Ugly Drum Smoker

Hey All -

Wanted to share some pics of my UDS build. It is smoking as we speak. Couldn't be happier with the outcome! What a functional and efficient smoker!
I didn't want to cut corners as this is something that I plan to use and have around for a long time. I bought a used Weber kettle off of Craigslist and fabricated legs, handles, brackets for the double 22.5" grill grates, as well as three pipe nipples evenly spaced around the base (one of which has a vertical pipe for ball valve).

After it was all finished I had it powder coated in a black hammered finish and installed two external read thermometers as well as two thermometer probe grommets. This was coupled with a replacement handle for the lid and a ball valve on the end of the lazy man's air intake.

All in all it came together better than I had expected! The seasoning smoke was yesterday and I now have Moink Balls smokin away! This was a fun build and anyone considering it should do it! I couldn't be happier with the final outcome. Total cost with materials and labor came out at approximately $225.

https://picasaweb.google.com/117037835035698916156/UDSBuild#

Wicked!!!!

zacman said:

This is the greatest thread ever :clap2: I read the entire thing, took notes and then planned my own UDS. I thought I should post it on this thread as I got so much inspiration from here. I created my own build thread if you want to see all the Pictures (75+) and steps along the way. http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=116286

Here she is, Enjoy!

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Beautiful!

Awesome!

Good work!:thumb:

That is just awesome. I just built 2 UDS's the last couple of weeks, and I'm humbled by this! Nice job

colonel00 said:

I have never used primer and I have yet to have any problems.

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Thanks colonel. I think i'm going to give it a shot.

It's official

I have read all 8,694 post on the thread. I have to say all the brethren on this thread really annoy me. In my intro on Cattle Call I spoke of wanting to build my own smoker that "will hold a constant temp without having to adjust and add water etc every hour or so" @Rookie'48 said "I can't believe that no one else has said this yet, so I'll be the first: "Build a UDS!" First I had to see what the heck UDS stood for. When I found out I thought what the heck would I want to build an ugly smoker out of a drum for? I had already been researching MIG welders and doing all my homework on building a Stumps Clone. I was still going down that path when I was looking through the forums one day when I found this monster thread with over 8,000 posts. What on earth could be so fascinating to generate that number of posts??? I started reading and like so many before me came to the realization that this thing called a UDS fit what I was looking for. Here I was all ready to buy a welder and spend lots of money on steel and everything else and the brethren here ruined that for me. See why I am annoyed? Ok, so I can be just a little facetious at times, lol. I started looking for used Webers and found a 18.5 for $5.00 at a garage sale listed on CL. I started looking at drums and then I found a bargain, a brand new 55 gallon unlined open drum with lid for $30.00. When I went to look at the drum I measured it knowing I wanted to upgrade sometime to a dome lid. It was a little too big measuring 23 1/2 and 23 top and bottom. The gentleman asked me if that was ok and I said I was hoping for a slightly smaller drum. He said try this one. It is what we call a "narrown head drum" Bingo! 22.5" on the nose! Priced the expanded today with a 12"x48" piece of flat expanded 3/4" #9 for $9.00 bucks. Looks like I have caught this sickness like the rest of you...lol.

Ugly Drum Smoker - YouTube

Posted from my fancy android fone!!

Hey folks.

Going to be starting my 1st build soon and have 2 questions:
1. Is there a search function on this site? That way I can search instead of having to ask a question that's probably been answered 1000 times.
2. Is it ok to run a square firebox instead of a round one inside a drum? I was thinking of a 12x12x8 square for my unit.

Thanks for the help/input.

mmmmeat said:

Ugly Drum Smoker - YouTube

Posted from my fancy android fone!!

Click to expand...

Nice vid! :thumb:

smokingj said:

Hey folks.

Going to be starting my 1st build soon and have 2 questions:
1. Is there a search function on this site? That way I can search instead of having to ask a question that's probably been answered 1000 times.
2. Is it ok to run a square firebox instead of a round one inside a drum? I was thinking of a 12x12x8 square for my unit.

Thanks for the help/input.

Click to expand...

There is a search function its on the tool bar at the top center.

I use square fire baskets and they work great.

After today I can attest that the round ones are a booger to roll the way you need it to!

Capozzoli said:

There is a search function its on the tool bar at the top center.

I use square fire baskets and they work great.

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Figures it would be right in my face:redface:
Thanks for the help.

Mr. Bo said:

After today I can attest that the round ones are a booger to roll the way you need it to!

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That's probably 'cuz you rolled it the wrong way, just like I did! LOL! (See my video in my signature). If you orient the diamond shapes vertically instead of horizontally, the opposite of how I did it in my video, it's roughly 4.2 times easier to bend. I know this because I did a stress analysis with my CAD software in order to see exactly how much harder I had made life for myself. :thumb:

By the way, I used 9-gauge x 3/4" flattened expanded sheet.

-Rodney

Capozzoli said:

There is a search function its on the tool bar at the top center.

I use square fire baskets and they work great.

Click to expand...

I guess I'm just plain stooopid because I still don't see a search feature, in the middle up top or anywhere else.

I have a square basket, and it works great. :thumb:

I scored five closed top drums used to hold hydraulic fluid this weekend, $20 each. Very nice drums and easy to clean. The old hot water and Tide trick cleaned them right up. I'll probably burn them anyway (Fire! Fire!) just to be safe. If you are in the south Georgia or north Florida area and need one, let me know and I'll put you in touch with the guy. He has two to three per week (Volvo heavy equipment mechanic). Should be time for end-of-season sales on grills soon.

I have a square basket that is 14x14x12. Works great.

Rodney said:

That's probably 'cuz you rolled it the wrong way, just like I did! LOL! (See my video in my signature). If you orient the diamond shapes vertically instead of horizontally, the opposite of how I did it in my video, it's roughly 4.2 times easier to bend. I know this because I did a stress analysis with my CAD software in order to see exactly how much harder I had made life for myself. :thumb:

By the way, I used 9-gauge x 3/4" flattened expanded sheet.

-Rodney

Click to expand...

Wish I'd seen this first!

Paul Worth said:

I scored five closed top drums used to hold hydraulic fluid this weekend, $20 each. Very nice drums and easy to clean. The old hot water and Tide trick cleaned them right up. I'll probably burn them anyway (Fire! Fire!) just to be safe. If you are in the south Georgia or north Florida area and need one, let me know and I'll put you in touch with the guy. He has two to three per week (Volvo heavy equipment mechanic). Should be time for end-of-season sales on grills soon.

Click to expand...

Those Weber knock-offs sold at Wal-Mart are a good source for a lid and a grate, and IIRC, they're around $30 when they're NOT on sale! CHEAP!

-r

Sly it's at the very bottom of the page.

I just typed this into the form, "expanded metal cooking grates", hit search and absolutely nothing happened. Is it just me?

Worked for me.

Use google custom search near the bottom.