Why is the firebox always on the right??

[tobycat]

I have been image searching every quality smoker builder I can think of and they all have the firebox on the right side, why? Is it just tradition or a right handed left handed thing? 

 

[Bearcarver]

I have been image searching every quality smoker builder I can think of and they all have the firebox on the right side, why? Is it just tradition or a right handed left handed thing? 

Good question----Maybe they figure most peeps are right handed, and it would be better to handle things in the firebox with your right hand.

One of the very few things I don't like about my MES 40 Gen #1 is the door is hinged right, which means you open it with your right hand & reach in with your left. The Gen #2 is the opposite, and I told the Tech to make the next model hinged like the Gen #2. He agreed.

Bear

 

[luv2putt]

Avery the problem and go vertical

 

[smellslikesmok]

The direction your toilet swirls depends on whether your north or south of the equator.  Smoke works on the same concept.

So north of the equator your FB goes on the right.  If your south,,,build it on the left!                Of course im kidding

 

[mneeley490]

On my cheapie Char Broil offset, the firebox is on the left. Of course, it was made in China.

 

[jay1340]

 
The direction your toilet swirls depends on whether your north or south of the equator.  Smoke works on the same concept.

So north of the equator your FB goes on the right.  If your south,,,build it on the left!                Of course im kidding

So this goes along with the left and right hand brisket!

 

[jeffed76]

I have a cheap offset smoker and the firebox is on the left... I smell a conspiracy! Must find a righty offset smoker.

 

[top shot bbq]

Traditionally on trailer rigs the CC doors are on the drivers side which in most cases this puts the FB on the back end. as for patio smokers no theory on that unless its just a crossed over from trailer rigs........ sounds good in my head anyways..

  

Jason

 

[foamheart]

Well why does NASCAR do all left turns then?

 

[dewetha]

 
Well why does NASCAR do all left turns then?

i can answer that.

try turning right a beer in your hand and drink.

 

[jockaneezer]

Regarding the Nascar left hand circuits, I read a while ago that most humans have a preferance for keeping left, all running tracks are set up like that and interestingly, when they built the first aircraft carriers, there was no agenda regarding which side of the ship the control tower should be placed on but someone noticed that in most of the deck landing crashes, the plane veered to the left side of the ship and that's why all aircraft carriers now have the tower built on the RHS.

I need to get a life !!!

 

[link]

I have a very low Serial number Oklahoma Joe and the Firebox is on the left. It also has a straight smoke stack out of the top instead of out the side like every other smoker has.

 

[bama bbq]

My old ECB had a fire box on the left. May it rest in peace.

 

[waywardswede]

FWIW, on my vertical offset the SFB is on the left.  But I'm left handed, so that makes sense to me.  Wonder if that had any kind of subliminal affect on my purchasing decision?

Worked as a framer years ago, and used to love yelling at the rookies to "Go find my #@&! left handed hammer, I can't reach this with my right hand!"  Then when they would come back and say they couldn't find it I would say "Oh for crying out loud, it's right next to the elbow grease!"

Could keep some of them going for an hour on this.

 

[radioguy]

I am a professed "lefty" and proud of it.  My entire life I have lived in a right handed world.  When I page through a magazine I start with the last page  I never got my left-handed .22 target rifle, back then they were special order and very expensive.  I was always the last one shooting, slow loading single shot into a right handed gun.  Not a big deal but simple things do favor "righties". 

Time to change this up!! Check out my build, it is named Lefty for some odd reason.  Guess I have to move south of the equator so my smoke flows left to right.  LOL

RG

 

[waywardswede]

I hear ya, man.  First shotgun I got was a huge deal for the whole family, because it was a semi-automatic Ithaca, and was the first semi-auto our family had ever purchased.  Problem was, because I was left handed it ejected right across my face, spewing smoke and burnt powder into it.  I used it without complaining, because I was afraid my old man would take it away from me.  But I swore just a little bit every time I pulled the trigger.

Anyway, that's an awesome looking build!

 

[hambone1950]

FWIW, on my vertical offset the SFB is on the left.  But I'm left handed, so that makes sense to me.  Wonder if that had any kind of subliminal affect on my purchasing decision?

Worked as a framer years ago, and used to love yelling at the rookies to "Go find my #@&! left handed hammer, I can't reach this with my right hand!"  Then when they would come back and say they couldn't find it I would say "Oh for crying out loud, it's right next to the elbow grease!"

Could keep some of them going for an hour on this.

One of the benefits (for me) of being a lefty is that I can drive nails with either hand....when I worked construction my old crew boss would see me driving nails lefty and he'd yell " where'd you buy that left handed hammer , boy? That's a beauty!!

 

[waywardswede]

One of the benefits (for me) of being a lefty is that I can drive nails with either hand....when I worked construction my old crew boss would see me driving nails lefty and he'd yell " where'd you buy that left handed hammer , boy? That's a beauty!!

Then came airguns, and from then on you only used hammers to beat stuff into position.  I have a story about shooting myself in the leg with one of those, but we've probably already drifted too far from the original topic.

Sorry, Tobycat, kind of thread jacked you here.  I don't think you're going to get a definitive answer, if that's really what you were looking for.

 

[ribwizzard]

Because you hold your beer in your left hand and meat turner in your right hand. If the firebox was on the left, your beer would get hot faster, and you may sit it down on a hot firebox.

Next question...?

 

[tobycat]

While I think Top Shots answer makes the most sense I feel Ribwizzards answer is more important ! LOL