new 250 or 500 rf smoker build heat source

[brian deckard]

im having a hard time wraping my head around what to use for my heat source on this big smoker project.  i live in montana so i dont have a lot of smoke woods available. should i use cottonwood for heat and then chunks for smoke, should i use charcoal, shoud i use propane?????????  original thought was charcoal for heat and use guts from a pellet stove to trickle in smoke pellets im kind of at a loss right now, so i want to figure this out before i build it.  any thoughts would be appreciated

thank you

brian deckard

 

[sunman76]

I like the idea of a charcoal pellet pooper, but to heat a smoker that big I dont know.  I just have a small stick burner, so I am not sure how to heat something that big.

Maybe a charcoal with a propane assist, and wood chunks for smoke.

 

[brian deckard]

i'm kinda leanin towards propane just for ease of use and  also better control of heat,  might still do a pellet pooper with propane?????