'Morning Tom..although I'm a new VBWSM club member like yourself, I've smoked foods for several years and have always found that during any given 'smokin I have had to stir the coals some to keep the fire going.I find that I do this much less with the WSM. I can't remember, though, having any ash problem probably since I use charwood in lieu of briquettes. However, as I believe the real BBQ pros will respond and tell you, you really don't want to disassemble your smoker while cooking unless you have the remainder of the weekend to finish your meal!! Hope this is somewhat helpful and I'll monitor your responses from the veterans so that I can learn from the best.....John