“Primo” Grill/Smoker Cart Complete!

Here it is!  The “Primo” ceramic smoker cart is complete!   The project only took about two afternoons to complete including designing and buying the materials.  I am pleased with the result.

The cart is made from standard pressure-treated lumber from Home Depot for the legs and the horizontal structural components (just 4×4 and 2×4 material) and Trex-brand composite decking for the shelf and top surfaces.  Since Trex cannot support much weight, the pressure-treated lumber was necessary for the structural components.

I basically copied the overall cart design from the photographs of the cart that Primo sells on their website.  I used the dimensions that they listed on their price-sheet as my guide to overall size.   I even copied the “curve” to the front edge of the top surface.

They made their version from Cypress wood, and I considered doing the same….but the cost did not seem to be worth it, and I went with Home-Depot-available materials.

I placed four 12x12x1 concrete pads onto the bottom shelf underneath the grill to protect the Trex shelf from heat.  These were just paving stones from Home Depot at about a dollar each.  I placed them as close to the front edge of the bottom shelf as possible, so that when cleaning ash out of the grill it will fall onto the concrete and not onto the Trex.

The wheels are replacement solid-rubber handcart wheels also purchased from Home Depot.  Since this grill and cart are HEAVY (I’m guessing north of 500 lbs between them), I did not want to use inflatable wheels that could go flat easily.  The front wheels are industrial-rated swiveling casters from Woodcraft.

I cut the opening for the grill and the curve on the cart top with a jig saw after making and tracing a paper template onto the cart top.  After cutting with the jigsaw, I sanded the edges smooth with a palm and a belt-sander and then routed a small radius on the top edge to finish it.  The routed edge really makes a difference in the final look of the cart.

I liked working with the Trex material, it was easy to cut, route and sand.  It is heavy (much heavier than wood) and expensive though. ..about $18 for 1x6x8.   But, since it will last forever with no maintenance, it guess it makes up for the cost in the long-run.

Finally, note my “grill bucket” that is sitting on top of the cart in the first picture.  This is just a 5-gallon bucket with a Bucket Boss placed on it (also from Home Depot).  I have found that this arrangement works great for carrying my grilling tools, etc in and out of the house between grilling sessions.