Things have changed, suggestions needed please.

[dward51]

Well, the Pit Boss 5 vertical holds 55 pounds of pellets if you fill it. I've done a burn in and 4 smokes on mine with the 20 pounds I first put in, and I would say I have at least 1/3 of that and possibly 1/2 of that left. So if you don't open the door and let the heat out, the PB will run a long time and appears to be fairly stingy on pellet consumption.

 

[JWFokker]

They're pretty close to equal, though pellet smoke and charcoal smoke are different flavors. Pellet smokers use forced air to burn a small hot fire, whereas charcoal is controlled airflow to produce a low smolder. Not only is the fire different, but the volume and velocity of the smoke across the meat also produces a different result. That said, they're comparable cookers. WSM is a about as easy as it gets for a manually operated cooker. Pellet cookers require literally no skill, they're essentially smokey convection ovens. If you configure the WSM correctly it can run for hours and hours unattended too. It just takes a couple of runs to get a feel for how to set your vents and build your fire.