Check out this classic Buddy L

That's just cool as chit. :thumb:

Sure is, but the prices on other items sure are depressing when you look at what we are paying now for the same chit.

Beerwolf said:

Sure is, but the prices on other items sure are depressing when you look at what we are paying now for the same chit.

Click to expand...

Kind of my thought, as well. Though if you consider the rise in median income in the interim, it doesn't hurt so bad. My dad made about $14,000 per year in 1970 or so, which is doing pretty well for a middle class family. Our 7 (yes, SEVEN, though one was used as my dad's "shop" and the other as his "office") BR house bought in 1969 cost $54,000.

That is cool as chit.

thats a keeper

yep haul that closer to the work place chop shop and fire it up!

Looks cool!

Has anyone else run across one of these? I have one that I inherited from my father-in-law . It cooks like nobodys business! And I'd love to find one like it for my son , but they seem to be almost non existent.

ebostelman said:

Has anyone else run across one of these? I have one that I inherited from my father-in-law . It cooks like nobodys business! And I'd love to find one like it for my son , but they seem to be almost non existent.

Click to expand...

You can tell a German anything, but you can't tell him much.

Awesome!

love it when folks find/rescue stuff like that. awesome find.

Nice!

Buddy-L

If you would like a original 1972 users review, I will submit the following. I bought one of these from the Shaw Air Force Base, SC base exchange in 1972 during the Vietnam era. I don't remember the cost but it must have been very reasonable for my military pay to afford. I used the grill for many, many years. I would guess about 15-20 basically grilling hamburgers and steaks, nothing fancy. I sat outside in the rain all this time. It did a good job for my cooking and I had some good times with it. The dampers, both inlet and outlet, were very effective and the air flow control on the Buddy-L was superior to all others I found. That was the primary reason I selected it. The cast aluminum was avacado in color but the paint weathered and eventually began to flake off after a few years of hot cooks and weathering. I used lighter fluid back then and I did not hesitate to pour it on for a quick light up. At some point I bent the top half so that the sealing surface was no longer a circle and did not mate properly with the bottom half. Air leaked in, or out, and control was a problem. Sadly it went to the trash and I replaced it with a Weber Kettle. As I remember it the Buddy-L lid never sealed as tightly as the Weber. The Buddy-L had a nice lid retaining bail that allowed the lid to tilt back and store beside the bowl. Each side of the bail inserted into matching holes cast into the lid. These holes wore into an oval shape over the years such that the bail would pop out and the lid would fall to the ground. I attempted to remedy this by springing the bail into a tighter pinch on the lid but all I accomplished is to squeeze the lid out of shape so that it did not seal with the bowl. I remember it fondly and would buy another if it was available. I have gone thru three or four Webers since the Buddy-L died and I have found them to be totally satisfactory. I now have a Weber Performer which, in my opinion, is just about a perfect design. I use a Cajun Bandit Extension Ring, and somethimes the rotisserie ring and smoke some great butts and ribs along with grilling steaks and chickens. My brethren can rest assured that I no longer use lighter fluid.

that is a neat looking kettle.

I have exactly the same kettle except mine was made by Neosho Products from Neosho Missouri. I bought it about '72 or'73 and it is the best grill I EVER had! I just gave the old girl a fresh coat of BBQ paint, a new charcoal grate (actually it's a Weber for their 22.5 inch kettle) and a new cooking grate (also a Weber). The Weber parts work as exact matches. However, the ashpan has finally gone beyond repair. Is there anyone who knows of a company that has an ashpan that would fit? It is about 17.5 in diameter and about 3.75 deep. If I can't find one, I'll probably use an old dishpan if I can get one in about the same size. Any thoughts?

Buddy L Aluminum Cast Grill

Definitely a Buddy L grill and you are correct, it is from the 70's. Darn near extinct today. In fact, the legs in the photos with the disc supports are basically a dead giveaway for an Old Buddy L charcoal grill. My dad still has an old Sunburst. He tossed it in the woods years ago and after going through a few garbage walmart grills, he went back in the woods and fished it out. Still in great condition, but he had to have new legs constructed for it...took about 20 years for him to get around to it as it sat in between bushes at the house where I grew up hahaha. It still does a great job and hold up as a solid kettle grill. I'll have to see if I can dig up a photo of his grill. Great find! If you ever decide to get rid of it, I will gladly take it off your hands. I know this post is old as the hills, but I'm a new member and I had to comment on this old relic.

garagewear said:

My brothers are in the Mustang restoration business. I was up at their place today walking around the back lot and came across an interesting kettle.

View attachment 39949

It is a cast aluminum kettle. About 3/8" thick aluminum. Dampers on top center and bottom. Ken said he pick this up from someones trash and liked the way it looked '70s.

View attachment 39950
View attachment 39951
View attachment 39952

The original color is almost a dead ringer to his Grabber Orange Mach1. It is all there. It still even has the sunburst grate. He loaded it up and took it to his house from the shop and said he would redo it.

I spent about 20 minutes with Google and found a little about it. Found several news paper ads and a Popular Science product announcement on a gas version. The ads I found place it '70 - '74 vintage.

Ad from Cape Girardeau, MO:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...-QpAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zdgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4410,1932159

Ad from St. Petersburg:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...8INAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QXMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3413,2243327

* Note in the St. Pete ad there is a rotisserie like one we have seen here on BBQB.

Click to expand...

Fantastic find. So many of those got trashed over the years but I had a friend who kept his for Years in a dock box at a marina. Every saturday he fired it up and there was always a crowd!

Buddy L, the L must stand for Lazarus for coming back from the dead threads. It was fun to see it, though.