Two Fat Polock Welders

[Sawdustguy]

My wife bought me a welder for my birthday so my brother and I made a charcoal basket for our Spicewine. Jay, you have nothing to worry about.:biggrin:

This is my new MIG welder:

 

[backyardchef]

Very cool. Guy! Any Polock Pits coming soon? I really like the look of the basket and from what you've said, you're getting great burn results....

 

[Kirk]

Nice work Guy. I was looking at a MM140 to do some bodywork on my Chevelle, but I think I'm going to go with the Hobart 187. Not as portable as the Miller (since it needs 220V) and it doesn't have the infinitely adjustable wire speed but it will weld 5/16 and I can get it for around 600 bucks.

 

[Sawdustguy]

Nice work Guy. I was looking at a MM140 to do some bodywork on my Chevelle, but I think I'm going to go with the Hobart 187. Not as portable as the Miller (since it needs 220V) and it doesn't have the infinitely adjustable wire speed but it will weld 5/16 and I can get it for around 600 bucks.

The Hobart 187 was the one I wanted also but Michele bought the Miller and I wasn't gonna argue with her.

 

[ique]

Looks good. Have you used it yet with a guru and what kind of burn times are you getting?

 

[Puppyboy]

Good lookin basket. What's the empty compartment for?

 

[wnkt]

Nice.......why is the basket in a U shape? seems like a lot of wasted space in the center. Or does that have a purpose as well?

 

[BBQchef33]

the shape makes an extended burn channel, that burns slowly from end to end..otherwise its a minion method on a big pile of charcoal burning downwards. The original design of that called for putting the logs or wood chunks in the center section.

 

[Norcoredneck]

Another hobby in itself. Hope you got a good helmet. Do you find yourself looking for "scrap" metal? My daughter wouldn't let me near her wagon when I got mine.:twisted:

 

[Sawdustguy]

Looks good. Have you used it yet with a guru and what kind of burn times are you getting?

From http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30611

With our new charcoal basket and the Guru in our Large Spicewine we held 225* from 10AM on Saturday morning until 8AM on Sunday morning. We reloaded and then cooked at 275* until noon. One thing we cannot complain about is the performance of the Spicewine/Guru/Charcoal Basket combination. I will have a picture of our Charcoal basket in another post.

We started our cooker early on Saturday to smoke some home made Kielbasa for the Grilling event. We were very happy with the smoker control.

 

[RichardF]

Good lookin basket. What's the empty compartment for?

The space on the lower left leg is where you would add the lit coals to at the start of the burn.

 

[Dale P]

Cool. Thats a great idea.

 

[Sawdustguy]

The space on the lower left leg is where you would add the lit coals to at the start of the burn.

Thank you Richard. Thats absolutely correct and I couldn't have explained any better.:biggrin:

 

[keale]

I'm so jealous of you guys that can weld!!
By chance do you have a pic of that basket in action? lit, coals, wood?
I'm looking at a "s" basket and it has 2 divider walls...with your basket, it follows the channel w/o all the coals catching fire? Do you put chunks in the empty space? or on the coals? I'm trying to figure out how the wood smokes, when in the middle... sorry for all the questions!

 

[Sawdustguy]

I'm so jealous of you guys that can weld!!
By chance do you have a pic of that basket in action? lit, coals, wood?
I'm looking at a "s" basket and it has 2 divider walls...with your basket, it follows the channel w/o all the coals catching fire? Do you put chunks in the empty space? or on the coals? I'm trying to figure out how the wood smokes, when in the middle... sorry for all the questions!

Keale,

I am not Gods gift to welding. We practiced for a couple of weeks before trying this project. With a mig welder, you could do the same thing after a weeks practice. My brother has a stick (arc) welder and it is alot harder than the MIG. I have heard very good about the "S" baskets. I actually put my wood chunks in the ash pan below the charcoal basket. This was suggested by Vinnie (Millitant Squatter) and it works well. I don't have any pics of the charcoal burning because I have a Guru and if I open the firebox, I loose control of the fire.

 

[bonniesboytoy]

Basket really looks great...you could make this hobby pay off a little with that design..

 

[Brauma]

Very good job Guy. Im wanting a MIG unit bad. My big stick burner is too big for small stuff.

 

[HB-BBQ]

I actually put my wood chunks in the ash pan below the charcoal basket. This was suggested by Vinnie (Millitant Squatter) and it works well.

Do you use real small chunks when you do this? I am curious how this would work on my Backwoods and wonder about burn time to get the wood going with just the heat only on top from the charcoal?

BTW good job on the welding it looks professionally done.

 

[thirdeye]

I'm jealous.

 

[Sawdustguy]

Another hobby in itself. Hope you got a good helmet. Do you find yourself looking for "scrap" metal? My daughter wouldn't let me near her wagon when I got mine.:twisted:

I forgot to mention she also bought me one of these:

The Miller Autodark helmets work great!