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A welding shop did the bending and welding. I would like to get a welder but don't know about doing the bending. I am going to take it to a friend who welds and have him put a bead all the way around to make it more airtight. Right now it has two little 1/2" holes in the top and it leaks the smoke around the band. I think I will put in one 3" dia. x 4" tall smoke stake when I get the welding done and plug the two little holes.

I put the two grates in the same height as everyone else seems to do. I don't know that I need a 8" tall lid maybe could get by with a 5" or 6" one if you were not going to do a turkey on the top shelf. I have not looked into the temp difference in the lid. I did ribs yesterday and had the probe on the lower grate, it held between 225 & 240 for the 4.5 hour cook with little adjustment.

One thought for Chinese Bob an easy way to double your cooking space would be to cut a donor drum at the top rib, flatten that out and weld a band on that so that it would fit over the top of a UDS and use a kettle lid or one like mine. That give you two more grates which double your cooking space without getting as crazy as Smooookin and going two drums tall. I know this will work, because my first attempt at the lid I did this but it did not fit over the UDS lip. But my buddy that built with me had cut off the lip on his and it fits great on his. So I gave it to him and he now has an extention that is easy to put on and adds two grates to his UDS.
 
Then wouldn't you have to season it after using it as a fire box? Wouldn't it be easier just to find another drum and give it a new life as a fire box?

I thought about that but the little one is pretty much intended to be a dedicated grill/abt smoker. so shouldn't be a problem. I still wonder about the heat volume but this is half the fun.
 
Started my drum this weekend. Borrowed a hydraulic knockout from an electrician friend and made short order os my botton vent holes. Also made a sloped firebox measuring 15.5" x 15.5" on top and 8" square on bottom.
 

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Work with what you got huh? Bubba. :-D Speaking of that- hows your wood mobile base working out. Any changes you would make?
 
Work with what you got huh? Bubba. :-D Speaking of that- hows your wood mobile base working out. Any changes you would make?
No, it works fine, somebody mentioned a round base so as not to stub your toe's, might be next project....
 
Well, after 2 days of reading I'm ready to read again and take notes this time. This has been the most fun I've ever had reading a 50+ page thread. Thank you everyone for all the designs and when I get started I'll post pictures and such.
 
THE MOTHERLODE...

I just ran across this ad. The place is about 40 miles away. I may get 10 of 'em and see what I can do with all the great ideas I've gotten from this thread. :biggrin:


MEATAL DRUMS $10.00 . I ALSO HAVE ALOT OF PLASTIC RAIN BARRELS FOR $ 12.00 A PIECE.


010312011605010405200802217cb43907918842fede00a681.jpg
 
THE MOTHERLODE...

I just ran across this ad. The place is about 40 miles away. I may get 10 of 'em and see what I can do with all the great ideas I've gotten from this thread. :biggrin:


MEATAL DRUMS $10.00 . I ALSO HAVE ALOT OF PLASTIC RAIN BARRELS FOR $ 12.00 A PIECE.


010312011605010405200802217cb43907918842fede00a681.jpg

It's all right for you guys in the US, you tell someone here that you are building a BBQ smoker out of a drum they think you mean it'll be mounted horizontally and cut in half with the top half hinged to the bottom and a large grill accross the length/width. When you explain that you mean a smoker not a grill they generally look blankly at you, then say "Ohhh, a smoker, so what, you're gonna be makin' kippers an' stuff in it, yeah?" Err, no, this is hot smoking, "Oh, what the difference then?" The clue's in the name you muppet, hot as opposed to cold smoking:rolleyes:
Mind you, I described ABT's to a chilli-loving colleague and he sounded interested so I might have one convert to sweet blue:-D
 
After reading 57 pages :shock: I decided to see what all the comotion was about the UDS. So I built one. It took about 12 beers to put together thanks to all this info on this thread. You guys are the greatest! I'd like to give a special thanks to BBQ Bubba & Cliff H. for answering all the questions I had. Thanks guys :wink:
Hopefully I'll get her seasoned up and cookin' this weekend. :biggrin:


A few pics of the build.

First off because of this..........:icon_blush:



....I added the handle for easy removal of the charcoal basket.





A little chrome and she's ready to go :cool:

 
Awesome job Paul, didn't realize you were doin any welding..
Love the exhaust tip, exactly what i've been lookin for!!!:twisted:
Fire that baby up get to cookin!! :wink:
 
This weekend bud.
Your more than welcome to come on down "South" for some good eats :-D
 
Firing up this weekend!
You're more than welcome to come on down "South" for some good eats :-D
 
Sorry double post :icon_blush:
Sorry double post :icon_blush:
 
Love the tip! Where did youget it? Was it pre-threaded?
Thanks. I picked up a piece of 2 in threaded pipe for the big hole on the drum. The chrome tip has 2 set screws on the side. Just slid it over and tightened them.
 
Lid problem solved....

Been having a hard time finding the time to work on my UDS.Been fighting health problems with my wife. Anyway I've been on the hunt for a weber lid for my UDS and have struck out. A friend at work suggested searching freecycle.com so, I signed up Tuesday with a local chapter, posted what I was looking for. Today I get home and got two e-mails from people wanting to GIVE me their Weber kettles!! I suggest that anyone looking for or wanting to give away something sign up on their local freecycle group. I was looking for weeks for a lid and in two days I got two of them. Build Pics and first smoke pics will follow.
 
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