Experience with Meadow Creek PR36?

Anyone have experience cooking on a Meadow Creek PR36? I have enjoyed MC’s BBQ42 Chicken Cooker for years and absolutely love the quality. I am eyeballing the PR36 for use mainly as a grill, not so much as a smoker.

There are a few threads out there discussing the PR36, but not a lot of detail. Couple of questions for those who have cooked on one:

1. Do you typically grill with the charcoal in the drip/grill pan or with the charcoal in the trough at the bottom?

2. What is the distance between cooking grate and the trough at the bottom? (I read that it is 6 inches from cooking grate to drip pan, so I’m guessing around 12” to the trough?)

3. Is the 2nd grate tier and/or the pullout charcoal pan worth the extra money?

4. Any improvements that you would make to the PR36?

Please post any pics if you’ve got em! Here are couple of links if anyone is interested.

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=254116&highlight=PR36

https://amazingribs.com/grill-smoker-combination-grill-smoker-pig-or-lamb-roaster/meadow-creek-pr36-review#

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=np2klcK7mfA

Many thanks for the response Kornd4wg! Great point about using the 2nd tier grate more for the height than the capacity. Does that give you 15-16” of height above the coals?

You added the expanded metal charcoal grate at the bottom, correct? I would much prefer that for better air flow versus a solid pan. (Meadow Creek does not include an expanded metal one for the BBQ42 chicken flipper either, which always seemed odd to me).

When you bought the PR36, did it come with the V-bar in the pullout? (Looks like a 2x2 piece of angle iron with holes in it). Was it removable? I could not see one in your pics.