[HELP]Is this even worth fixing ?

[JoeySoto]

God bless y’all. So I bought this old brinkmann trail master from a nice fellow of Facebook marketplace, now I knew it was rusty and my initial thoughts when I saw it was “ just a little rust removing and re painting and it should be grand spanking new” however upon further inspection up close this thing is shot. The firebox was thinned and rusted off, which ended up pulling some metal off the cooking chamber , so my question is: is it worth fixing ? I had thought about buying some sheet metal and welding it into the cooking chamber and matching the shape of it, buying or welding a new firebox and adding it on, would it be worth all the trouble or should I just toss it in the trash ? Note: Brinkmann went bankrupt back in 2015 so they no longer sell replacement parts

 

[Gonna Smoke]

How much did you pay the guy to haul off his junk ? Anyway, that looks a lot like an Oklahoma Joe Highland so that may be a place to start looking for parts. If you're handy with steel and welding and like the challenge, repair it. But for me personally, I would file it as a learning experience in file 13...

 

[SmokinEdge]

If you are handy with a welder, personally I’d fix it. Especially if you already gave more than 20 bucks for it. Honestly it doesn’t look that bad in terms of repair. Those aren’t horrible little cookers, you have to tinker with them to get great food off of them but it’s a great learning curve and can be a lot of fun.

 

[schlotz]

Gonna need some new metal to be worked into shape first.

 

[Colin1230]

Welcome to the forum Joey, glad you joined us. Great question and pics and exactly what we're here for. If you are a handyman and enjoy fixing things then have fun and go for it. Just be sure to post after pics. Otherwise, cut your losses and keep your eye out for a good used Weber Smokey Mountain.
Again, we!come and enjoy your time here.

 

[fxsales1959]

God bless y’all. So I bought this old brinkmann trail master from a nice fellow of Facebook marketplace, now I knew it was rusty and my initial thoughts when I saw it was “ just a little rust removing and re painting and it should be grand spanking new” however upon further inspection up close this thing is shot. The firebox was thinned and rusted off, which ended up pulling some metal off the cooking chamber , so my question is: is it worth fixing ? I had thought about buying some sheet metal and welding it into the cooking chamber and matching the shape of it, buying or welding a new firebox and adding it on, would it be worth all the trouble or should I just toss it in the trash ? Note: Brinkmann went bankrupt back in 2015 so they no longer sell replacement parts

My first question would be: "Have you ever used a "stick burner" type smoker.
Opinions vary, buy I'm an old fart in SE Florida and I don't have the patience to babysit it, or decent wood resources. As mentioned earlier it looks very similar to oklahoma Joe Highland models.
Even new they need a bit of modification to be "tight" smokers. If you REALLY like fixin up stuff, go for it, fixing will just be the beginning learning part. As also mentioned, if you just want great smoked meat keep your eye out for a used weber Smokey Mountain.
Either way, welcome to the group from SE Florida.