Folding Windscreen ?


 
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Rita Y

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Has anyone built a 3-sided windscreen that folds? If so, would you mind sharing the size of your panels?

Did you use any special type of hinges?

Would the hinges leave too much of a gap at the corners for the wind to drive up the WSM temps?

Would a brace be needed across the top near the open ends to keep the screen from collapsing?

Would it be helpful to add a couple of handles at the top to make it easier to move?

On Christmas it was quite blustery here and I had the devil of a time trying to keep the temps down, even though I leaned a couple of auto drip pans against the sides of the cooker and finally had to close the top vent about 66%.

It's dark outside now and I'm going to go out and shine a flashlight from inside the WSM to see if I can find any large gaps.

Thanks in advance for your tips,
Rita
 
Hi Rita and everyone else:

If anyone has answers to Rita's questions please post your answers! I do not have any protected area to put my wsm in and the wind is a temp killer. My husband has kindly volunteered to build an enclosure for the wsm but asked me to come up with the design for it; I want something effective, but also something that I can fold up and store away in the side yard when it's not windy; something that won't blow over when it IS windy, also. Hey, I have no problems asking for too much /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif but seriously, if anyone can specifically draw out something that has worked for them, please let me know!

Theresa
 
I used 3 pieces of 3/8 plywood, 2' wide X 4' tall.
Used hinges to conntect the 3 pieces. You can use duck tape to cover the 2 gaps left when the pieces are connected.
It's effective in stopping the wind.
Jim
 
Thanks, Jim,
That's along the lines of what I was thinking. That should work well for Theresa.

However, I have a peculiar situation -- my WSM is located on a narrow part of my deck and I don't have enough space to pull the assembled screen out in order to adjust vents, check meat, etc. I spent some time last night sketching a possible design with a front door-type access, but it's not quite as convenient as yours is to put up and I need to simplify it a bit.

I didn't think about the tape -- that's a great idea.

Rita
 
Thanks, Jim. Do you have anything to anchor the plywood to the ground or are you relying on the weight of the plywood itself to keep it upright against the wind? Or, if it's so windy that it could knock the plywood over, then maybe it's just too windy to use the wsm?

And this is probably a stupid stupid question, but I'll ask anyway. Do you always use the windscreen? I would guess that one would have more control over the wsm environment if it's always there - so that the wind is much less or never a variable..........?

Thanks for the help, with this and other assorted topics also.

Theresa
 
Hello All.
I use a 12x12x10ft dinning canopy with tarps tied around. I tie the tarps directly to the frame of the canopy. I use short sections of heavy logs around the bottoms of the tarps to hold it down.You could also use tent stakes. The legs are also staked down. I cover 3 sides and leave one side open. I light the chiminey outside the enclosure I have my WSM right inside and it realy works very well for me. My wife say's it looks like an army tent but I can cook in any weather. I hope this idea helps some.
 
You would need to anchor when the wind is strong enough to blow it over. An eye bolt in the top of each of the three panels and using bungie cords to anchor it to something solid works well.
I only use it when the wind is strong enough to effect the temp control.

Jim
 
Thanks everyone for your input. I am lucky because I am married to a man who loves his power tools so it wasn't a problem at all getting a simple windscreen made up. It's on hinges and folds flat; the top clips on and is removable. I used it last night even though it was NOT windy at all, just because I have it. It doesn't look super attractive in the backyard, but who cares.

Here's the picture:

Folding Windscreen

I have two pork shoulders in there right now. Minion method, put them in at nine last night, got up at five to wrap them in banana leaves to hopefully give it a different flavor, they are at 181 right now.

Just for fun, here's a picture of a Christmas pork leg in my buddy's wsm:

Pork Leg

Thanks everyone for all the advice!

Theresa
 
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