LSG horizontal offset vs Gator offset questions

ruger35 said:
I went from a Yoder to a LSG 24x48 horizontal offset and couldn't be happier. I bought mine slightly used in Houston, drove 4.5 hours to get it. Like others have said, the welds are amazing, overall craftsmanship is top notch.

I had mine smoking for almost 36 hours straight Labor Day weekend,it got a 3 hour break while I got some sleep. Did 50 lbs of pulled pork, 2 full steamers of Gary's beans, 13 pound brisket, and 2 racks of Dino ribs. The space with the slide out trays are great. With tuning plates and stainless water bowl by fire box my entire pit was within 5-10 degrees. I really loved having brisket on the first across to the second grate at 250 and my beef ribs above the brisket right at 275. Its like this thing was meant for cooking!

If you order new i would save myself some time and get two probe ports added. If not, they are easy to do yourself. I just drilled and tapped a hole in each side of the pit and keep a bolt loosely threaded when I'm storing it.
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After using my LSG as much as I have and reading about all these posts about fire management issues in the Wichitas, it seems it would be worth spending a little bit more money to get something like the LSG. The 24x24 firebox that Chris uses on everything makes fire management super simple.
 
I'm the lucky recipient of thoey1963's drama above and I love love love love 'The Beast' (also what my kids call it). LSGs practically whistle while they draft. Super versatile. Can't recommend enough.

My other 2 finalist were Johnson 24" t-pit and pitmaker sniper. pitmaker seems to really focus on their cabinets and get pricy pretty quick. Johnsons sound to be outstanding, steady temps and efficient. I've recommended them to others who've asked and chad seems like a very reasonable and stand up guy- noting chris and his wife at LSG do great customer service as well.
 
I would highly consider the 24 vs 20. I have the 24x48 and having pans fit front to back is awesome. I would also consider the warming oven if you can swing it. Awesome for chicken. Overall very happy with my LSG. Super simple to run...
 
I'm already sold on LSG and it's just getting the green light from the wife. Chris has been such a good sport answering my emails over months that I don't want to bother the man anymore until I make a deposit.

Separate but related question: I'm curious why there aren't too many Gator Pits on the Brethren? I know they make a world class rig but just don't show up much in these here parts. Thoughts?
 
ruger35 said:
Not to get off topic, and it may be different since yours is a vertical, but do you find that meat cooked directly over the tunig plates cooks faster than normal? May just seem that way to me.
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I can chime on this since I've loaded mine up a lot and everything cooks even all the way down to the bottom rack right above the plates.

Here's an example of a cook for work

IJJqzEzh.jpg


You can see the texture and color on all the ribs, chicken, sausage and butts barely visible on the left are the same(with the exception of the fried chicken that's in the pic of course :-D)

gi5bfShh.jpg
 
The Wookiee said:
I'm the lucky recipient of thoey1963's drama above and I love love love love 'The Beast' (also what my kids call it). LSGs practically whistle while they draft. Super versatile. Can't recommend enough.

My other 2 finalist were Johnson 24" t-pit and pitmaker sniper. pitmaker seems to really focus on their cabinets and get pricy pretty quick. Johnsons sound to be outstanding, steady temps and efficient. I've recommended them to others who've asked and chad seems like a very reasonable and stand up guy- noting chris and his wife at LSG do great customer service as well.
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Yep! They LSG VO literally howls like a furnace when intake and dampers are wide open. Drafts like nothing else I've cooked on or seen. I'm going to video it one day.

I know the op is looking for horizontal but VO's are worth a look IMHO.
 
ssv3 said:
Yep! They LSG VO literally howls like a furnace when intake and dampers are wide open. Drafts like nothing else I've cooked on or seen. I'm going to video it one day.

I know the op is looking for horizontal but VO's are worth a look IMHO.
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+1 Sako!

I've had a half dozen horizontal cookers over two decades. The VO was a sleeper that I never considered until I saw the magnificent cooks on VO rigs on Brethren.

To OP, you won't go wrong with either but Gator will make you at least 1000 bucks lighter. LSG is polished in a way you just don't see very often. I've been obsessed with the LSG YouTube channel and I'm hooked
 
Notorious Q.U.E. said:
+1 Sako!

I've had a half dozen horizontal cookers over two decades. The VO was a sleeper that I never considered until I saw the magnificent cooks on VO rigs on Brethren.

To OP, you won't go wrong with either but Gator will make you at least 1000 bucks lighter. LSG is polished in a way you just don't see very often. I've been obsessed with the LSG YouTube channel and I'm hooked
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Polished is the perfect word to describe LSG. Once decided on what I wanted it took 10 mins to place my order, sight unseen, with Amber at LSG. After the 4 month wait in 2014 (still the same if not more) I had my 1500lb rig delivered to driveway without a single scratch. Seeing the thing person was another story as pics don't to their pits justice.

OldBill on here was my mentor and one of the first people to own the LSGVO. Through countless PM's, he guided me through the whole process with a wealth of info from the pit options to running one. Huge motivator becuase LSG was fairly new and there was hardly any info anywhere. Needless to say I'm still happy and would do it again in a heartbeat vertical, horizontal, insulated or anything they offer.
 
ssv3 said:
I can chime on this since I've loaded mine up a lot and everything cooks even all the way down to the bottom rack right above the plates.

Here's an example of a cook for work

IJJqzEzh.jpg


You can see the texture and color on all the ribs, chicken, sausage and butts barely visible on the left are the same(with the exception of the fried chicken that's in the pic of course :-D)

gi5bfShh.jpg
Click to expand...

Man thats an awesome cook! Having me second guessing my decision to skip the VO. Thatvwas originally.NY plan, just something about the look of a horizontal that drew me. I'm going to experiment next time by not placing my brisket directly over the plates. But, my beef ribs were done in 4-5 hours instead of the usual 8 to 9 people always claim. I did cook at 275 and they were proving through like butter.
 
I wish Chris could make a VO on a trailer. When I asked awhile back he seemed hesitant to do that due to the design of the cooker.
 
JS-TX said:
I wish Chris could make a VO on a trailer. When I asked awhile back he seemed hesitant to do that due to the design of the cooker.
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They are very top heavy which I think is why he doesn't want to build one.
 
JacksBBQ said:
They are very top heavy which I think is why he doesn't want to build one.
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I know what happens when I stand on my little utility trailer when it's not hitched! :shocked:
 
Been out here in San Francisco for 3 weeks and missed this tread for some reason. Anyway, my LSG VO drafts like crazy. The workmanship is impeccable. Chris and Amber are top notch people. The VO will hold enough food to cooker for an army.

Gator builds a great pit. Have not cooked on one but have been around many. I have no idea why Rich charges so much.

Chris never worked at Gator. How that rumor got started, no one knows.

Unless you are dead set on a horizontal, give the VO a look.
 
I am the proud owner of a LSG 24 X 36 HOS w/Warming oven so basically I have 2 cookers in one. I have no regrets not going with a larger size, in reality I can't figure a time I would need more capacity. I can say I am happy I did not go with a 20" as that would reduce capacity especially when loading up with full racks of ribs. My warmer is more of a multi-functional oven rather than just a warmer plus I had meat hangers added in the warmer. I considered the VO but the logistics of my back yard (getting the cooker from front to back) pushed me toward the HOS. As far as draft TBS with my cooker is an under statement as the cooker burns so incredibly clean. I like the versatility of the tuning plates but can't honestly say it is better/worse than a RF since I have not cooked on a RF.

Top pic the cooker is coming up to temp, as you can see the TBS.

IMG_20160707_132916360_HDR.jpg

This pic the cooker is running at temp and the smoke is running almost clear.

IMG_20160707_132856076_HDR.jpg
 
ruger35 said:
Man thats an awesome cook! Having me second guessing my decision to skip the VO. Thatvwas originally.NY plan, just something about the look of a horizontal that drew me. I'm going to experiment next time by not placing my brisket directly over the plates. But, my beef ribs were done in 4-5 hours instead of the usual 8 to 9 people always claim. I did cook at 275 and they were proving through like butter.
Click to expand...

At the end of the day it's your pit and you go with whichever one you like. Can't go wrong with horizontal,vertical, LSG or Gator. And I'll second that Chris hasn't worked for Gator but it comes up time to time. I think initially Chris was doing iron fencing/gates then switched gears around 2011/12 and got into fabricating smokers which took off from there. Glad he did as he's doing a heck of a job.

My brisets take 6-7 hours to cook so I know what you mean about the short ribs Ruger.
 
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