Yellow Bar-BQ Kettle pictures... finally

[Dale Benson]

Some of you may recall an earlier post this past winter (http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/weber-kettles-accessories/twist-on-ash-pans/msg91879/#msg91879) where I explained how I discovered the WKC while looking for information about a yellow kettle that I (literally) found in the woods in northern Minnesota.





I had intended to take some pictures and post them as soon as I returned to MN this Spring but have been busy with cabin projects and haven't done so until now. She cleaned up quite nicely. New Brian handle, new wheels, new leg cap, new grates. Thanks to member G she now has an ash pan. Original legs and triangle. I think she might have taken a pellet from a "sportsman's" shotgun, as there are a few tiny chips in her side and one that goes all the way through. Otherwise she looks pretty sweet - especially considering how long she sat in the woods abandoned and un-cared for.

[BigRix]

That thing cleaned up really nice.

Great work!

[Jeff]

Great find, great story Dale!  That yellow looks pretty darn nice.  Did it have the original wheels on it when you found it? If so, what did you do with them?

So...have you cooked on it yet?  Those are the pictures I'm waiting to see!

[OoPEZoO]

Wait till you drop a chimney of hot coals in it and watch it turn orange.  Its awesome! 

[Dale Benson]

...  Did it have the original wheels on it when you found it? If so, what did you do with them?

So...have you cooked on it yet?  Those are the pictures I'm waiting to see!

The wheels it had were the plastic ones like the new ones shown. I guess it didn't register in my head that those had maybe already been replaced at some point in time with newer, non-period correct wheels? What would be the correct wheels for the Bar-BQ Kettle? Would it be the black plastic with white sidewall without the "Weber" wording? I've got three or four old sets of the "Weber" type wheels that are badly deteriorated (the white lettering sidewall piece has crumbled away). I've thought about painting them black with a white sidewall to use as replacements for the older style plastic wheels. You'd have to fill the four little holes with white putty or caulking or something, I suppose. I wonder if someone with access to a 3D printer could make a replacement white sidewall piece that would snap in to replace the old, deteriorated ones? (Just thinking out loud...)

I have not yet cooked on it. We'll be up at the cabin again this weekend and I'll probably fire it up then. Photos of course. :-)

[Jeff]

Most likely your yellow fellow had these wheels on it when it "rolled off the assembly line"




Make sure you break it in right with a big piece of steak or something really good!  Take pictures.

[G$]

Awesome rescue Dale!

[MaxBobcat]

Cleaned up great!  Fantastic job!

[1911Ron]

Great rescue!

[glrasmussen]

Great story and awesome rescue. She cleaned up great.
The period correct wheels are always a mystery for me...
I have seen ,MBH Pat#'s with three different sets(metal/rubber, small whitewall and Weber whitewall).

[Jeff]

I'm not sure the yellow kettles from the mid to late 70s were old enough to get the steel hub wheels.
The Wooddale "ochre" colored yellows are a whole different story though.  Metal wheels for sure.

[glrasmussen]

I should have clarified, Black MBH, me bad.

[salad]

Not sure how I missed you finding a yellow in the woods.  That's a great story.  When I first saw that pic, I thought maybe you knocked on the door to try and cold call it.   That would be like the beginning of a horror film! 
Looks cool.  Nice save. 

[Craig]

That turned out beautifully! The wheels from the mid 70s get a little hairy towards the end of the BBQK lid vent era especially when the  bowl vents were changed to the large tabs, there have been examples of both the thin whitewall plastics and the modern style like yours. By the "engraved" WEBER elongated "b" vents the wheels should have been switched over fully. Definitely in use by 1977, however speculation points to 1975 at the earliest appearance. Metals were long gone by then.

[Craig]

Also, my yellow has the same vents top and bottom, but with the wheels like Jeff's. My black fade 22 MBH is the same as well.