Ugly Drum Smoker

Walking Dude said:
DUDE........i have a buddy who has one of these. Its my understanding that a 3/4 inch close nipple, takes a 1" hole. Prob. is, the one inch knockout is actually 1 1/8th............the 3/4" knockout runs 7/8ths. So how did your work out to get the correct size hole?
Click to expand...

You are right. it will make a larger hole. I have actual 1" punch. You can use these and "Capture" drum between 2 conduit nuts. Like above I use a hole saw and just cut slower . Most people that have trouble with hole saws don't have a descent variable speed drill or just go too fast and when the saw grabs it twist and snaps off the pilot drill or twist the metal and doesn't make a clean hole.

I only posted the punch set as a fix for those who have already made a hole and can not use a hole saw.
 
I scored a complete large Weber grill today for $10 off of Craigslist. This weekend I'll probably add the extra rack to my UDS. I also scored a complete small Weber grill for free a couple of weeks ago. I'm going to use the lid for the mini UDS that I already have but was planning on cutting the bottom 1/3 off of the lower part of the grill and drilling a whole bunch of holes in it to use it for a charcoal basket for my big UDS. It will fit nicely and even with the handles on it it has room to fit. Has anyone done something like this or do you even think it will work? I plan on cutting it just below where the grate that the coals sit on is, then I'll raise it up a couple of inches above an ash catcher that I'll make.
 
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Wyley said:
I scored a complete large Weber grill today for $10 off of Craigslist. This weekend I'll probably add the extra rack to my UDS. I also scored a complete small Weber grill for free a couple of weeks ago. I'm going to use the lid for the mini UDS that I already have but was planning on cutting the bottom 1/3 off of the lower part of the grill and drilling a whole bunch of holes in it to use it for a charcoal basket for my big UDS. It will fit nicely and even with the handles on it it has room to fit. Has anyone done something like this or do you even think it will work? I plan on cutting it just below where the grate that the coals sit on is, then I'll raise it up a couple of inches above an ash catcher that I'll make.
Click to expand...

Nice CL find.

I also have a charcoal bowl sitting around because I used the lid for my UDS. My only concern with using the charcoal bowl as an ash pan is that it will hold the charcoal grate higher than a flat ash pan.
 
Rich Parker said:
Nice CL find.

I also have a charcoal bowl sitting around because I used the lid for my UDS. My only concern with using the charcoal bowl as an ash pan is that it will hold the charcoal grate higher than a flat ash pan.
Click to expand...

Rich, I am actually going to try to make a charcoal basket out of the 18" Weber bottom, I figure if I cut it off just below where the charcoal grate sits in it I will have a slightly sloped ring about 8" deep by 18" wide. After I cut it off I'll drill probably 50-60 3/4 holes around it for airflow. My biggest concern is that it will be too wide for adequate airflow to the center of it, but the only thing it will cost me is time since I wasn't going to have a use for an 18" bottom for anything else. I still need to figure out exactly how I'm going to raise it above the ash pan but the charcoal grate will only be a couple of inches off of the bottom of the UDS.
 
Wyley said:
Rich, I am actually going to try to make a charcoal basket out of the 18" Weber bottom, I figure if I cut it off just below where the charcoal grate sits in it I will have a slightly sloped ring about 8" deep by 18" wide. After I cut it off I'll drill probably 50-60 3/4 holes around it for airflow. My biggest concern is that it will be too wide for adequate airflow to the center of it, but the only thing it will cost me is time since I wasn't going to have a use for an 18" bottom for anything else. I still need to figure out exactly how I'm going to raise it above the ash pan but the charcoal grate will only be a couple of inches off of the bottom of the UDS.
Click to expand...

I would really like to see some pics of it and your opinion on how it worked when you are done.
 
Here's my new UDS. I call it Poor Piggy 2 cause that's whats going to happen when I fire it up tomorrow after paint,ash pan and handles. This one has a removable plate to dissipate the heat. My last one I built for free this one I have a grand total of about $12.00 into it. Some pics.
Picture123.jpg

Picture124.jpg

Picture125.jpg

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I just noticed, my drum is only 34 1/2" tall, will I even be able to use a rib rack in this thing?

VivaSancho said:
Well, the smoker is almost done, the basket is 15" X 6" with 1 1/2' legs. My drum is only 43 1/2" tall and that is leaving me very little room. What is the consensus on a safe amount of room between the lid and the cooking grate? 24" from the basket leaves me with 2"...


Just a thought, would gun blue help prevent the bottom of the drum from rusting down the line?


Dave
Click to expand...
 
Wyley said:
Rich, I am actually going to try to make a charcoal basket out of the 18" Weber bottom, I figure if I cut it off just below where the charcoal grate sits in it I will have a slightly sloped ring about 8" deep by 18" wide. After I cut it off I'll drill probably 50-60 3/4 holes around it for airflow. My biggest concern is that it will be too wide for adequate airflow to the center of it, but the only thing it will cost me is time since I wasn't going to have a use for an 18" bottom for anything else. I still need to figure out exactly how I'm going to raise it above the ash pan but the charcoal grate will only be a couple of inches off of the bottom of the UDS.
Click to expand...
I was thinking of doing the same thing, but use the bottom of a Smokey Joe.
I'm going to attach a 15 or 16 inch rimmed disc to the legs to act as an ash tray.
 
Placing thermometer on UDS

I'm ready to place my thermometer on the UDS but I have a question,if I'm right I read something about if you have the thermometer on the side of your drum you have to ad 30 degrees to know what the core temp is?
If so and you want to mount the thermometer not on the side of the drum but on the Weber lid near the handle,does the thermometer read the core temp or do you still have to ad the 30 degrees?
Thanx!
 
I'm sure a drum is no different than any other grill or pit.
The best thing to do is get an oven thermometer and put it in the center
of the drum and compare the difference
 
Phubar said:
I'm ready to place my thermometer on the UDS but I have a question,if I'm right I read something about if you have the thermometer on the side of your drum you have to ad 30 degrees to know what the core temp is?
If so and you want to mount the thermometer not on the side of the drum but on the Weber lid near the handle,does the thermometer read the core temp or do you still have to ad the 30 degrees?
Thanx!
Click to expand...
I have a thermometer on both lid and side of my 85 uds. The lid temp varies by airflow. It also reflects the temp of the meat. By this i mean It runs low compared to the side at start but then equalizes sometime during the cook. If I have a path unobstructed by the meat it happens sooner. The +30 is a safe guide for me. I have not used a long candy/turkey fryer thermometer like some have but if you don't trust the +30 you might go with that set up.
 
PIT BOSS said:
I was thinking of doing the same thing, but use the bottom of a Smokey Joe.
I'm going to attach a 15 or 16 inch rimmed disc to the legs to act as an ash tray.
Click to expand...

I think a rimmed disc would work great as long as the rim isn't high enough to get to the bottom of your charcoal grate.
 
Thanks Norco,good info.
And yeah,it allready took me long enough to build the UDS and TG.
I'm depending on other people that are more capable than I am with powertools and such.
I think somewhere in this thread I referred my build as the "Low and Slow build".:wink:
Ow....and if you wanna know how long I've been busy with the barrels it's almost 3 months.:-D
Seriously,ofcourse it could take much less time to build these things but next to my regular job I have my own company that I try to build from scratch and the stuff that I do for my company I get paid.
Easy choice!
Here's one of the things I do:
 
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Oh man, my daughter would love that trike.

Just one question though, how do you cook steaks on it? Lol, seriously do they sell that trike in the US? PM me if you know.
 
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