New here and not sure what I want

[MedicMike]

I am new to welding but I am ready to learn. I am located near Auburn University. I have always wanted to build my own backyard pit. I can't decide what I want to be honest, in terms of size. So I will probably have a lot of random questions that will cause you guys to think "man this guy has no business building anything" or "he just can't make up his mind, can he?". So yeah, I'm here to learn and ask a lot of questions and I bring nothing to the table if I am just being honest.

[dacolson]

Welcome MedicMike. Gotta start somewhere! Lots of folks new to welding/fab and lots of folks (myself included) built their first pit on the forum. Look around a bunch and read through builds to get yourself started.

[Dirtytires]

Your first step is to determine how many people you want to cook for on an average cook.

Next is how much time you want to spend running it. A stick burner (all logs) will provide some of the best tasting meats it needs tended every 45-50 minutes. A gravity feed is pretty much set-it-and-forget-it.

Give at little thought to budget and skill. A uds can be built in an afternoon with hand tools for less that $200. A full size pit requires a few hundred hours of welding/fabricating and can easily hit the $2k-3k price range. Used materials or a simpler design can decrease that considerably, tho.

Last, consider where it is going and if you are going to need to move it around/off the property.

From there, we can give you a few tips or pointers.

[Big T]

Welcome aboard!!

[Pete Mazz]

Welcome

[towtruck]

Welcome!