How to adapt Weber kettle lid to UDS??
 

Ok, was out in garage measuring stuff. looks like the outside measurement on weber kettle "lip" is 22 5/8". The inside measurement of the drum appears to be 22 1/2". do i just take a cut of blade in my grinder and cut off about an inch of the kettle then slide it down into the drum till it snugs up? do i need to weld it? would like option of using both flat lid as well as kettle lid for hams/turkeys etc. Another option I think I have would be to weld the kettle lid to a spare flat lid then cut out the inside of the flat lid leaving about an inch "flange" all around.
Can anyone chime in???

???...a 22 1/2 in Weber kettle lid fits perfectly on top of my 55 gallon drums. :confused: Swamprb has done a similar mod to his drums...I'm sure he'll chime in or you can sort through his drum mod posts...if you have a few days to kill! :twisted:

Never thought about welding the dome to a flat lid and cutting it out - good idea!

Flange mod! I do this for the open drums with lids, it allows me to use both lids. But one thing I have noticed using a Weber lid without the flange on closed drums is that they leak greasy condensation down the sides of the drums. With the flange it does not.

Closed drum with top cut out and kettle flange

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...r/100_2083.jpg

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...r/100_2085.jpg

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...r/100_2106.jpg

Open top drum with flange in place

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...r/100_1640.jpg

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...r/100_1639.jpg

Flange removed and drum lid in place

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...r/100_1638.jpg

I use a cut off tool on the kettle

swamp,
you da man...thanks for da quick response. gotta love this place. so looks like you cut maybe 1 1/2" off the weber kettle for the flange? and it just sits inside the drum. do you get much leakage around it or does it seal pretty tight? gonna have to get to work.

Just do like Swamp says. I did and it works great. Your kettle ring just slides right in nice and snug without any welding.
I tried using some oven gasket(which worked pretty good), but it kept falling apart on me.

Oh yeah, I do notice that if I use another lid(other than the original) it does pull up a little bit when I take it off.

On the open drums none of mine are the same, I ran a bead of Permatex Hi-temp silicone around them and virtually no leakage. If you put them in the closed drum top no leaks. I used a rotisserie ring on mine and the only leaks were around the spit rod cutouts.

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...r/100_2206.jpg

This is my "Patio Model" and you can see how the flange just sits on the lip of the drum, the red bead is the silicone and it does a great job.

Swamprb's is right about them all being different. My drum was banded and when I dropped the flange in...................it dropped all the way into the drum. I had to cut the center out of the drum lid and then use the lip that was left over along with the band in order to allow the flange to fit. I also cut the flange a little lower so that I could continue to use the grate tabs. Good luck on you build and keep the pron coming.
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/sh...t=drum+is+done

I just cut those little handle dealys off.

You guys are too complicated.... Just take a crescent wrench to the webber lid, barely open the wrench and use it to bend out the lip. You will have to do this about every 1/2 inch or so as you go around the lip, it wont even break the paint and its a lot better than thrashing a good webber kettle bottom which can be used later as a redneck fire pit

Beerwolf, could you post a pic of your method? I finally got a Weber lid and it is about 1/2in too small for my drum. I don't want to cut up the bottom of the Weber for a flange... Does your method seal well? Any problems?

Thanks!

First drum I got was 22 3/4" diameter, Weber lid wouldn't fit. Second drum was 22 1/2", Weber lid fits like it was made for it...

My donor Weber 22,5" fits perfectly on my UDS.
Recently I scored a 2nd hand Weber 18,5" for my Midi UDS.
After seeing your drum yesterday I decided to go further with mine.
The lid doesn't fit perfectly like the 22,5" lid does on the yellow UDS but I made a phonecall today to the place that welded my charcoal basket,gonna drop by tomorrow morning to let them fabricate a charcoal basket again and see if they can make my lid fit.
I do have a smaller barrel where the Weber lid fits perfectly on the drum lip so probably I'm gonna take that drum with me just in case so if needed they can cut the lip of the drum and weld it to the lip of the midi drum.
Probably gonna ask them first if they can do something to the lip like make it thinner/flatter.


http://i673.photobucket.com/albums/v...g?t=1263920294
http://i673.photobucket.com/albums/v...g?t=1263920335

I've made 2 UDS so far, and both were just a tad big for a Weber lid. I added a band of metal around the inside. On my stainless UDS, I bolted it. On the steelie, I welded it ever few inches. Both work well. I was going to seal it with silicon, but it doesn't seem necessary.

^^^what he said.

I used channel locks and bent the rim of the lid out, set it on the drum, and persuaded it back in place with a rubber hammer. Perfection!