Resurrecting the Longhorn with lots of pics...And Merry Christmas to me...

[SMOKE FREAK]

Well Merry Christmas to all

About mid October my lovely wife bought this old OK Joe smoker...It was an abused rust bucket but I knew it had some life left in it...



This thing came complete with burnt ashes and I was beginning to wonder what I was in for...The thermometer hole was plugged with spider webs and junk and the Grease drain was plugged with who knows what...and of course the drip bucket was gone...

First thing I did was come up with a grate to build the fire on...


This is one of the most pathetic sights I have ever seen...Just made me wanna cry...I was trying to adjust the legs but bolts were rusted/broken...Took some work to get them apart...I've never beat one of my smokers with a sledge before...


After that was done ACZeller built me these awsome cooking grates...Thank you again Andy...they work Great...


Added an exhaust extension...This may need some work yet...


After working on it for a while I realized that the damper had some real problems...


Not exactly airtight...as in no control of air flow at all...


Took it apart...drilled it and pegged it...Its tight and Im feeling MUCH better now


When I ran my initial burn to season the grates I found that I had more than 150 degree spread from end to end...Not good at all...So I had a heat deflector and some tuning plates made...The first section is hinged to be able to clean under it and also if I want to raise the temps for poultry or some thing like that... The other sections are just resting in place so they can be adjusted as needed...First test run brought it down to a 40 degree spread...


Painted with the new handles I made...Now she's starting to look like something good...


The lid on this thing fits so tight that I wasnt comfortable running my thermo probes under it so I took a page from Phil's (Hawg Heaven) book...These things do the trick but drilling 7/8 inch holes through 1/4 inch steel was quite a challenge...


Well finally its Christmas eve...Time for the break in smoke...I been waiting a long time for this one...I even got a new stash of pecan wood for this


A quick shot of supper...Smoked rib roast, Sauteed beans, some of Lena's parmesan taters, and some multi grain bread...Served on Gramma's best china...I mean why not...Its prime rib on Christmas eve...



Finally finished on Christmas morning...Complete with a new Tru Tell thermometer and a big red bow...Merry Christmas to me and thanks to Lena!
For under 400 bucks total she got me the best present ever...


I know it was a long story but thanks for lookin

[erain]

sweet!!!! is it a 16" or a 20"??? your wife did ya good man!!!

[SMOKE FREAK]

sweet!!!! is it a 16" or a 20"??? your wife did ya good man!!!

E, its the 20 inch...cooking chamber is 20X40 and the fire box is 20X20...

[OL" Timer]

That's a very nice restoration of a good smoker. Great pics also.

[DDave]

Hell yeah!!

Great restore job there.



Dave

[Broke @ss Cooker]

You done an outstanding job on it, Looks great you well enjoy many cooks on it, and some great meals from it....!!!!!

[doctor phreak]

very nice man ...i kinda wished i kept mine but dont miss the fuel it would burn....but still its a nice smoker expecially with all the mods you did thats going to run sweet.....dont know if you covered this but i did make a charcoal basket for mine and it helped alot on the temps and the fuel consumption........might check into that.....good deal for $400 altogether....

[mulepackin]

Great resurrection project. Nice piece of equipment you got there now.

[Critterhunter]

Nice post,That is going to be a nice addition to the Family.YOUR WIFE ROCKS

[erain]

i used Smoke Buzz's Horizon at the iowa gatherin year before last... is the identical smoker. i was lookin at one in st paul this past spring, was same except it also had a vertical chamber on it too,,, the killer was it was a 16" and not a 20"... borrowing the phrase buzz told me when i pm'd him about it, he said the difference between the 16" and the 20" is the biggest 4 inches ya ever seen... glad ya got the 20!

[Fishawn]

Love it Craig!... Nice restoration on a nice smoker... Congrats pal!

[ALX]

....Nice deal grover....

[bbally]

Picked from the boneyard of death and give a new life!

Outstanding project!

[Whisky Fish]

Great job on yer project! Looks brand new.

[SMOKE FREAK]

YOUR WIFE ROCKS

Yes she does! She kept tellin me how bad she felt about giving me a present that I had to fix before I could even use it but that was one of the best parts for me