I relapsed! Advice please?

[Schaefd2]

Hello gents and gals!
I've been inactive for some time. This is mostly because I have kids, family, work, and church responsibilities, as well as about 25 kettles, so I've scratched that itch pretty good. Hahaha

Anyway, I told my wife that "I've been good for a long time, but I relapsed today!" She laughed in support.

A Ranch Kettle popped up 5 minutes from me and it was for FREE! How could I say no? I grabbed it and that was super fun for me, but now I have some questions and open to advice from the community.

In no particular order:

1) The bowl is roached really bad for half of the bowl. Weber support already offered me a replacement for $577. Does anyone here happen to have a bowl for parts?

2) If I can't replace the bowl, what are the best ways to repair it, or otherwise close off the holes? I'm thinking sheet metal and pop rivets?

3) I'd also appreciate replacement lid rollers. Mine are melted. (I think the owner used it as a fire pit at least once.

4) I'm open to any and all cooking/smoking tips on this thing!






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[vader]

A new Ranch is $2.6K, $577 for a new bowl seems pretty reasonable considering it was free!

[Schaefd2]

A new Ranch is $2.6K, $577 for a new bowl seems pretty reasonable considering it was free!

Definitely not unreasonable. However, I have a new furnace I need to buy this year, along with car repairs, and potentially a replacement car. The bowl isn't a top priority so looking at other options to bide time until a bowl can be purchased.


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[Tommie]

Congrats on the freebie, even with the bowl like that, It has potential and would have been silly to turn down!

Couple of options - lay foil on the holes for now, cook and enjoy, and put some money aside (if possible) little by little and make a plan to take Weber up on that offer at some point.

Or You could as you say; rivet some thin steel on the inside and just JB weld high temp filler on the outside against the steel, sanded down and painted black afterwards.

The rollers are pretty essential on the ranch, you could just use some cylindrical oak for now with a 12mm hole bored through the centre until you get some new ones


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[Tommie]

Another option for the rollers, Bakelite can be cut, drilled, and died/painted




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[bamakettles]

Nice, congratulations!  I've looked for rollers before - probably a Weber only item which is the way I'd go.  As far as the bowl, there is no question that I would replace it.  What I've done in the past is pay myself $100 a month until I save up enough for something as much as that bowl would be.  In 6 months you'll have a bowl and a complete ranch kettle.   You didn't mention grates which is also big $$$ on these.  Hopefully they are there and usable, if not keep saving and continue looking for donor ranch kettles you might find.  Also, SNS grills now makes a slow n sear to fit the ranch for $200.  I know this is all adding up fast.... much like free early model genesis gassers, a free grill could cost $500 or more to fix up if you don't have the parts.  In my opinion the ranch is worth it!

[Schaefd2]

Wow! Those options for the rollers will come in handy! Thank you!

Or I may ask Weber to price me the rollers too.

I'll probably save up for the bowl; I know one day I will replace it. It's too good not to! I'll ask for a discount when I ask for the rollers! Haha

Also, both the grates are intact and in grate (pun intended) condition!

I have a SNS and I'm considering using it as a charcoal basket ha

[bamakettles]

Glad to hear the grates are in grate shape!  I tried a SNS XL out of my 26er in the ranch and it worked, but needed more capacity for a longer cook.  The SNS Ranch basket is worth the investment... They claim it holds an entire bag of briquettes.  I use lump mostly so I had plenty left after filling it up.  I'll drop a picture so you can see the size.

It's fun to see your project and your collection in the other post.  Thanks for sharing.

Cheers!