A TEXAN truck driver has created the world’s largest barbecue pit on wheels. Terry Folsom has been in the trucking business for over 30 years. Terry told R.Rides: “My passion is cooking meat and smoking it, so I own the largest barbecue pit in the world.” After purchasing the truck brand-new in 1997 from Houston, Terry decided to add his own personal touch - a 76ft-long BBQ. Terry said: “It’s the largest in the world. The truck weighs about 22,000lbs and the trailer weighs 80,000”. The smoking pit is at the back of the truck and took about six months to be built. On the front of the pit there is even a place for a big TV screen, stereo equipment, a freezer and beer taps to hook up kegs. Kimberly King, Terry’s wife, told R.Rides: “We acquired this thing through a business deal!” Terry and Kimberly put on a lot of cook-offs and cook free food for the first responders in town. Kimberly said: “We have taken it to the Salvation Army several times and fed the homeless and the veterans for Thanksgiving. During Hurricane Harvey we fed 55,000 people in 11 days.” But with a vehicle this long, it’s not easy to drive around. Kimberly added: “It is costly to move it. You have to have special escorts because it is overweight and over linked. To move out of our driveway alone, we have to have people block traffic because it takes us all the other side of the road.” Terry and Kimberly have no plans to sell the truck as it makes them feel so good when giving back to their community.
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MotorTranscript
00:00The truck weighs about 22,000 pounds.
00:05The trailer weighs 80,000.
00:07It's a 76-foot barbecue pit.
00:11It's the largest in the world.
00:12I love barbecue.
00:20This meat right here is like candy.
00:25Mm.
00:27Mm, mm, mm.
00:30Welcome to the Lone Star State.
00:32Texas pride, 100%.
00:35Where they do everything.
00:37Bigger.
00:38This is a 1997 Peterbilt 379 extended hood
00:42with a 550 cat, 18-speed, 355 rear end, racial.
00:46I bought it brand new in 1997 from Peterbilt, Houston.
00:50But it's what's behind this rig that's record size.
00:54This right here is our firebox.
00:57Yep, that's right.
00:59This isn't just a truck.
01:01It's also a 76-foot long barbecue.
01:04It's the largest in the world.
01:07I've been a truck driver for 30 years
01:08and smoking meat for a long time.
01:11This is my passion.
01:12I enjoy doing this type of thing.
01:14The truck weighs about 22,000 pounds.
01:17The trailer weighs 80,000.
01:19We have a TV screen up here in the front.
01:21We have a cooler on the other side.
01:23And we have our actual smoker in the back.
01:27This pit was built at Texas Fibers
01:30down there close to Houston.
01:31It took them about six months to build this.
01:35We acquired this thing through a business deal.
01:38It cooks anywhere from 8,000 to 12,000 pounds of meat.
01:40It just depends on what you're cooking.
01:43This is the best part I like right here
01:45is this big Texas on the back.
01:46You have a lot of cookouts and cookoffs.
01:48We just love what we do.
01:51Today, Terry, his wife Kimberly, and a few local chefs
01:56are cooking free food for the town's first responders.
02:03We're feeding our local law enforcement,
02:05fire department, and EMS, whoever wants to come out
02:10that takes care of our community and keeps us safe.
02:13I'm friends with a lot of these folks here in this town.
02:15I was raised here.
02:17I called dispatch and had a friend of mine
02:19send out a text that anybody could come eat
02:21that wanted to come eat.
02:23We do like to do the events.
02:24It makes you feel good.
02:26It takes about two and a half hours
02:28to get this up to temperature.
02:30This is our firebox.
02:32There's a heat exchange tube
02:34that runs from the rear to the front of this pit.
02:37We have 24 smoking compartment doors on here.
02:40Whoo, there's some good ribs right here.
02:43Whoo!
02:44Not no joke.
02:46There's cutouts on the heat exchange tube
02:49that allows the smoke and the heat to come up,
02:52and this damper is what controls
02:54the heat that rises through it.
02:56Oh, man.
02:59Mm, mm-mm-mm.
03:02Good.
03:03Right now, we're at 250 degrees on these ribs.
03:07We like to keep it right at that temperature.
03:09We smoke them for hours and hours.
03:15All right.
03:16It's good.
03:18Well, we've got enough to eat for days.
03:22We sure do.
03:23Whoo!
03:25We're at the end of the pit.
03:26The firebox is at the other end,
03:28and this is our largest smokestack.
03:30This is the main one that creates the draft
03:32to all the other compartments.
03:34Whoo!
03:35This bird is good.
03:39I could eat this all day.
03:41All day.
03:42Never get tired of this.
03:46And when it's not feeding local firemen, cops and medics,
03:50this truck's done some emergency work of its own.
03:53We have took it to the Salvation Army
03:56in Galveston several times
03:57and fed the homeless and the veterans for Thanksgiving.
04:00Also, we did Hurricane Harvey for Red Cross.
04:05During Hurricane Harvey, we fed 55,000 people in 11 days.
04:09So with a vehicle this long,
04:11what's it like taking it out for a spin?
04:13It is costly to move it.
04:15You have to have special escorts
04:17because it is overweight and over-length.
04:19To move out of our driveway alone,
04:21we have to have people block traffic
04:24because it takes us all the way
04:25to the other side of the road.
04:27In that case, better off staying at home,
04:30having a barbecue, and doing Texas stuff.
04:33♪♪
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04:47Mmm.
04:49I love barbecue.
04:51Mmm.
04:53And it's so delicious.