Sausage Smoking

Gotolas, morning.....  Read the label to see if the sausage contains nitrites.... If NO, the the smoker temp needs to be hot enough to get the meats internal temp ( IT ) above 140 in a couple hours.... Normally the 4 hour rule should apply but me being extra cautious about ground meats, I would rush that temp rule to be on the safe side.... sort of like cooking burgers.... the 40-140 temp range is very hospitable to growing bacteria and the like.... If you simmered or steamed the sausage and brought the IT to 165, then you could smoke them above 140 for quite awhile to get the smoke flavoring....  Dave 

I smoked brats early last week in a vertical smoker for the first time. Turned out very well with some noted things to improve next time.

The skin got dried out thus a bit tough. I low heat smoked them for about an hour then upped the heat after the chips were used up to finish them off. I like sausage done so off they came when they hit 170.
 

I assume you are talking about typical links. If you are running normal smoking temps (220-250) they should be done within 1-1.5 hours; no need to worry about them taking too long.  Enjoy the freshly-smoked raw links and you will likely never buy pre-cooked ones again.