Seems like you're on the "under" side of things now, as before it was work to keep it lower ("trying to maintain less than 280 is very hard")....
"the 2x1 started with 10 coals was only giving me 220dg, I gave it an hour, but it never picked up,"
Did you maybe try just opening the vents a bit at that point?
See, it's hard for me here to say: "Do this exactly" because the weather, wind, dryness of charcoal, insulating build-up on the particular kettle, heat-up at the start & maybe other factors all affect the burn a little bit each...
Basic approach might be, set up, lite & place 8~12 coals, cap it, wait 20~25 minutes without changing anything, place on meat & at that time check the general grate temp with the therm that's sitting right next to where the meat goes....
If low, push some of the burning coals a
little farther onto the chain & possibly open vents a bit......
If higher, tamp down vents a tiny bit......
Cap the bugger & cook.......somehow, something's amiss......there's times when I load the coals, lite a few leftovers, set on the meat & don't even look at the vents (knowing that they are opened up at least some already), go off to sleep & the dawgs wake me up @ 4AM to check.......everything runs fine.......the less I worry, the better it comes out, no kiddin' ........:clap:
It don't look too bad, but sorry you had to stress on the cook.......a bit of practicing run-thrus will get it right I bet......maybe even do a few dry runs with a pan of cold water to simulate the meat & see how it goes.....charcoal's usually cheaper than the food it cooks & you can choose when to do it without folks waiting to eat.....you'll get the hang of it soon enough, I'm sure !!!!