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Find some place that bakes or cooks in large quantities and they may have barrels. Check local nickel and dime newspapers. There is a fellow here that sells steel drums for $7.00. Seems a good price to me. Good luck.
I struck out with bakeries and food establishments. I was calling around to scrap yards and someone told me to check for a place that reconditions barrels. They don't have the lining in them and it doesn't matter what was in them, they're clean as a new barrel and only run about $15.
I was lucky that I have a friend that runs a big bakery here in town and he got me a couple drums that are only used for Veg. Oil some areas are tough to get barrells without the lining in it. Reconditioned barrels are good as long as they dont have the lining in it. If your forced to get one with a lining dont try to sand it yourself, just pay a shop a couple bucks to sand blast it (remember after sandblasting u must paint right away or it will start to rust within a half hour)
In one of those pics u can see the current drum smoker I built and the one im working on. The second one looks the way it does cause I burned a few skids and some logs in there to heat and burn the paint off the outside of it, now I will only have to go over it lightly with some sandpaper by hand and then I can paint it with some high heat oven paint.
If ya need any other pointers let me know I learned all the mistakes on the first one, even tho it cooks good the second one should be the harley of drum smokers
Thanks, div. i'll check some bakeries in town. I have a treager but it isnt tall enough to do the chickens the way you did. that was one of the main reasons for building a drum. I'll get back with you when I find one thanks.
Try yer local newspaper, many get there ink in drums an many use the water based ink so yall just gotta wash em out. Get mine fer free, just gotta pick em up.
Hey Biggie. With the high gas prices these days there are a lot of little companies popping up that sell ' bio- diesel ' suplies.They have cheap food - grade ( food grade being ideal ) drums. If ya have a choice , get one without a liner ( a kinda paint on the inside that prevents rust , dont want it in your smoker ). If not , liner is easy to burn out .Here is a link to a post from my second drum purchase, bio- deisel suplier. Kinda funny.