body. If you need a mobile version of the barbecue, which is perfect for outdoor enthusiasts, then the standard type of connection - bolts - will do. To ensure the stability of the roaster, the legs are joined together using a metal bridge.
- The ends of the reinforcement (rods) must be bent from the edge, retreating 100 mm, and maintaining an inclination angle of 100-120 degrees. To make them easier to use, they are first flattened with a sledgehammer. A tripod is made from iron pipes and fixed to the cylinder axis using a welding machine. This simple move will allow the barbecue to rotate.
- If you do not have welding equipment, you can follow the following technology: mark points for 2 holes on the bends of the legs and make them using a drill and a drill. Their size should be 6-8 mm. Then attach the blanks to the bottom of the drum, using them as a sample, and make similar holes. All structural elements are connected using bolts that are suitable in both length and size.
- For a homemade barbecue, you can use a ready-made stand made of safe materials, non-flammable and durable. The main thing is that it fits in size. A metal stand for ornamental crops and flowers serves this role perfectly.
Useful mechanisms
First of all, you can use spare parts from an old washing machine to make useful mechanisms for the household.
Grinding and cutting machine
Giving a second life to the electric motor of household appliances is quite simple - its power is quite enough to make a sharpening machine. There are no particular difficulties for the home craftsman: attach the motor housing to a strong wooden base (a piece of board will do), connect the start and stop button, make an adapter attachment on the shaft where the grinding or cutting wheel will be attached. You can see other homemade products made from a washing machine engine here.
Smokehouse
Many people dream of having their own smokehouse to surprise friends with smoked meats, but in a city apartment there is no place to install it. We offer a mobile analogue - it is made from the drum of a top-loading washing machine. We fix a thin sheet of steel in a circle so that the smoke does not escape through the perforations, and insert a special grate in the middle where fish and meat will be laid out for smoking.
A hole is made on top for the pipe, where the smoke will come out; under the grate we lay out wood blocks or chips from oak, alder, cherry or apple tree. The main task is not to overdo it, the volume of the smokehouse turned out to be small, so you don’t need to put a lot. It is better to find out the norm in advance using an empirical method, from smallest to largest. Experts in this field assure that five small bars or dry branches are quite enough.
Feather removal machine
For those who are engaged in breeding poultry for subsequent sale in city markets, this improvement will be to their liking. We mean assembling the feather removal machine on your own. It works in the same way as the factory analogue, only it looks less aesthetically pleasing, but is many times cheaper.
The operating principle is not particularly complicated:
- The fairly capacious tank is studded with special rubber pins (beaters) with a threaded connection at the end for a tight and reliable connection to the body.
- The bottom rotates at high speed and is also studded with rubber beaters.
- A poultry carcass scalded with boiling water is placed in the tank: chicken, goose, duck or broiler.
- When turned on, the bottom rotates, the beaters force the carcass to quickly move throughout the entire internal space, as a result of which the feathers fly off in different directions.
- In 2 minutes the carcass is cleaned, leaving only minor residues in the area of the inside of the wings, tail and paws.
Using the example of some farms, up to 30 carcasses can be plucked in this way in an hour.
Amateurs believe that mechanical plucking causes damage to carcasses, but in practice their presentation is 100% preserved.
The tank is positioned horizontally and water is supplied as shown in the photograph. An outlet is made at the bottom to remove water and feathers, so the bottom is slightly smaller than the diameter of the drum. The supply of water has a beneficial effect on the entire process of mechanical plucking.
The most expensive part is the purchase of pins made of durable rubber: the cost of one is at least 1.5 dollars, and you need at least 120 of them, but the costs will quickly pay off.
Decoration of the barbecue
It is not necessary to paint a homemade grill from a washing machine drum. The design can fully cope with the effects of adverse environmental factors. But it is still recommended to paint the stand, especially if a material with a low degree of resistance to moisture and temperature changes was used for its manufacture. It is better to use stainless steel for these purposes.
Not only for beauty, but also for convenience, it is worth considering a canopy that will save the barbecue with kebabs in rainy weather. It is also good to provide special holders for forks, tongs, skewers, and necessary accessories. If desired, you can improve the stand for the grill or skewers on top of the structure.
Design Features
Despite the fact that making a barbecue from a washing machine drum is not difficult, savvy craftsmen have come up with many options: very simple and more advanced.
The universal design of a barbecue made from a washing machine is a fairly deep tank installed vertically. In this case, the narrowed neckline is not cut. Then a cauldron, a frying pan, or a barbecue grill, especially a round one, will fit comfortably on it. You will have to thread less meat onto the skewers, closer to the central part.
If the main dish you will be cooking is shish kebab, placing the skewers makes it more convenient. To do this, prepare the neck of the tank: cut off the narrowed part with a ring or make a rectangular cutout, expanding the working space for frying. On both sides of the opening, metal strips with slots for skewers are installed.
Recommendations
Additional practical tips include the following:
- The ends of the pipes must be processed, since under their own weight they gradually go deeper into the ground.
- A good solution would be to make a stand, a kind of platform made of concrete mixture and cement mortar. The depth should be about 15 cm.
- It is necessary to install wooden valves at the lower ends of the pipes, after flattening them with a hammer. They are fixed using self-tapping screws.
- A barbecue made from a drum from an unnecessary washing machine can be effectively used as a fireplace while relaxing in the garden, outdoors, or on a personal plot.
Video on how to make your own grill from a washing machine drum.
Preparation
Dismantling
First you need to remove the drum and dismantle all the plastic parts.
A grinder, a screwdriver, a hacksaw, and pliers will come in handy.
The crosspiece is used to make a stand
Cleaning
To give a presentable appearance, a heavily soiled tank needs to be tidied up: cleaned of dirt and limescale. This can be done using a torch and a wire brush.
You can also wipe the drum with a brush dipped in 9% vinegar, use a special anti-plaque agent, or soak it in a 1-2% warm solution of citric acid and water.
