# Sad day my Lang came today...



## hwynboy (Jul 8, 2011)

So I took off from work early to get home to be with my smoker, get it broken in and seasoned and get some ribs and sausage on for the night.  Here is what it looked like off the truck...=\   I'm sitting here so bummed out.  I won't get my new smoker until at least end of next week....and another day off to receive the shipment. /sigh.
	

		
			
		

		
	


























So it looked like it wasn't right...the caster wheels were through the pallet...=\


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## thunderdome (Jul 8, 2011)

Damn! I can only imagine what you thought when you saw it.

Let us know about the customer service


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## adiochiro3 (Jul 9, 2011)

Man, what a bummer!  Hope they make it right!


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## tjohnson (Jul 9, 2011)

Is LANG sending you a new one, or are you getting the casters welded/repaired?

If it were me, I would be asking for a HUGE discount for the problem.

What idiot would ship it that way???

Why wouldn't they ship it with the casters removed and bolt the end down securely to a board,  Then the board could be secured to the pallet.

The customer could bolt the casters on after delivery.

Todd


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## africanmeat (Jul 9, 2011)

TJohnson said:


> Is LANG sending you a new one, or are you getting the casters welded/repaired?
> 
> If it were me, I would be asking for a HUGE discount for the problem.
> 
> ...


   Todd is right that is not service.


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## SmokinAl (Jul 9, 2011)

Man that's got to be a bummer. Let us know what happens next.


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## alblancher (Jul 9, 2011)

It had to have been dropped by the shipper.  No way the casters would break through the OSB if handled properly.  I know you informed the shipper when he delivered it or you refused shipping.


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## meateater (Jul 9, 2011)




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## hwynboy (Jul 9, 2011)

So just to add some more info...I talked with Lang customer service when the smoker arrived.  They were VERY friendly and courteous as always and they called Ben and they told me to refuse the delivery.  It was definitely the shipping company's fault on how it was handled in transition.  So I'll be getting another sent back to me either a new one from Lang or this same one repaired if he doesn't have any in stock which he doesn't think they have any at this time.  So we will see here over the next week as to what happens.  Bad news is nothing is going to happen until at least Monday since this was all late Friday afternoon.


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## hwynboy (Jul 9, 2011)

The casters are WELDED onto the frame...so it should not have been a problem.  This thing is built like a tank.  I'm personally glad it comes welded.  I would not be able to weld it if they sent it separately.  I don't think Lang could have done anything different.  It was obviously the way it was handled in shipping.
 


africanmeat said:


> Todd is right that is not service.







TJohnson said:


> Is LANG sending you a new one, or are you getting the casters welded/repaired?
> 
> If it were me, I would be asking for a HUGE discount for the problem.
> 
> ...


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## rowdyrawhide (Jul 9, 2011)

That thing took a heck a drop I wouldn't be surprised if there is some more damage under the plastic that is not readily visible.  If you get the same one back I would make sure they give it a good lookover or else give you a heck of a discount.


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## hwynboy (Jul 10, 2011)

Ya I was also concerned about that.  The driver offered to take it to a welding shop to have it welded, and I wasn't so sure...I talked with Ben about that situation and he said it should be fine.  This thing is built like a brick $hithouse.  But the place he went to did not have the rod needed to weld that thing back in place.


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## pars (Jul 10, 2011)

I felt the same pain a couple years ago when I went with my son to pick up my Webber Genisis for grillin. We got it home and as we picked up the "top heavy" grill -- over it went.

It broke the belly pan and snapped the hinges off the cover. My heart sank. 

I called Webber and they felt sorry for me and sent me a the new parts at cost. 

Hope it all works out for you and your smokin' soon.

Good Luck !


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## keymaster (Jul 10, 2011)

That really sucks, I'm usually the one that searches for the box that is in pristine condition, never opened, no scrapes or bruises and I get it home and its missing half the parts or broke. Good luck!!!


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## SmokinAl (Jul 10, 2011)

Keymaster said:


> That really sucks, I'm usually the one that searches for the box that is in pristine condition, never opened, no scrapes or bruises and I get it home and its missing half the parts or broke. Good luck!!!




That's funny I do the same thing with the same results!


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## ugaboz (Jul 13, 2011)

sorry about that man


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## teeznuts (Jul 14, 2011)

Sorry to hear the bad news. I had a week last summer where I had to return 3 brinkman gas grills in a row to walmart because each one leaked. I was so bummed. No more Brinkman for me.


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## got14u (Jul 14, 2011)

How did the plate come off where the casters are bolted to? The welds must not have stuck. Sucks that the shipper beat it up like that, but weird about the plate, hope all is made good


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## alelover (Jul 14, 2011)

Trucking companies don't care. I've seen some unbelievable stuff with these folks. Putting a fragile sticker on it usually makes it worse. Like waiving a red flag in front of a bull.


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## michael ark (Jul 14, 2011)

They should have nailed some scrap 2x4 or 1x4 under it the height of the wheels.5 more min and some scrap wood and a nail gun. You would have been a happy camper


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## lvbbqman (Jul 15, 2011)

I hope you have better luck than i did with CharBroil and work out an acceptable resolution.

But if all else fails as happened with my CharBroil Bandera and you paid by credit card, call the credit card company and tell them to reverse the charges.  Once that is done, contact Lang and tell them the smoker is at your house and they are welcome to make whatever disposition of it including return crating and shipping at their expense they wish. Tell them they have 60 days and then the smoker will be trashed...whether you really do that or not may be another story!


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## sawzall (Jul 17, 2011)

From what I can see from the pictures, it really looks to me like the caster wasn't welded very well. I can't see any welds on the caster plate which says to me that there was no / poor penetration.  I would be concerned with the rest of the welds as well if it were me.  Maybe the welder had an off day when he put this one together.  Of course that doesn't excuse the shipper.


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## eman (Jul 17, 2011)

Once the castors broke thru the particle board the forklift operator either loading or unloading the smoker hit the castor w/ the fork snapping it off at the weld.


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## meateater (Jul 17, 2011)

eman said:


> Once the castors broke thru the particle board the forklift operator either loading or unloading the smoker hit the castor w/ the fork snapping it off at the weld.




Must have been a teamster.........


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## pdx210 (Jul 17, 2011)

Not a big deal.  I agree with others it doesn't look like the caster was welded very well ask for a discount to the amount of shipping and either take it to a local metal fab for fixing or rent a mig welder and do it yourself


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## jjwdiver (Jul 18, 2011)

...and that's damage from shipping (trucking) across the U.S., imagine what things look like that get tossed onto a shipping container and travel across the ocean, get unloaded into a holding facility, moved again by another trucking company and dumped off by workers who clearly do not give a rats butt about YOUR new whatever.  

Sounds like they are going to treat you right in the end, but I too would ask for something for the inconvenience.

Let us know how it turns out!

John


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## hwynboy (Jul 27, 2011)

Well the saga still continues, I finally received a call yesterday saying that Lang shipped me out a new one!  But I am not sure it's a NEW one or just the old one they got back that has been fixed....either way... three weeks later a new one is in transit.  This has been a very long journey.


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## alblancher (Jul 27, 2011)

And a very rare one from what I understand.  Hope the new smoker arrives in good condition.  Take my word for this,  12 months from now after cooking on that smoker for a while you will have completely forgotten this aggravation


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## hwynboy (Aug 1, 2011)

After many weeks of waiting and not being able to do anything my Lang arrived today.  I got it broken in with a steam bath and everything =)...It's all seasoned and finally ready to smoke this weekend.  I must say through this whole process Lang and Ben particularly was amazing, R and L Carriers left a LOT to be desired.  They wanted me to pay for the shipping again even though they broke the first one.  They never offered ANYTHING as a sorry or for your inconvenience to make things right.  I had to fight to the bitter end to have them re-ship a new smoker weeks after they broke the first one.  Needless to say Lang builds a quality smoker in my opinion and Ben is a delight to deal with.  Enjoy the pictures.


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## roller (Aug 1, 2011)

Man there would be smoking around there but it would not be the Lang....I know you were bummed...That one looks great I know your looking forward to using it...


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## michael ark (Aug 2, 2011)

on your new smoker.


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## alblancher (Aug 2, 2011)

You seasoned by spraying with a Pam knock off and keeping it hot for an hour or so?  You should steam clean before or after every smoke.  I've noticed that I need to take the grates off and scrape out the grease every once in a while.    If you are going to store outside you may want to get a big can of no name Crisco an give the outside of the smoker a heavy coat.  Cure the outside of the smoker to prevent rust

Glad you finally got the smoker, take care of it and it will last you a lifetime. 

What's on the Menu this weekend?

Al


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## SmokinAl (Aug 2, 2011)

Glad to see your finally up & running!


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## hwynboy (Aug 4, 2011)

alblancher said:


> You seasoned by spraying with a Pam knock off and keeping it hot for an hour or so?  You should steam clean before or after every smoke.  I've noticed that I need to take the grates off and scrape out the grease every once in a while.    If you are going to store outside you may want to get a big can of no name Crisco an give the outside of the smoker a heavy coat.  Cure the outside of the smoker to prevent rust
> 
> Glad you finally got the smoker, take care of it and it will last you a lifetime.
> 
> ...


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## alblancher (Aug 5, 2011)

You're a Whale!  All In for the Weekend.  In Vegas terms.  Good luck with your first smoke don't forget to take some pictures, that will give your friends something to laugh about.

If you are going to store it outside I would definitely cure the exterior surfaces.  They should be kept out of the weather if possible but I understand that building a new patio just for the smoker may not be possible.

You'll be ok for a while with the factory paint but once everything gets good and hot a couple of times you'll start noticing some rust spots.  Mine is kept under cover in a garage and I have rust spots on the firebox already.

Good Luck  

If you have any questions just ask

Al


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## hwynboy (Aug 5, 2011)

So if I'm planning on keeping it outdoors, would you recommend a coat with pam cooking spray on the exterior and then firing it all up?


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## alblancher (Aug 5, 2011)

I have gotten advice from some of the more experienced Lang users on this forum to treat the rust with grease.   Knock off the rust, rub in some no name Crisco shortening and cook a while.  I don't know the value of doing it this early on a new smoker.  Maybe once you see a bit of rust would be a good time to do it.  I'd hate to tell you to make a sticky mess this early in the season if it doesn't cure properly.  Get a couple of good smokes under your belt then one day when you are finishing up a smoke and you still have a good fire going rub down a section and see  what happens.  Let it cure on there just like you did with the inside.  I am treating my firebox that way and it seems to work out pretty well.  This isn't a one time thing, I'd just hate to have you do it this early, if you do have paint problems like excessive rust I'd hate to be Ben Lang with the phone call.   Hey Ben, my smoker is rusting like crazy,  yea what happened,  some guy on the forum told me to rub it down with Crisco.  That idiot, if you had a paint problem I could fix it, but with all that darn grease on it, to bad!  

Let me get you a couple of names to pm if they don't respond to the thread.

Al


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## hwynboy (Aug 6, 2011)

sounds great...thanks for the advice.


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## stillcajun (Aug 6, 2011)

Session dataI'm glad that they were able to fix everything for ya.

Session data


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## hwynboy (Aug 7, 2011)

Ok guys here are the final results from the weekend.  Al I hope you like these pictures...  I smoked the shoulder with cherry wood, great flavor, but man what a pain to keep feeding that thing every 10-20 minutes with wood..that thing burns hella fast.


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## alblancher (Aug 7, 2011)

Nice pics  I hope it was as good eating as it is looking.

Looks like you cooked a lot of meat for the first time out!  Ben Lang mentions keeping the stack about 3/4 open to help with the heat retention.  I like to cook with mine full bore open especially when I have food on the top rack.  The temps are more even vertically with the stack full open.

I burn a small fire adding one split at a time maybe every 15 to 20 minutes.  I cut my splits about 12 inches long and the diameter of a beer can.  It takes a good quantity of wood to get it hot but once it gets there I am happy with the amount of fuel required to keep it cooking.   Remember you should damper down the intake vents and build a good bed of coals.  I have thought seriously about putting a bed of fire bricks under the fuel rack and setting fire brick on top of the firebox, to help insulate and add mass to the fire box.  I often use the top of the firebox to preheat my wood, drive out the last bit of moisture but it also makes a good cooking surface

I'll admit it can burn a good deal of wood but that is why when I cook, I cook enough for the freezer.   At the South East Louisiana gathering ShooterRick will have his 48 and I'll have my 36 so I can compare the amount of fuel we use.

Thanks for the Qview,  I hope your friends enjoyed it.

Al


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## hwynboy (Aug 7, 2011)

Ya the food was amazing and turned out perfect.  It is tough to get the temp up to start it out...but once it's there it's so easy to maintain using the right cut of wood.  The Cherry was very small and the maple/oak I used today was a lot bigger.  With the Maple/Oak the pieces were about 24" and about 4" in diameter...so I hardly had to tend it at all.  the Cherry was about half the size of that width and I was in there with new pieces every 10-15 minutes.  Good footnote about pre-heating the wood, I'll try that in the future.  Thanks again for all your help. 

PS.  Don't forget to let me know about the rust...I'm starting to see a little on the firebox already which I hear is common.  Wondering if I can do anything else to help avoid that.


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## alblancher (Aug 7, 2011)

Glad you are happy

Your welcome for any help I was able to give you but you did all the work!  If you have rust on the firebox go ahead and rub some oil on it when hot, it won't hurt anything.  I've been saving what little frying grease I have and using that to start the fire in the charcoal chimney and then using a little on the rust spots.


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