Anyone Seen this? Food Trailer

Question is do you want to do vending and spend that amount of money. It's nice for an all in one concept, about 30K for the trailer and 15 or so for the smoker.

Do you have a background in vending and need that level of trailer?

I'm sure some will pop in, I'm just curious more about what you're wanting to do with it before I'd asnwer. It could be overkill or it could be perfect?

The trailer appears to be very well equipped for the price.

The only feature I'm leery of is the 4 door Cold Tech reach-in unit. I purchased one for my home in 2002. Bad mistake! It was very noisy and my electric bill doubled. In 4 years I went through 2 control boards ($800 each) and a $400 compressor. Warranty covered 1 board and my dealings with Cold Tech customer service were less than pleasant. It was a happy day when the that $1,900 POS went to the dump. Granted, I may have gotten a lemon.

If you can't swap the cooler for a better brand, be sure you have access to a refer guy who knows how to work on this unit.

Like Smokin asked, what's your game plan? Do you intend to vend from one location, or several? Where ever you vend, you'll need electrical hook-ups.

No game plan yet. I'm just walking the field and really thought it was a good Idea to incorporate the FEC that way. I'm thinking about building a small business to pass off to my son, who really enjoys cooking. I though under 50 K would be a good investment opportunity in the future. Thanks for the heads up on the refer.

Bill,
If you're considering a trailer for vending you might want to give James Stephens a ring at Extreme BBQ Trailers. James will custom build to whatever design you want. He is a dealer for the FEC's also. I purchased a trailer from James in the fall to use primarily for competitions, but plan on doing some vending as well. Quality trailers. Check out his website:
Extreme BBQ Trailers

chaplin,

it looks great! i have a FEC 500, i could not ask for a better, more reliable smoker for my Q joint. you could prob. find a used trailer out there somewhere, but my prefrence is to buy new.....with that said, if you buy it, make damn sure you have a venue to make money....location, location, location!
looks like a generator may be needed [its good to have one anyway]. good luck!

jeff,

Chaplain Bill,
I have recently purchased a mobile unit from Russell concessions. Shaun and his crew were great. I love the unit, it has it all. A full kitchen with steam well, 3 basin sink, griddle, fryer, stainless steel prep tables and a Fast Eddy 500. One thing, and I can't stress this enough, be sure to check with your state and local requirements for a food unit.

thanks guys, no plans yet, but i'd like to do more and with being in the military, I move quite a bit and a trailer might be just the ticket. State and local rules would change very time I move though.

If you're planning to cook on base, you won't have many problems moving from place to place. Off base rules may seem to vary quite a bit from state to state, but most are pretty similar. You can cook on almost anything under most states TFE (temporary food establishment) regs, but these are usually reserved for fundraiser and fair type activities. Beyond that, to set up and sell at will to the general public, most states either require you to have a fully equipped mobile kitchen, or work out of a commissary. NC does not recognize "mobile kitchens" so a commissary would be required. The commissary could be a restaurant you have a rental arrangement with. How closely that arrangement is examined will vary from local to local.

Finding enough customers to make it worthwhile is the hard part. Jobsites and businesses frequently have contracts with food trucks, so they're a non-starter. Fairs/festivals have steep up front fees, and they can be hit or miss. Nothing like paying out $5K for a fair only to see it rain for 7 days. Also, most events have menu restrictions with regards to competition among vendors, so you might not get in cooking BBQ. I know some events that have waiting lists 20 deep with wishful BBQ cooks who have waited years for a slot. And setting up around town like you see on TV will force you to run the gauntlet with every restaurant within miles, even if it's legal, and in most cases it's not. You are the enemy.