After nearly 3 months of waiting, my Backwoods Gater came in. The smoker arrived via semi truck and the driver was nice enough to put it in my garage which is up a steep incline. He was rushed so I did not get to throughly inspect the smoker as well as I wanted before signing the papers, but I got a good enough feel. They package this thing to survive pretty much anything.
Top of the crate was open.
Secured very well to the pallet. The scuff came off with a little water and buffing.
There are a few pics of the inside of the Gater.
If you look close you can see the two slots where the smoke enters the cooking chamber at the top.
Here are a few pics comparing the Backwoods Gater to my old Weber Smokey Mountain 22.5".
Grates on the Gater are much heavier than the WSM.
WSM grate on top of one of the five Gater grates.
Sprayed the inside with cooking oil and burned her in.
The fit of the cover is a little big and loose. It's been through a couple of rain storms and keeps the rain off very well.
The BBQ Guru off my WSM works very well on the Gater. Big thanks to Tim (SmokieOkie) for help on picking out the unit. He was easy to work with and very helpful. Also, the aftermarket 8" casters put the Gater at the perfect height for someone 6' tall.
Thats all for now. Plan to post some cooks soon.