My UDS build
at this point, the only thing really unique was the charcoal basket. I dropped off the plans at a welder and had these little beasts built. the little hook on top is to pick them up with a fifth wheel puller from a truck stop.
My Smokin baskets
I also made a Grillin basket. It's shorter and doesn't have the divider
I originally made a deal with my neighbors son. If he burnt out the drums, then cleaned and painted them, that I would give him one of the smokers. well, he burnt them out but the next morning, when I handed him the angle grinder, he went inside and we didn't see him the rest of the day. His dad pulled out a DA sander and cleaned everything but the ribs on the outside and I used wire wheels on my 1/2" drill and my angle iron on the rest.
burnt out
they definitely got hot enough
I was leaving big puddles of sweat in the drums. it was 93 degrees outside the drums.
cleaned the outside with paint thinner and hauled them next door to my place.
I bought the weed burner a few months back but never assembled it. If I knew how much fun they are, I would have been playing with it the whole time. when the afterburner roar kicked in, I got a fan club crowded around with big grins. I told a friend that that would be a good "Man" tester. If you put that in a man's hand and he doesn't get a 10 yr old's grin, there is something wrong with him.
I hung the weed burner on each zinc plated bolt for about 2 minutes and walked away each time.
It was so hot out that you could see the paint dry. it was like breathing fog onto a window.
the Old Smokey was cooking up some brats for a quickie meal.
we were sitting down for lunch. 4 guys and my Filipina wife. I guess the word got out that a lot of chickens were expected soon, now that I have 3 UDS's and the 1st two volunteers came walking up. a neighbor about a football field away has free range chickens and two got a little too free. My wife grew up with chickens and she got this gleam in her eye and a huge grin. If those chicks weren't under age, they would have been in danger. We were laughing our butts off. She was almost drooling.
I bought $60 BBQ Pro 21.5" grills from K-Mart (or Sears) and used the lids from them. the rack from them also fit, but they are cheap/ I bought the generic racks (shown above) from wal mart for around $12.
I then added a few more bolts to my UDS. I wanted multiple options for how high my "grillin" basket was from the bottom. I already had bolts for a diffuser rack at 18" from the bottom. I added more bolts at 22, 14, 10 and 6 inches (every 4 inches).
