Anyone have a CTO-DW?

HBMTN

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I'm looking to upgrade and I have an eye on the Ole Hickory CTO-DW and have some questions if anyone uses one. How much propane does it burn on a 12 our cook? When loaded full, how even does it cook? I'm currently cooking on an FEC120 and under full to mostly full loads it has some cold spots which turn a start to finish n to a 16 plus hour cooking. I'm looking for more cook space and wonder what the capacity of a CTO-DW is, the website talks about how many 4-6lb butts it will hold. In my region butts average 9-10lbs so how will that convert? Same with briskets, how many 12-15lb briskets will it hold? If you cook on this cooker, what if anything do you not like about it? I see they say it will cook 2 150lb whole hogs at once, has anyone done this? If so what were the cook times and what did the bottom hog look like? I'd hate to think that the top of the bottom hog looked like the area under my grates on my Lang 84 after a hog finishes LOL. Any other knowledge/input is appreciated.
 
I rarely have mine filled to the max with just meat or 1 cut. But I'll give ya my best estimates. Briskets it can hold 24, but its tight, 20 is probably a little better for heat circulation. Butts I can fit 8-10 on a rack, so 32-40 9-10lb butts. Saw a post on the ole hickory fan Facebook page a guy had 2 180lb hogs in the DW. They looked good, tried to ask about temp and cook time, but never got a response back.
The top definitely cooks hotter than the bottom. Letting it get to temp and hold steady for a bit will definitely let it run better when it's full. If I'm doing a small cook, brush it sometimes, but have learned not to with bigger cooks. I don't run the propane except to start the fire or if I'm holding later in the day. I can run it for about 12hrs on 50lbs of oak splits at 300. I've enjoyed having it for the last year. The fans are the main issue and having them burn out. Most common issue seems to be people not hitting the high-limit reset when they try to light it or as the reason it's not working. It quite well insulated and fuel consumption, in my opinion, has been pretty reasonable.
 
ynotfehc, thanks for the info. How much space is between the top of a butt and the rack above it? My FEC 129 is less than 1/2" and larger butts touch the rack above.
 
They don't touch the rack above. I use boneless butts so that I can cheat to get ready by lunch time and cut them into quarters. But when I do lunch and a brewery, I will throw the ones for dinner on whole and let them ride. Occasionally there's some curl where the bone was and the top rubs the rack, but if they were bone in they wouldn't. I've maybe had 1 or 2 briskets that did when the point was thick.
 
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