Ranch Ash Pan Mod

[Winz]

Last year I scored a nice 1988 Ranch kettle (AKA "Roswell").  As much as I love cooking on Roswell, I am always concerned about hot embers falling through one of the three vent holes in the bottom of the kettle onto my wooden deck. 


Thanks to a very generous WKC member, I recently acquired an ash pan from a post-1992 Ranch kettle.  A mod was in the making!

Roswell before the mod:



The original idea was to use "Wood Dale" like hooks to fasten the new ash pan to the legs.  Instead, the idea changed to a solution that did not require drilling holes in either the new ash pan or into Roswell's legs.  My blacksmith buddy fabricated these:



They go like this:







Ready to grill!



It's a simple, but functional mod.  I like the fact that no ash pans were harmed in making this, and the pan is very easy to install and remove (great for cleaning).  Thanks again to the generous WKC member for sending me this new ash pan - it will get good use!

Winz

[Fishawn]

Awesome work! 👍

[SixZeroFour]

Such a brilliant yet simple design - much like the kettle itself. That's just awesome Winz, very cool mod!

[Jammato]

I like the mod, simple and very effective, plus the more weight on the tray, the more it holds on

[argentflame]

Wow. What an awesome mod.

[Craig]

Sweet mod! I'm surprised Weber didn't come up with one between the 60s-80s for the old style Ranch's.

[MrHoss]

That looks bad ass Winz.

[Jeff]

Very nice.  Looks like it was meant to be...almost factory!  Does the pan extend out wide enough to catch the embers from the outer edge of the vents?

[Winz]

Very nice.  Looks like it was meant to be...almost factory!  Does the pan extend out wide enough to catch the embers from the outer edge of the vents?

Yes indeed, it captures the ash from all three vents.  I was surprised to learn that the vents are not equal distant from the center.  It appears that these old ranch kettles still had quite a bit of manual processing to build them.


Winz

[1buckie]

Glad you got a good fix-up for that......I secretly was worried about you & the wooden deck when we went to get that item............but again, the Renaissance Kettlist comes up with a great idea !!!

I think the older 26'ers are a kind of hand made deal too, as well as the very old kettles.....
You see offset vents / handles / leg sockets that most likely would be from hand fitting or welding or drilling of those aspects..... 

[Winz]

Glad you got a good fix-up for that......I secretly was worried about you & the wooden deck when we went to get that item............but again, the Renaissance Kettlist comes up with a great idea !!!

Now that she is ready for cooking, we really need to consider a whole hog cook. 

Planning....

Winz

[1buckie]

OZ ~~~~~>

http://s801.photobucket.com/user/xygswagon/media/114E4F3A-6386-4E48-BB5D-63ABFCCC81C8-562-000000AABC42A053_zpsdf7fbf1e.mp4.html

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/weber-kettles-accessories/rk-roti/

[1buckie]

Whoops......wrong video, but that's a good short tour of GGG anyway.....

http://s801.photobucket.com/user/xygswagon/media/99B583F9-C3EA-400B-80EB-4EB46FA5806F-989-0000028C56BBC198_zps9d06dead.mp4.html

And.....

http://s801.photobucket.com/user/xygswagon/media/B63CD1FE-FE87-4950-B941-9D321D45F82C-989-0000028B4615E123_zpse3548154.mp4.html

[SixZeroFour]

So Winz hooked me up with a set of these awesome custom clips and they are literally perfect. No modification needed at all, it almost looks like it should have been there all along.

To complete the mod I also ordered a new Ranch ash pan - or should I say Wok?!? - this thing is huge!





Here it is compared to 18" and 22" ash pans



Really clever design...



... gravity does all the work:





Once again, thanks for all the help @Winz! 

[Winz]

Your camera and photography skills are SO much better than mine...

Glad to see it all set up.  It looks like it came from the factory that way.

51 is looking good.  From that list picture, I would swear that is a new kettle.  Simply beautiful.  It could use some handles though   

Winz