Concession Trailer Build with intro

I have been lurking around the boards for a couple months getting ideas and seeing what others are building and how they are doing it so I'm starting this thread to hopefully help give back to anyone who may find anything I post somewhat helpfull in their future or current project or endeavors. Thanks to all those that contribute to these boards because the info shared really is invaluable!!
I started running an ice cream truck up here in northern Minnesota in 2008. There hadn't been an ice cream truck around this area prior for at least 10 years from what I was told by the city clerks office. Once I got started I mainly did routes and then started getting into festivals, arts/craft shows etc etc.  on the weekends. Well working full time as a mechanical maintenance supervisor for 8 hours a day then coming home only to climb into the ice cream truck to run a route until dark everyday then on the weekends working at an event for 12 hours each day and having family responsibilities started to catch up to me so last year I didn't run any routes at all and just did the weekend (some four days long) events. At the end of the event selling season last year It started weighing on me that I should expand somehow and so I started contemplating buying a used concession trailer to replace the ice cream truck at events. This addition would be so much easier too since I was driving the ICT on a 20 foot flat bed trailer, strapping it down then making the journey to the event then unloading, unstrapping once I got there only to do it all again at the end. Another benefit of a trailer was that the ICT would be kept in town and I could hire a driver to do the routes. After looking at crappy trailers that cost too much and I would have to modify anyway to be able to serve hand dipped ice cream I decided to build my own.  I purchased a brand new 16 x 7 foot cargo trailer for $3400 back in November of 2011 and have been chipping away at it since.
 
So far I have insulated the walls, installed my electric wiring behing the plywood walls, installed FRP on the walls, installed black white commercial VCT tiles on the floor, installed 30 amp service panel and GFCI outlets (5) with one outside, put in the serving window, installed the vent hood with stainless steel underneath. ( still need to install the fan and run my stack through the ceiling), I built a cabinet for the counter top that my sinks were going to be dropped into, then had to tear half of it apart because of a little glitch in my floor plan then rebuild it, installed stainless steel on top, installed my hot water heater and fresh water tank, plumbing to take place today hopefully. I also have purchased a new 24 inch LP griddle, a new LP deep fryer, a new 27 cu ft flip top door ice cream dipping freezer and a used 67 inch refrigerated pizza prep table to be used as a sandwich prep etc.
All this was done after weeks of sitting in the trailer after I bought it with graph paper and drawing floor plans over and over and over again. Figuring out what I wanted vs what I needed vs what I could afford. It has been a slow process but you don't want to rush this stuff and when I start projects it take me a long time cause it has to be just right.
I have a bunch of pics to share but I know I won't be able till my post count is up so In the mean time I will try to set of a flickr account.
Some details about the build that I've seen come up in other threads:
I am using a 12 volt fan to pull the air for my vent hood
my vent hood is a captive aire low proximity hood that only requires 500 cfm and installs via a built in top flange into the wall studs
my hot water heater is a rv type water heater that runs off of propane
 
Ok, I think thats long enough for now.
 
Courtland
 
 

id sure like to see pics of the hood and fans. where did you get them? cost and size? you can email pics to scwhite59(@)yahoo(dot)com pls? good luck on the project and im in the same boat so Im a sponge right now

Sounds like a your well on your way. Get that post count up so we can check it out :)

Sounds like you have been working your arse off, I am here in MN as well, and have been purchasing the equipment I need to start my Burger Stand, My plan is to service out of a tent and LOAD all the equipment back in the trailer at the end of an event. I debated re-fabricating a trailer, but my maintenance skills on a scale of 1-10 are at a 1.5, meaning I might be able to change a light bulb lol. 

The hood I got directly from a Captive Aire supplier. There price was about $500 cheaper than the local sheet metal shop on the same hood. I got a 48" hood shipped with 8 inch round exhaust riser factory installed, a 7" long duct piece, 2 v clamps and manuafaturer furnished high temp sealant for $921. That was including tax and everything.

The supplier of the hood was Venpro Company out of the Minneapolis area. If you go on Captive Air's website you can do a location search to a local supplier.
 
Please excuse me but im going to be replying several time to each response in an attempt to get my count up. I can seem to find time to establish an flickr acount.

Thanks, i've followed your thread. Good job!!

mofood


Sounds like a your well on your way. Get that post count up so we can check it out :)

and the fan ( im only using 1) is a maradyne M103K. Originally I was going to elbow out the side of the trailer but then that would have put the hood lower than I wanted. I don't have any pics of the fan but once I get my post count up i'll post pics of the hood itself

Bistro a go-go


id sure like to see pics of the hood and fans. where did you get them? cost and size? you can email pics to scwhite59(@)yahoo(dot)com pls? good luck on the project and im in the same boat so Im a sponge right now

Have you already been in the business or are you just starting? I do the Little Falls Arts and Crafts Festival. Will you be getting licensed on a per event basis or will you be getting licensed by the county/ state HD? I'm curious to know how they handle a licensure with someone using a canapy. I also have a canopy and have done food and ice cream out of it on the side of my truck.
 
I'll tell ya, it takes me quite some time to accomplish much. I started my plumbing yesterday( using PEX) and didn't get much done. Well, the steam table pan I ordered for my hand sink came in yesteday so I drilled the hole for the strainer basket and glued the sink to my counter top but other than that I didn't accomplish much.

stevenfuchs


Sounds like you have been working your arse off, I am here in MN as well, and have been purchasing the equipment I need to start my Burger Stand, My plan is to service out of a tent and LOAD all the equipment back in the trailer at the end of an event. I debated re-fabricating a trailer, but my maintenance skills on a scale of 1-10 are at a 1.5, meaning I might be able to change a light bulb lol. 

what kind of equipment are you going to be using?

stevenfuchs


Sounds like you have been working your arse off, I am here in MN as well, and have been purchasing the equipment I need to start my Burger Stand, My plan is to service out of a tent and LOAD all the equipment back in the trailer at the end of an event. I debated re-fabricating a trailer, but my maintenance skills on a scale of 1-10 are at a 1.5, meaning I might be able to change a light bulb lol. 

I sent you a email with 2 pics of the hood installed. The fan is not installed yet.

Bistro a go-go


id sure like to see pics of the hood and fans. where did you get them? cost and size? you can email pics to scwhite59(@)yahoo(dot)com pls? good luck on the project and im in the same boat so Im a sponge right now

you may find it hard(no pun intended) to keep the ice cream hard with a fryer and grill etc, those will put off an extremly amount of heat in the summertime...

yes, i agree heat is going to be an issue. Thats why I am going with a insulated flip top freezer rather than a glass top dipping cabinet. I am going to cut holes on of the side of the trailer and install louvers where the condenser coil will line up inside so that it can pull outside air for cooling.

Buck & Vi's


you may find it hard(no pun intended) to keep the ice cream hard with a fryer and grill etc, those will put off an extremly amount of heat in the summertime...

I can almost post pics

got my water lines plumbed in and my drain lines done as well.

Here is what it looked like when I purchased it. It was brand new.

the first thing I did was ripped out the luan board from the middle part of the ceiling and got some 7/16" ply wood was able to fish it up in between the roof material and the metal beams. I want to be able to walk on the roof, add a/c or whatever. I don't have pics of that.


After I reinforced the roof I glued insulation to the plywood inbetween the beams and then started tearing off the luan trim pieces they used on the walls.



After I got all the ply off the walls I figured where I wanted my outlets and where my serval panel would be and then drilled holes wall studs and started running my wire. I used 12 gage romex and electrical taped the areas of wire that were in the stud. Although I did file the edges of the holes in the metal studs I wanted to be sure to go the extra step and protect the wires from being exposed.





Then I insulated the walls. In the pic directly above, the uninsulated square is where my Suburban LP water heater is.

As I started putting ply back on the walls I reinforced a section of the wall with 3/4" thickness ply wood as this is where my flange mounted vent hood is. I will only be able to go through two of the studs so thats why I wanted to add more plywood

Pulled my wire through the ply for an outlet. Should have had more hanging out but I was trying to skimp on wire.

Cut the interior hole in the plywood for serving window


 


After I reinstalled the walls I put 1/4" ply wood on the ceiling.
 
 

I have plenty more pics and will post later on this evening.
 
Thanks for looking

Don't plan on serving curbside?
 
If you do any fairs or festivals most charge by the linear foot of frontage - it would be best with that respect to have your serving window at the narrowest back of the trailer.

is that the case with most fairs and festivals in the south? (charge by ft of frontage?)

All the events I have (15) currently with my ice cream truck I will be using this trailer in it's place with a total frontage of 19 feet for both so my fees won't increase. Some events do charge per foot but the ones that do do it in increments($300 per 10 x 10 space etc. just an example) and they make it so you have to park the long way.  Pretty slick eh! Not all do though and I even have a couple where I can set up a canopy in addition to my rig for no extra charge but they get a commision on my sales so it benefits them to allow me to add on to sell faster thus bringing in more money. I also do plan on putting a serving / pickup window in the rear door so that I have the option to seel out if it and use the main one as a pickup if needed. I do have some events where a pay and pickup window is a must. 

Chicnscoop


Don't plan on serving curbside?

If you do any fairs or festivals most charge by the linear foot of frontage - it would be best with that respect to have your serving window at the narrowest back of the trailer.

 



Here is where I want to share a lesson learned the hard way so noone else make the same mistake I did. The white paneling I installed here was NRP (non fiber reinforced plastic panel) made by Parkland Plastics. Granted it said right on the label not to use in trailers but so did the FRP (fiber reinforced panel) that Menards sells so since the FRP was $25 a sheet where the NRP was only $15 I stupidly went with the cheaper product. I installed it with trowel on adhesive as well is plastic pin rivets. Everything was good for a while but the temperature changes from heating the inside to not heating the heating so on so on caused the paneling to eventually bubble out everywhere. Needless to say I had to rip it all out, wall and ceiling and it wasn't easy as alot of the panels were bonded to the wall. The proper paneling to use is the brand that Home Depot sells. It is a very rigid panel and has a very nice glossy cracked ice finish.
 

I installed the floor before I realized I had no choice but to rip out the NRP paneling


After installing the proper panel from Home Depot on the walls (Glasteel, Glasliner FRP Panel) and white melamine board on the ceiling. I cut the whole for my window and framed the opening
 

I primed the wood frame and painted it a while gloss paint before the window went in



Next came my service panel and GFI outlets. Didn't take pics of them but I have 5 sperate outlets inside and 1 outside.

After the outlet install(one shown above) I installed 1/16" aluminum angle for my wall / ceiling trim. Then came the hood. The hood is a Captive Aire BLL 2812 48".






After I got this far I realized(should have realized alot sooner I know) that I wouldn't have enough space with my ice cream freezer on the left side and a sandwich prep table on the opposite side so I ending up having to tear apart the left side of the cabinet and counter. I wanted it this big so I could stash my fresh water tank on the left side and still have room for storage.


After I took the cabinet apart and rebuilt I installed the water heater and made a bracket for my fresh water tank to sit above the water heater so I could still have the storage I wanted


getting the counter ready for my stainless




masking for neat caulk lines

caulking complete and I installed my Southco compression latches in the doors and trimmed the counter top with aluminum angle and caulked

installed hand sink
 

water lines and pump in


waste lines in

Used a 1 1/2 buld head fitting to make the through the floor penetration.

Put stainless under my hood


This is the caulk I used on my counter top to caulk the sinks and trim

I used PEX and PEX fittings for my water piping
 

a close up of the bulk head fitting
The counter and sink install, the water plumbing and waste lines as well as the stainless under the hood was all done this past week.
 
All the pics below shows what I did yesterday and today.


 


 

Here I've build a curb for the roof cap to sit on while the exhaust fan for the vent hood sits inside. The reason I built the curb is because the 10" fan I am using is a little too big for the roof cap. the curb works perfectly to give the proper clearance.
 

Hole cut out for my exaust duct.

I used a piece of the aluminum from when I cut out my window and cut a hole in it then placed it over the I cut then placed the duct piece through it. I then caulked it with 3M fire stop silicone caulking.

Painted the roof cap metallic gray (rustoleum)
 

 
placed the 3M firestop caulk in the crease of the V clamp then clamped the duct to the exhaust riser.

 
This pic shows the trim ring I got from menards for stove ducts. I made a cut in it to get it around the duct and fastened it to the ceiling after I painted it metallic grey. It came black from Menards. You can see the wiring in that pic also. I am going to install a switch on the ceiling to control the fan.

 
Fastened fan to roof and cut hole in roof cap for my conduit fitting



I know the caulk looks like crap but noone is going to see it and I'd rather it look like crap then leak.

this is what the roof cap looks like from the ground

Roof cap and in the front you can see my hot water heater cover.
 
Well. Now my post is up to date with pics from my build. Tomorrow I hope to wire in the switch for the fan, test the fan, clean my equipment since it's been sitting in my garage aka work shop and then place the equipment inside.

King do you not have to have a check valve or other form of back flow prevention on your 3 comp sink? the  3 comp drop in sink is very attractive I like it a lot.

I couldn't find that requirment anywhere and the dept of Ag didn't make me when I put sinks in my ice cream truck. I actually bought a slip on check valve but didn't install it. I could though if needed. I emailed my inspector last week with that question but haven't heard back yet.
 
I got the drop in sink from Prima Supply. Its a BK resouces. I like it too

I got my sink from prima it's not a drop in tho, I like your better is it 10x14x10 bowls or bigger?

Yeah, that's how big my bowls are too. I either had to have a free standing with drainboards or a drop in sink which has to be dropped in stainless. I also have to install NSF shelving above the sinks for air drying dishes.

That's some fine Craftsmanship going on right there. Looks terrific!

Thank you very much!!
 
I wired the fan in yesterday (3/18/12) and tested it. Works great. Started getting sick yesterday so after that I cleaned up a little and took it easy. Feel like crap today too so we'll see.
 
I'm going to add another deep cycle battery so i'll have more capacity and then Im going to get a Charge Wizard by Intellipower and keep that hooked up to the batteries so that the batteries will always be charged.

Foodbme


That's some fine Craftsmanship going on right there. Looks terrific!

Just wanted to update my post. I got sick so that took alot of the wind out of my sails so to speak. Anyway, since my last post I installed the cove base and the switch for the exhaust fan. Placed the freezer inside and secured it to the floor, placed the prep table inside and anchored it to the wall. The prep table I am using was used so I took some time cleaning that up. I placed the griddle stand and the bottom half of the griddle inside also.( had to take the plate off to change the Natural gas orifices to the supplied LP orifices) I suppose my next is to figure out the best way to anchor the griddle stand to the floor then the griddle to the stand then route and run my gas line underneath the trailer.
 


 
 

Incase anyone is wondering why in the heck I have masking tape on the walls everywhere it's because the tape represents where my wall studs are.