PDA

View Full Version : UDS cost?


bobaftt
04-24-2008, 12:42 PM
I am cheap as can be and want to get into this smoking thing as cheaply as possible since I don't know if this is a passion or just a itch that needs to be scratched. How much do you guys think I am looking at spending realistically if I go the UDS route? Would I be better off (financially) starting on a storebought smoker?

Bentley
04-24-2008, 12:53 PM
Many variables. If you get drum free and want to do basics, probably less than $50. Obviously you can spend much more...can you find a vertical for $50?

Midnight Smoke
04-24-2008, 12:57 PM
I am cheap as can be and want to get into this smoking thing as cheaply as possible since I don't know if this is a passion or just a itch that needs to be scratched. How much do you guys think I am looking at spending realistically if I go the UDS route? Would I be better off (financially) starting on a storebought smoker?

Read the UDS thread on this site. You could build one as already stated very cheap or not. I think you would be better to build one than buy a store unut. Good luck!

Thawley
04-24-2008, 12:57 PM
Here's a rough list of stuff I used:

Lo-Bux UDS:
The Poor-Man’s Ugly Drum Smoker

Costs:
• 55-Gallon Drum free
• 22.5” Grate $9.88/Wal-Mart
• 15” Pizza Pan $3.17/Wal-Mart
• 12”x 48” ½-#16 Flat Expanded Steel $6.29/metal supply
• 2.5” Exhaust Tubing free
• Harbor Freight Wheels ~ $10.00
• Axle Hardware ~ $5.00

Misc. Hardware
• 4-3/8"x3" bolts
• 8-3/8" nuts
• 1/8" steel rod for basket handle
• 2-5/16"x1.5" bolts
• 4-5/16" nuts

BobBrisket
04-24-2008, 12:58 PM
If you can find a cheap Weber kettle on CL, you can salvage a bunch of parts off of it. The lid, food grate, and coal grate for basket. I had an old kettle that I used and made mine for under $25 bucks. Most expensive thing I paid for was the drum--$12. Everything else I already had or scrounged from my FIL scrap metal pile.

ipls3355
04-24-2008, 01:23 PM
The absolute cheapest UDS I could build would be:

Drum - $10 at farm supply store
Grate - $0 if I was just trying it out I could borrow the grate out of my Weber ($10 if I needed to buy one)
Fire ring - $5 expanded metal - drops from metal shop
Misc hardware - $1 4-stainless steel bolts and nuts to hold grate.

Holes can be plugged with foil to control airflow

If you like it, you can add valves, fittings, thermometers and handles later.

dmprantz
04-24-2008, 01:51 PM
I don't have a UDS, so I'm not trying to talk you into or out of one, but as an alternative idea. Do you like to grill? Do you have a grill? If the answers to those questions were yes and no, consider one of these:

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=100327576

They are relatively inexpensive, can produce some good q, and if you decide you just aren't into it, it easily converts to a grill for hamburgers and hotdogs! Oh yeah, and if lazy Q is more your style, there is a propane attachment for it. If you can't find the propane kit at HD, I have a new spare I'll sell you on the cheap. Lot of ppl recommend WSMs, and I'm sure they are fine cookers, but so is the NBSS IMHO.

dmp

Dr_KY
04-24-2008, 02:49 PM
The absolute cheapest UDS I could build would be:

Drum - $10 at farm supply store
Grate - $0 if I was just trying it out I could borrow the grate out of my Weber ($10 if I needed to buy one)
Fire ring - $5 expanded metal - drops from metal shop
Misc hardware - $1 4-stainless steel bolts and nuts to hold grate.

Holes can be plugged with foil to control airflow

If you like it, you can add valves, fittings, thermometers and handles later.
BINGO!!! :cool:


* I built mine for even less*

OSD
04-24-2008, 06:02 PM
I would think if you got a free barrel, used the grate out of your Weber grill, bought a couple bolts and nuts, and got some expanded metal drops, you could get by for under $20.:-D

Bbq Bubba
04-24-2008, 07:02 PM
Wel, this Smoker cost me, uh, Nothin......

http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/3179/udspics013or7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


Free drum, hardware laying around the shop, grill from my Weber and a firebasket from my offset!!

1 stop at the local flea market will get you almost everything you need to build a drum for next to nuthin!!

jestridge
04-24-2008, 08:19 PM
Cheap is good !! I always build my own but I am fortunate to have the resources for supplies. Start out cheap and see if you like it . Those little Brinkman are pretty cheap.

JD McGee
04-24-2008, 08:26 PM
Craig's List is your freind...:-P
http://chattanooga.craigslist.org/for/653822239.html

Meat Burner
04-24-2008, 08:30 PM
bobaftt, figure on a $100 bill by the time you get everything you need. Some things you can use to build the next one. Like the other brethren said, you can hunt around and find most everything you need real cheap but that can be real time consuming as well. Do whatever floats your boat..build it...keep the pics coming...and then enjoy some fantastic bbq. Good luck bro.
Meat

chinesebob
04-24-2008, 08:36 PM
I have to agree with these guys. If the junk yard is close by or a metal shop, you can almost everything for next to nothing. Check out the CL or if you have a free cycle. Also go through the UDS thread. It covers everything.

swamprb
04-24-2008, 08:40 PM
I am one cheap ba$tard and no scrap metal bin is safe when I'm around! I used free Weber kettles I found on craigslist, scrounged up and burnt out a drum that contained axel grease and built my first drum for FREE! Then I had to have more! Yeah, its an itch that needs to get scratched, then it turns into a PASSION! I had to have bigger drums and more racks yada yada. Keep it simple, take the time to go through the Ugly Drum Smoker thread and look at the designs and builds. Start collecting the parts needed and you can build it in an afternoon. But if you are impatient and gotta have it all now and want to get into smoking get an ECB or better yet a WSM and start, then plan the UDS.

McClung
04-24-2008, 08:52 PM
I spent probably $120 all together on mine. However, it is well worth the cost. I could have done it cheaper but it was a lot faster just to by chit at the store so the price was more.

JD McGee
04-24-2008, 08:58 PM
Free drum...free charcoal basket...free Weber lid (thanks to Swamprb...aka "The Scrounger")...10.00 for stainless steel hardware...15.00 for the thermometer...10.00 for the grate...one killer smoker...35.00 :-P

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x206/johnrhana/IMG_3900.jpg

dmprantz
04-24-2008, 09:17 PM
Craig's List is your freind...:-P
http://chattanooga.craigslist.org/for/653822239.html

This isn't the same thing I posted (It's the one from Lowe's I think), but it's a great score for $65. Some people will disagree with me I'm sure, but I'd say skip the UDS and blow $65 on this in a heardbeat if it's in good shape.

dmp

Single Fin Smoker
04-25-2008, 02:23 AM
I don't remember, 30-40 bucks for parts including the $10.00 cl Weber Kettle.
Barrel--free(thanks HBBBQ). Being friends with Norco(as well as a few other Brethren) helps.....

Freakin love my barrel.

Takin it to one of my rival little league coaches(A's, we're the Angels) house this Saturday to cook for some of our assistant coaches and a few kids. Beer might be involved.....
8 pound brisket
5 pound butt
3 racks
10 ABT's
Maybe a fattie. Should I take pictures?

Beerwolf
04-25-2008, 08:46 PM
I build mine on all freebies.... check out Free Cycle in yahoo groups. My only expenses were Wedling wire and a wire wheel for my grinder.

Study the smokers and then go to the junk yard and let your imagination run. The best thing about building a UDS is that there is no blue prints that say you have to do it a certain way. As long as you can control a sufficient air draft and keep the grills up far enough from the firebox to keep from getting scorched... guess what, you made a UDS

txschutte
04-25-2008, 09:07 PM
Wyatt chopped up my unused cheapa$$ Kettle. We paid for valves and pipe nipples. Cost: $7. He uses it at least every other weekend since the build. So I figure it cost us about $.75 per cook. And the price is dropping!!! The safety gear cost more than the smoker did!
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36308

icemn62
04-26-2008, 11:32 AM
or you can try these options:

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100397859&N=10000003+500439+90401

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=3342509


http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=1972388

depends on how much you wish to expend in order to find out if you are interested in this hobby.

or you could just go build a UDS.