# Oklahoma Joe's horizontal smoker-looking for info



## keny

I've been looking for a wood smoker, and found this one at a garage sale this morning. It's an Oklahoma Joe's horizontal smoker, with a side fire box. Most of new units I see like this these days are made of paper thin iron, and around $180 to $300. This thing is all welded, no bolt-on fire box, the legs are clamped onto tubes, that are welded to the smoke chamber, with set-screws, and it is made of iron that measures thicker than 3/16", but is thinner than 1/4". It is very heavy, and in pretty good shape. I don't think it's been used much. I asked how much they wanted, and I was very surprised when the lady said " how about $40?"  I offered $30 cash, and took it home! The cooking surface measures 15" x 30". The serial # is 74226.  Anyway, does anyone know much about this thing, like how old it might be, or what it may have cost new? I'll try to post some pics of it soon, if that will help. This will be my first stick-burner, so does anyone have any tips to make this model work well? Is is a good model? Any info. would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time!


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## eman

w/o a pic i can't tell ya how much new .BUT ! I can tell ya you got a SWEET DEAL!

 great smoking unit.


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## eman

Also you may want to use coals till ya get used to how it cooks then progress to sticks if you need to.


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## wingman

Ah but remember... It never happened without a pic! 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






So KenY, show us a pic of this sweet deal. Man... I never run across these kinds of deals.


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## keny

Finally got some pics! Never posted pics before, so had to have some help from the wife...let me know what you guys think. Any info. or tips would be greatly appreciated!


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## keny

They finally got put up...


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## chefrob

nice smoker and a great deal!


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## alblancher

I have the same smoker but my firebox is bolted on I believe. Same heavy gauge metal.  I did spend close to 400 for it a couple of years ago but for it's size it turns out some great food.  I use mainly lump charcoal and briquets in mine.  I will use wood for flavor but not as main fuel.   Because of it's size the temp is a bit hard to regulate but a small block of wood under the lid and a  bit of practice will make it easier.  The right hand side of the grill nearer the firebox gets pretty hot so all the slow stuff goes on the left and the steaks go to the right. 

Enjoy

Al


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## keny

Please give more explanation on the block of wood under the lid. Is it because the heat is too high? I thought about making a baffle plate with small holes drilled in it near the firebox,and larger ones away from the box, to lay in the bottom, butted up against the firebox, to help keep the heat more even throughout the cooking chamber. Do you guys think that will help?


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## graybeard

Okie Joe is a great smoker!! You should go back and give her a tip. Older models go for $400 easily. A baffle will come in handy or just use less fuel butt I used a stove broiler pan with mine and tried to keep it full of water. Have fun!

beard


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## fftwarren

we bought my dad a brinkman model almost identical to that except its a mirror image and it was 500


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## schaydu

you got an awesome deal and i am so envious. I have one that i got from academy and paid 400 for it. the fire box is bolted on mine though. I use pecan logs in mine it works wonderful. I cooked three slabs of spareribs yesterday and they turned out great. it takes a little bit of playing to really figure it out. I still wouldnt say that i have figured it out but i am getting there. One thing that i found that works well is using the grate in the firebox and placing the logs on that so the ash can fall through the grate. Lighting the fire has become a breeze when i bought lighter bricks from academy. break them in half and place them under the grate directly below the logs and you will have a good fire in no time.


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## keny

That's a lot of great info! Please keep it coming, cuz I love getting all these tips from you guys! 

Anybody else know much about this Ok Joe unit?


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## fftwarren

man, the more I look at that pit, our brinkman must be made by the exact same company. Our pit and this one are identical except our firebox is on the left and the stack is on the right and ours has steel wheels. but ours is only 2 years old so that could explain the wheels. everything else is identical to ours.


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## graybeard

Okie Joe has an interesting and sorted past and here is some of it.

The folks at Oklahoma Joe's made the Longhorn Smoker about 5 years ago. They contracted to sell some to Sam's Club. These were great smokers but were 3/16 inch steel. At the same time the Longhorn smokers sold directly by Oklahoma Joe's were 1/4 inch steel. They had steel wheels with spokes and wooden handles. Roger's brother was the owner of the Original Oklahoma Joe's and later sold out to New Braunfels. Roger then started Horizon. The older the smoker the thicker the metal. The new ones at Academy Sports look like the real thing butt the quality is just not there. 

beard


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## keny

thanx graybeard, that's cool to know! sounds like you know your stuff! what's a longhorn like compared to mine, in terms of size, design, etc.?


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## harryho

$30 for that!!!

What a steal. Congrats.


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## gregzee

You got one hell of a deal on that there.  My dad gave me his Brinkmann Cimarron Limited and it looks the same but the fire box is on the other side.  He paid 600 for it. He gave it to me because he was just too used to his Treager and couldnt maintain TBS.  I just got it going this last Friday.  The mods I have done to it are Charcoal basket from Lowes, 3inch metal elbo to extend the stack to grate level and I bought some high temp felt gasket for the doors.  Im hoping to get a baffle and tuning plates installed soon to.   I havent done much of a smoke yet, but was able to get TBS after about an hour of playing with it.

Good luck and have fun playing with it. 

i just noticed that you are from Kingman.  Im in Wichita, its good to see another Kansan.


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## keny

Thanx for the info! Cool that you're in Wichita! Does extending the stack down to grate level help keep the smoke lower towards the meat? How close to the grates should it be?


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## gregzee

_I bought a 3 inch metal elbow from lowes and it puts the end of the pipe right at grate level.  I believe its there to keep the smoke and heat from escaping out the stack so fast.  Im new to horizontal ofset charcoal/wood smokers.   Im planning to try with and without the elbow to see if its really needed after i get the baffle and convection plates figured out.  _


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## erain

739.99 bux for a brand new horizon 16" classic. it is exactly like greybeard says, they sold out to new braunfels, then to horizon... i believe horizon sold the okie joe name to charbroil(or something along them lines) but horizon still makes the okie joe smokers under there name. they call the model you have the classic. without the SFB is called the patriot... they also offer them in 20 inch models and also with a vertical smoke box on the end of the horizontal chamber... dude, you got one heck of a deal!!!


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## wingman

Man why can't I find those deals! Congrats. It wasn't the Horizon I was thinking of. Regardless that is a nice looking rig.


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## jdt

it was oklahoma joes sold to new brunsfell, then new brunsfell sold the name to charbroil, Horizon was a different company spun off by Roger Davidson after the sale of the OK Joes name, he is the brother of Joe Davidson the original owner of OK Joes and was the shop manager for the entire time OK Joes were built, the little plastic wheels give this away as a sams club unit, they are a ton better than the bolt on firebox sheetmetal units later produced under the joe's name even though the thinner units had steel wheels, for the money you got a major score, they were $400 at sams way back when and as mentioned are just a touch thinner steel than the $739 16 inch classic.


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## keny

thanks everyone for all the great info! I've fired this thing up twice over the weekend, with no meat in it just to see how it behaves, and I'm still messing around with my baffle plate to get it how I want it. When I first put my plate in, the firebox end was actually about 40 degrees COOLER than the far end! I guess I need to let it flow a little more towards the box. I never expected that...but just moving the plate 1/4" away from the firebox brought it up, so I think I'm getting close...any more suggestions are always welcome!


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## erain

JDT said:


> it was oklahoma joes sold to new brunsfell, then new brunsfell sold the name to charbroil, Horizon was a different company spun off by Roger Davidson after the sale of the OK Joes name, he is the brother of Joe Davidson the original owner of OK Joes and was the shop manager for the entire time OK Joes were built, the little plastic wheels give this away as a sams club unit, they are a ton better than the bolt on firebox sheetmetal units later produced under the joe's name even though the thinner units had steel wheels, for the money you got a major score, they were $400 at sams way back when and as mentioned are just a touch thinner steel than the $739 16 inch classic.


sounds like you know your stuff. i was looking at a okie joe 16, same thing as kenY has cept it also has a vertical chamber as well... horizon also makes this smoker still as well but still in the 1/4" steel.

so out of curiosity what name did the ones with the thinner metal go under? were they charbroils?


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## stacks

Great Smoker KenY.  I own a Brinkman.  Same design only 108 degrees different.  Everything on mine is welded and 1/4 inch steel.   A friend of mine bought an OKJ the same as yours when they first came out (had to be almost 20 years ago) and he paid $800.  You got a GREAT deal!! I paid $390 for my Brinkman 7 years ago on sale.

I've never done any mods to mine but I'm very interested in the Baffle research you are doing.  Please keep me informed.

Happy Smoking


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## jdt

for some reason they have got off the OK Joes name for the time being, the same exact pits are still available under new bruansfels at academy and charbroil other places, before these were the OK JOES Longhorn

http://www.academy.com/index.php?pa...g/smokers&start=0&selectedSKU=0263-02219-3369

there is a super longhorn deluxe and wild west traditions also but both lost the OK Joes name and are now new bruansfels, The ones at academy are 11 or 12 gauge steel, some are a combo of both, better than the cheapy box store pits but nothing like a 1/4 inch or thicker unit which can be had for just a little more most times. Especially in the southern half of the country.

.


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## meyer

I got myself an Oklahome Joe as well.

Most likeky the only one in Denmark......

I paid USD 300,- for it

I´ll be smoking ribs on tuesday for the first time.

-Meyer

http://assets.smokingmeatforums.com/4/46/4650dd4c_Oklahoma smoker 16721 - 1.jpg

http://assets.smokingmeatforums.com/e/e3/e3ca15d8_Oklahoma smoker 16721 - 2.jpg


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## pineywoods

Welcome to SMF nice smoker. Please stop by the Roll Call section and tell us a little about you and your smoking equipment


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## Bearcarver

Wow !!! What a deal !!!

I have one question----Were you wearing a mask & carrying a gun when you made the deal?
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Bearcarver


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## keny

I submitted some info to the Roll Call section...thanks everyone for all the great info! Keep it comin!


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## meyer

I have also submitted info on the Roll Call section.

Regards

-Meyer


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## floyd

The elbow is to force the smoke and heat down to the grate level before going out the chimney as exhaust. That way you will get a better smoked product. My Okie Joe gets delivered in the morning and I already have the diffuser plates and a charcoal basket made, bought two new unit thermometers and and two wireless food thermos,I also have gasket material cement and hi temp caulk.  I am so ready for my first fire and then the seasoning. Unfortunately mine wasn't $30 but I am happy to have it for the $400 I paid at Lowes. Of course, I have already bout $200 worth of mods and improvement items. It'll be worth it. This forum has been such a great place to learn about smokers and smoking meat. Thanks to Jeff and all the wonderful folks who share their info. I'll upload pics of me new toy this weekend.


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## comosmoker

What a steal for $30!!!  Very nice!!  Good luck and keep us posted......


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## ps0303

CoMoSmoker said:


> What a steal for $30!!!  Very nice!!  Good luck and keep us posted......


Wasn't it $300 he paid for it?  USD 300 is what they typed.


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## wisconsinbutt

This thread is 3 years old!


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## comosmoker

ps0303 said:


> Wasn't it $300 he paid for it?  USD 300 is what they typed.


The thread starter found one at a garage sale and offered the lady $30 for it.  And, yes, this thread is 3 yrs old.  Sometimes I don't notice these things until after posting...lol.  My bad!


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## ps0303

CoMoSmoker said:


> The thread starter found one at a garage sale and offered the lady $30 for it.  And, yes, this thread is 3 yrs old.  Sometimes I don't notice these things until after posting...lol.  My bad!


Yep, I didn't go back to the original post but say the post with the pictures which was one of the last few posted back in 2010.  Assumed the most recent posts, for some reason, were commenting on that.  My bad.


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## marcopolo

I also have recently acquired an Okie Joe & tried it out last night.  My Okie Joe has both a horizontal smoker and vertical smoker & is very cool.  We did chicken, ribs, beef & brats last night.  it was a lot of fun & I'm looking forward to more smoking.   I am also a home brewer & my goal is to smoke & brew simultaneously.  This weekend I brewed on Friday and smoked on Saturday.  I think I can do both together - it's all about time and temperature control - for both activities.

View media item 251189


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## ammaturesmoker

I saw this thread and thought I would bump it up.....I have the exact same smoker.....In talking with Steve over at Horizon, this smoker is called a KD smoker. Knock Down. Meant for two things. A tad cheaper on shipping since it is 3/16 thick (plenty) and meant to be taken down and put back together if needed for travel. These were sold at Sams back in the day. They were meant to be a little lighter. Hence the light grates and the light front shelf. These were basically the units that caught the eye of Charbroil.













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## joes bbq ribs

Hello,  you have a early 90's original OKJ-KD Smoker.  The KD stands for Knock Down as this smoker you can remove the smoke stack, you can remove the front shelf, also you can remove the legs.  It's still a solid 1/4" thick welded construction smoker your just able to remove those parts and pack it up in your RV, Truck etc.   why I know this well I happen to have the exact same model.












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## joes bbq ribs

Joe Davidson sold the company to NB in 1998' then he wanted to get back into building them once again and started Horizon Backyard Smokers.  Joe Davidson is a standup guy super friendly.     When NB took over they started using the same steel as it was left when Joe sold the company but, soon after the 1/4" steel ran out they starting making them with 3/16" steel and bolting on the firebox to the main chamber this was so they could push them the the bigger box stores.  Once charbroil took over it all want to shit, feel bad for all those that buy those bolt together smokers, paint peels off you have to put all types of mods to them etc.   
Happy & Smokin' [emoji]9832[/emoji]️


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## ammaturesmoker

joes bbq ribs said:


> Joe Davidson sold the company to NB in 1998' then he wanted to get back into building them once again and started Horizon Backyard Smokers. Joe Davidson is a standup guy super friendly. When NB took over they started using the same steel as it was left when Joe sold the company but, soon after the 1/4" steel ran out they dropped to making them with 3/16" steel and bolting on the firebox to the main chamber this was they could push them the the bigger box stores. Once charbroil took over it all want to shit fell bad for all those that buy those bolt together smokers, paint peels off you have to but all types of kids to them etc.
> Happy & Smokin' [emoji]9832[/emoji]️


NO NO NO NO NO NO & NO! Joe has nothing to do with the Horizon company. His brothers Roger and Steve are running the Horizon show. Joe has recently been brought back into the Charbroil fold to help market the OKJ brand. I talked to Steve a few months ago. Joe and Horizon are not on the best terms right now. Steve also said the plant was making smokers for Brinkmann in 98 as Charbroil did not resign the lease agreement and had all manufacturing coming from China.NB had nothing to do with it.They were bought by Charbroil in 97 and OKJ was in 98.


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## joes bbq ribs

Thank you!  I stand corrected I thought for sure my information was correct as it was from a friend of mine who's father worked for OKJ back in the day. Anyway thanks again for the information.  
Happy Smokin'


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## ammaturesmoker

joes bbq ribs said:


> Hello, you have a early 90's original OKJ-KD Smoker. The KD stands for Knock Down as this smoker you can remove the smoke stack, you can remove the front shelf, also you can remove the legs. It's still a solid 1/4" thick welded construction smoker your just able to remove those parts and pack it up in your RV, Truck etc. why I know this well I happen to have the exact same model.
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Our models are exactly alike....however they are 3/16 thick steel and not 1/4. The KD units were designed to be lighter in weight. I have a 1/4 to compare it to and it's bigger in metal thickness. Measure the thickness on the door. It should tell you. it has to go from line to line when measuring....If it fits just in between it's 3/16.


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## joes bbq ribs

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## joes bbq ribs

That's 1/4" all day long if it was 3/16" it would show 3/16" but it doesn't blow the photo up take a real good look 1/4" all day.


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## ammaturesmoker

joes bbq ribs said:


> That's 1/4" all day long if it was 3/16" it would show 3/16" but it doesn't blow the photo up take a real good look 1/4" all day.


yup that's not 3/16 but 1/4....perhaps I was off on looking when I measured mine.


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## joes bbq ribs

What I have been told when they sold the business they sold all the 1/2" stock they had etc and when NB ran out of the 1/2" material that's when they started building them with 3/16" material and started bolting on the fireboxes.   [emoji]128077[/emoji][emoji]127996[/emoji]


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## ammaturesmoker

My firebox isn't bolted.....I remeasured and its right in between 3/16 and 1/4....crazy I know......perhaps an oddly made pipe. Well even if it is 3/16 I do not think it will matter all that much. Yoder is now all 3/16 and beats anything on the box box store market.


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