Alrighty by crikey...! lol...
Got the mailbox mounted; I cut 6" long pieces of 1x4 (7/8" x 3½") to put in the bottom of the mailbox, covering up all holes to control the draft, screwing them in on the sides, and lining up the boards to get at least one screw in on each side, plus to get proper spacing for the mounting holes underneath so there was solid wood to mount to (a bit of planning, eh?, lol, plus keeping the back of the bracket flush w/box:
Then, test fitted the unit to the smokehouse, lining up where I wanted the draft hole to be (figured just above the drip pans, where I'd set it when inside), then drilled the hole in the side, centering it.
Then, re-align the hole with the mailbox and mark where the screws will go into the bottom of the bracket (held the mailbox with a 1x1 length inside it, lining up the two holes while marking the screw holes with a Sharpie[emoji]174[/emoji]).
Brought it inside and caulked the back of it:
Then brought it out and mounted it. Took about 4 tries, kept dropping the drill, the screw off the drillbit, moving the box, etc. Should use two people, believe me, or at least one with two good hands, lol! But, got it mounted!
from the back:
From inside the box:
Inside the smokehouse:
Of course, light it up and test it! (drum roll..)
It's Smokin'!
Pouring out!
and out the top vent!
So, Cold Smoking is a success! YAY! Now, how about hot smoking?
Well, that took some experimenting with! I'd had the draft on the bottom of the smokehouse where I normally had it. The Cold Smoking entered the smokehouse from the side with no problem, no more adjusting needed. But, Hot Smoking... different story. Tried different positions, putting lit end in first nearest the entrance hole, or the reverse, in the middle of the mailbox, cutting the 1x1 in half lengthwise to raise the unit for more draft underneath, and so on. It was like with the heat on, the hot air rising did not pull the smoke into the smokehouse box, which I thought it would even moreso. Wrong! I fiddled and faddled with this and that, then suddenly realized, it didn't have a reason to pull the air in, the bottom draft was doing that! So, **click** - close the bottom draft. Now where is the flame from the propane burner going to get air from to keep burning...??? You guessed it, through the mailbox, creating the draft through there and likewise pull the smoke in with it! I'm checking it as it is going, I'll report further on what it's doing, plus on Saturday when I'm smoking meat with it! Stay tuned!