Approximately What Year Is This Mothership?

[Dave in KC]

I have been digging thru the WKC cobwebs, but have yet to find
much of an idea on an actual year for this old Ranch I have acquired. 
MBH, small tabs, plastic wheels.  Is the Mothership timeline similar to
kettles?  Mid 70's?  77? 

[Pezdogs]

Great score on that WW Dave

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[Mr.CPHo]

Damn sweet mothership!  Any story behind the acquisition?  Hopefully someone can help you determine its age. 

[Dave in KC]

Any story behind the acquisition?

Nothing exciting ...... one of my latest flippers.

https://kansascity.craigslist.org/hsh/d/chamois-weber-ranch-37-inch-charcoal/7466021577.html

I have never had one of these before.  I have ZERO clue what to price that at,
so I just took a stab in the dark.  Someone may get a real bargain, or I may
end up taking a bath.  Everyone feel free to chime in with your thoughts.
Hoping it finds a new home soon though, because it takes up a lot of work space
in my garage. 

[JEBIV]

Fair price !

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[502BBQ]

You did a great job cleaning it up!

[bamakettles]

That is so cool!  It looks so short and stubby.  How tall is the cooking grate from the ground?  Would be fun to have.....


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[bgilbert44]

After looking through the age guide, I'll guesstimate sometime in the early to mid 1960's due to the metal lid handles. If it's the same timeline as the main kettles, that would mean it was made pre-1964, before they upgraded to wood lid handles. Also due to it having the wire triangle at the bottom instead of the solid triangle, that means it was made likely after 1959-60, giving about a 5 year or so window for this model. The plastic wheels are most likely aftermarket to replace the originals. In any case, that is an AWESOME score! Looks to be in great shape too besides the faded exterior!

[Dave in KC]

bgilbert44 ... thanks for the info.
I searched the history here ... http://weberkettleclub.com/grills/weber-ranch-kettle/#:~:text=The%20Weber%20Ranch%20Kettle%20was,kettle%20Weber's%20longest%20running%20models.
but it is really fairly vague. 

[bgilbert44]

No problem! And yeah, I definitely feel that article needs an update. Hopefully we can get a revised Ranch Kettle history post done soon on here.

[reillyranch]

Nice unit, solid looking! 

This won't help you because your model looks built prior to date codes.  But I have a Ranch with the date code stamped on the bottom bowl vents.  As others have pointed out, metal bowl handles, thumb screws, and shape of vent tabs help to date your Ranch.  Mid 60's seem correct. 

Ed