@JEBIV hey man.. i went with the 1 n, 1 out rule (kinda lol)
picked up the 26er around xmas time and made myself wait until one of my kettles left.
once it left i busted out the 26er, scrubbed/ scraped her down and replaced the ash sweeps and fired her up sameday with chicken wings..indirect for 1 hour with blend of cherry and hickory wood chunks.
its my new thing to blend wood chunks for the past few years.
btw smoked 2 full packer briskets over the past month in the 22" wsm .. burning through bags of charcoal lately
hope all is well on your side