Lang vs Lang... Who will win?

[bken1313]

My dilemma is that I have an opportunity to buy two different Lang smokers. The first is a newer 60 deluxe with char grill. Live smoke in the warmer and stainless racks. It's in great shape, but the price is a little high. The second is an older 84 deluxe that's the LP tank version. It's got a much smaller char grill, some surface rust on the fire box, no live smoke, no stainless.

My current catering capacity is about 50 peoole and the jobs are getting bigger and bigger. I feel the newer 60 requires little to no effort to get up and running, but limits me on capacity. I foresee jobs in the 150 person range. I feel the 84 requires more work to get up and running like sanding, painting, and adding live smoke to the box's. I've also read that the 84 LP version has inconsistency issues regarding steel thickness, making holding temps more difficult. They are both about the same price with the 60 being about $500 more. Buying new is not a option due to price and long delivery times. What do you you all think?

 

[uzikaduzi]

Seems like that extra 500 would go far enough to fix the rust and stainless racks... does Lang sell those separate? With nothing more than my gut to go on, I can imagine thickness being "that" bad to have a significant impact on managing temps... obviously thicker steel is going to absorb and store more heat, but steel is a good conductor of heat so the insulating properties can't vary too much between say 3/16" to 1/4" which is a significant size difference.


To me, if it's business related and see the 60 as quickly limiting on your growth, I wouldn't even consider it... what are you going to do 6months to a year from now when you are getting calls for jobs you can't do because of limited capacity? How many jobs will you turn down before you either get a reputation of not being able to handle those types of jobs or will be replacing the 60? To me, you can't not look towards the future business wise and with the 60 it sounds like planning for today instead of tomorrow.

 

[phatbac]

As far as buying an older model, Langs are built to last generations. For rust you can re-paint easily and if it's just the fb then it won't affect the cooking.

For avoiding rust in the fb I have found rub mineral oil on the paint about every 6 weeks or so protects the paint and keeps it from chipping or flaking. I also try to keep my smoker out of rain as much as possible.

I would definitely go 84 for $500 less. Fwiw

Hope this helps,
phatbac (Aaron)

 

[bken1313]

I think I'm going to go with the 84.

 

[hardcookin]

The Lang 84 is a workhorse, I don't think you will be disappointed.
Just plan on burning a lot of wood in the winter time.