Yet another Plainsman has surfaced..........

[Cellar2ful]

Last night a friend and local grillfella texted me and asked if he could come by my house to show me something.  He is a registered WKC member but is mostly a lurker. He pulls up in my driveway in his work van, throws open the doors and inside is 63 Plainsman. 



He tells me last weekend he was cooking for about 10 guys at a party in the Oakland Hills (California).  He had brought three of his own, newer Weber kettles to cook on.  While he was cooking, one of the guys asked him if he knew anything about old Webers. The guy pulls out his phone and shows him a picture of what he immediately recognized as a Plainsman.  Apparently there was a house in the guy's neighborhood that an old couple had passed away.  Either the city or a company was cleaning out the house, throwing almost everything into a dumpster at the residence.  The guys wife suggested to the people cleaning out the house that they should put all the usable or good stuff at the curb as people will pick up the items.  The next day he walked by the house and the Plainsman was sitting at the curb with a bunch of other miscellaneous items.  That is how he had acquired the Plainsman.  My buddy explained he collected vintage Webers and what he had was a really rare item.  There was a discussion as to it's value and my friend made the guy an offer.  The guy said he wanted to sleep on the offer and would let him know the next day.  That's how the Plainsman ended up in my friends van.








This is the fifth Plainsman that I am aware of that has surfaced in California. This newest one came from Oakland,  @SixZeroFour  came from Palm Springs (this year) Mine came from San Jose,  and two others came from Southern California. One of the Southern California kettles we never found out if it was saved.  It was a WKC Forum post about 6 years ago on either Craigs List or FB Marketplace showing a Plainsman listed as scrap metal for free (curb alert).  Sadly, at the time @Troy had posted it very possibly had gone to the scrap yard as there are a lot of scrap metal guys in Southern Califonria.

I took the opportunity to take a side by side photo of my Plainsman and the newly acquired one.  Probably the first time since the 60's that two Plainsman have been photographed together.  Look at the difference in the fade lines on the bowl.



Keep the faith and keep looking.  Finds like this are still out there, albeit fewer and further between.

[Blacky924]

Killer story for a killer grill were both of those twist pans original found with the grill? Interesting as I thought they would have been u cut clip pans typical for the woodale era


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[SixZeroFour]

Holy cow - what a cool find and awesome story! LOVE the side by side shot.

Jim, I don't know what rock I've been living under but I didnt realize that you had a Plainsman!! I know you had found the one in the wild a few years back but for some reason I thought they didnt want to sell so it remained a ghost?!?... either way thats freaking awesome!

Mine was actually found just east in Prescott AZ, but not far from what appears to be a little Plainsman pocket in the West.

Big congratulations to your friend and also to you although its likely very late! Is there a origin post on yours??

So cool!



... mine will FINALLY arrive home in about 2.5 weeks when my folks come home for summer. Can't wait to fire her up!

[dazzo]

Nice Jim

[RRRanger99]

What a story. Double the beauty, double the score! Congrats!

[FlashHokie]

Amazing story. Beautiful grills!

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[JasonBriski]

That's what kettle dreams are made of!

[bladz]

Very nice story about the acquisition.  That side by side Plainsman photo is unbelievable! 


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[Cellar2ful]

Holy cow - what a cool find and awesome story! LOVE the side by side shot.

Jim, I don't know what rock I've been living under but I didnt realize that you had a Plainsman!! I know you had found the one in the wild a few years back but for some reason I thought they didnt want to sell so it remained a ghost?!?... either way thats freaking awesome!

I totally forgot about the Plainsman you mentioned above.  The owner did not want to sell it as it was one of the few things he had left from his Dad.  It was in pretty rough shape.  I drive by the guys house quite frequently and use to see it still in his front yard.  It has since disappeared.  I should stop by and see if he still has it or even still lives there.
Here is a link to the story on that one: http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/index.php?topic=35177.0

Ironically, below is your post from the above thread on the "Plainsman in the Wild" since you now are waiting for your Plainsman to make it's trip to your home.

"They do exist!" ... incredible find regardless of condition! Gives me hope there's one out there for me someday. You are a rare kettle magnet these days Jim!

I obtained my Plainsman (a completely different one) from another Bay Area WKC member who is no longer active. He purchased it in San Jose responding to a Craigs List add.  The seller said the Plainsman was his Dad's kettle and he had recently passed away.  Seller was clearing out his Dad's house and had no interest in BBQ.  I believe the original CL asking price was $60.  I got the Plainsman in either 2020 or 2021 and paid considerably more than the CL asking price.

Mine was actually found just east in Prescott AZ, but not far from what appears to be a little Plainsman pocket in the West.

I looked at your post on your Plainsman and read you searched CL in Palm Springs.  I should have kept reading and I would have seen the add was listed in Arizona.

[Cellar2ful]

Killer story for a killer grill were both of those twist pans original found with the grill? Interesting as I thought they would have been u cut clip pans typical for the woodale era
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Yes, both grills had twist on ash pans. I have also seen two other Plainsman that came with twist on ash pans.  The Plainsman that is owned by WKC member harris92 has a U cut ash pan with J clips.  I believe it was 1964 when Weber started phasing out the U cut - J clip ash pans and started using the twist on ash pans.     Since the Plainsman is believed to be produced for one year only (1963), maybe Weber started the change over to twist on pans sometime in late 1963.  The other possibility is the owners of 4 of these Plainsman had to replace the original U cut / J clip ash pans and by then all that were available from Weber were twist on ash pans.

@Craig     @harris92

[1spacemanspiff]

Vey cool story!

[teejhanson]

Wow! Great story, amazing grill, and inspiration to keep up my daily searches! Thanks for sharing!


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[crowderjd]

Killer story for a killer grill were both of those twist pans original found with the grill? Interesting as I thought they would have been u cut clip pans typical for the woodale era
Sent from my iPhone using Weber Kettle Club

Yes, both grills had twist on ash pans. I have also seen two other Plainsman that came with twist on ash pans.  The Plainsman that is owned by WKC member harris92 has a U cut ash pan with J clips.  I believe it was 1964 when Weber started phasing out the U cut - J clip ash pans and started using the twist on ash pans.     Since the Plainsman is believed to be produced for one year only (1963), maybe Weber started the change over to twist on pans sometime in late 1963.  The other possibility is the owners of 4 of these Plainsman had to replace the original U cut / J clip ash pans and by then all that were available from Weber were twist on ash pans.

@Craig     @harris92

Both my glen blue and regular black 63 Wood Dales came with twist on ash pans. It's always been my feeling that they were late year productions that were part of the turnover. I can't imagine many people asking for mail in replacement ash pans.

[harris92]

Killer story for a killer grill were both of those twist pans original found with the grill? Interesting as I thought they would have been u cut clip pans typical for the woodale era
Sent from my iPhone using Weber Kettle Club

Yes, both grills had twist on ash pans. I have also seen two other Plainsman that came with twist on ash pans.  The Plainsman that is owned by WKC member harris92 has a U cut ash pan with J clips.  I believe it was 1964 when Weber started phasing out the U cut - J clip ash pans and started using the twist on ash pans.     Since the Plainsman is believed to be produced for one year only (1963), maybe Weber started the change over to twist on pans sometime in late 1963.  The other possibility is the owners of 4 of these Plainsman had to replace the original U cut / J clip ash pans and by then all that were available from Weber were twist on ash pans.

@Craig     @harris92

[harris92]

The Plainsman came with U cut ash pan with clips.  We don't see a lot of Wood Dales with the original pan and clips.  The clips easily came off and you can't keep it attached to the legs with out the clips. Yes, Weber did sell a lot steel pans as an accessory in the late 1950's and later as replacements (according to a former external auditor for Weber I knew).  The design "flaw" was corrected with the twist on pan.

I don't see the San Diego Plainsman on your list.  It was advertised on Marketplace for $20 (2018 from memory).  A few of us saw the ad and I may still have a picture.

Great grills too.