blast from the past

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west tex smoker

Fire Starter
Original poster
May 27, 2014
40
11
West Texas
Alright ladies and gents,

Below are some photos of a smoker that has seen better days. I actually knew the man who built this thing and he cooked on it for years. He had several children and all of them were involved in 4H or girl scouts or boy scouts and numerous sports. With the size of this thing he used it a lot for fund raising for all of his kids activities and he was very successful with it. He has been gone from this earth for about ten years now, but I still run into people that knew him and his bbq. They still sing his praises.

He loved this smoker for two reasons. First it cooked really well and second it reminded him of better times in his life. You see if you look close at the pictures the tank resembles a small trailer and it is attached to a small pickup that resembles a small tractor. The entire thing is supposed to resemble a small 18 wheeler. It is a novelty. Once upon a time the owner of the pit owned an oil field trucking company. This was back in the 70s and 80s. He had this truck/pit built for PR and advertisement purposes. It doesn't look like much now but back in the day it was the hit of any gathering. During the oil bust of the 80s he had to shut the doors on his business, but this old smoker kept a burnin.

Since he has passed his family has left the pit right where he last parked it and this is it's present condition. His son is a good friend of mine and he keeps telling me that he wants to move it to his place and fix it up. I'm not sure that will ever happen.

If you look closely you will notice that the fire box is located dead center of the tank and the stack is right above it. There is a piece of 3/8 plate that is right under the grill that diverts the smoke and heat to either end. So in this set up it is, for lack of a better term, a "double reverse draft". If I am correct this was long before this style really became popular. His son currently has another smaller pit that is this sane set up. It too was built by his dad and I have personally cooked on that one. I was impressed at how well that dude cooked.

Anyway, I'm now on the verge of rambling. Neat old pit, neat old man, interesting story.

We miss you Melvin.


 
Sure looks sad sitting out there

Gary
 
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