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Old 06-05-2017, 10:51 PM   #141
bbeavers
Got Wood.
 
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Join Date: 12-22-16
Location: McKinney, TX
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101 doc was a great intro to outfitting your Bandera. I did a few cheap mods that was not on the list. In the fire box I took out the grill rack and clips that held up the grill rack. I repurposed the clips in the smoke box for retainers to keep the racks from falling out when loaded with meat when you pull them out. Place them in the middle of the rack clips on top of the rack then mark a spot to drill a hole to bolt to the smoke box. Use all four, two on each side stacked where you need them. Back to the fire box. I bought 6 fire bricks from Home Depot and started to place a layer on the bottom and three sides. Didn't have enough so on my way back to the Depot I found a masonry supply store and bought them at a fraction of the price. You will have to trim two of them to make a layer for the bottom. For the ones on the side I got a 4 bolts, washers, and nuts to hold them in place. To trim them, Soak them in water and cut them with circular saw using diamond concrete blade. You will have to modify the charcoal grate to make it fit back in. I cut a short link out and bolted them back together. You have to cut the ash pan also. I would suggest cutting the ash pan narrower than the charcoal rack to easily pull as out while smoking. Something I need to do.

One more that was mentioned in the document but I did it easy and cheap is the lid mod. There is a lot of dead space in the lid. I took out the direct flame ability for fire brick addition so I got two small pieces of flat steel (small gauge) and cut a narrow V about an inch from the outside corner on one at each corner. This makes "tabs" that slide over the inside lip of the lid. One sheet didn't fill the entire space so on the other sheet I only cut 2 V's and slid this one over the other to fill the gap. To keep it from sliding around I screwed a self tapping screw into the two sheets. Doesn't budge and easy to remove.

I hope this is helpful and you enjoy your Bandera. I can load mine up with charcoal and wood chunks and not have to touch it for about 3 hours.
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