Pellet Fired UDS Build

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nedtorious

Smoke Blower
Original poster
Nov 30, 2012
130
30
Sherwood, TN
I picked up a drum last week, it has the dreaded orange liner, but for $18, I can't complain. I decided that I'm going to make a Pellet Fired UDS. I ordered the pellet hopper assembly from Smoke Daddy, it should be here any day now. I will keep you guys updated as my new project progresses. Thanks for looking!




 
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Looking forward to your build. 
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If you have a powder coater in your neck of the woods, they also sand blast as the two go hand in hand. Mine here charged $25.00 to blast the inside and outside of my drum. Another $50.00 to powder coat the outside!
 
If you have a powder coater in your neck of the woods, they also sand blast as the two go hand in hand. Mine here charged $25.00 to blast the inside and outside of my drum. Another $50.00 to powder coat the outside!
I think that is what i'm going to do. I know a couple of guys who do sandblasting. It seems like its the easiest way!
 
I went to Home Depot and picked up some supplies.I got Weber charcoal and grill grates, some nuts, washers and a 1/2" threaded rod. I cut the threaded rod into 3 1' long pieces. I made the heat deflector using the directions that came with the hopper assembly. I still need to find a piece of steel to go on top.  I'm trying to find a way to make adjustable height grill grates, I bought some adjustable shelving racks, but I didn't take into consideration that 3 of these wont fit in the drum with the Weber grill grate.
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 So I need to find some that are thinner. I think I'm going to return these and see what else I can find.






 
That thing is going to freaking rock!  I'm pretty damn exited!  Don't know why.  Just am.  You're gonna love it when you get this thing going.  I love my Smoke Daddy in my fridge.  The burner works great!  I haven't had a jam up or nothing.  I did have a hot rod failure when I got it, but Dennis fixed me right up with a new one.  Great customer service!  Turns out they had a bad batch of hot rods.  Anyways, I have had no issues with my unit and I have done 14-15 hour long smokes with it, overnight and unattended.  Plus, it produces great BBQ.  Great smoke ring, great flavor and at lower smoker temps(225-250), a good deal of thin blue smoke.  I do still supplement with an AMNPS, but probably wouldn't have to.  I did have to tweak the interval timer to keep temps down in the fridge because it is insulated so well.  You might have the same issue, or maybe not being it is not insulated.  You will find out.  I use Lumber Jack pellets exclusively, typically 100% hickory.  I found they produce the best smoke quality and flavor.  I get them from a grill dealer in Kewaunee, WI and he gives me a SMOKIN' deal on them, like, 13 bucks for 20 lbs.  That's a crazy good deal!  And, they are produced in northern Wisconsin, so they are semi-local to me.   If you have any questions, PM me.  I'm sure I could help you out.  There is a learning curve, a very SHORT learning curve.

Good luck, I'll be waiting for this one to fire up.  Done yet?
 
Scooter, I've seen your fridge, that thing is amazing!  I use a AMNTS in my Traeger, I was thinking about bolting a mailbox on the side, so I can use the AMNPS, but I haven't decided yet. I guess I could always add it later. I've never tried Lumberjack pellets, they sound like a good brand though. I usually just use Traeger, because I can get them cheap!
 
That lid does need some work.

When are you doing the burn out to get the liner out?
 
I cut the top ring off my old kettle grill and mounted it inside my barrel. It was a pain, probably the most difficult part of my build. If I had a chance to do it all again, I might just grind off the lip on the barrel to see if the lid would fit after. If it doesn't, yo can still go the other route. Just a thought.
 
Sorry, I haven't updated in a while but the 3 Ws (Women, Working, and Watching sports) have been keeping me busy. 
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 I finally got my kettle lid to fit! Dang, this was hard. I bought 2 strips of aluminum and formed the around the drum. Aluminum probably wasn't the best choice as it was extremely hard to bend. Luckily I had plenty of beer on hand! After I got my holes drilled and the strips bolted in place, the darn lid still wouldn't fit. 
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 So I took a pair of vice grips and started bending the lip of the lid. Finally, I got it to fit.
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The guy I was going to get to sandblast my drum is out of town for a while, so I'm just trying to get all the fabrication done, so I can just bolt every thing together after it is painted. I would like to add a shelf and some sort of casters or a drum dolly. Thanks for looking guys!









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