James, I smoked a 48 pound hog on July 4 2008 on my Ranch Kettle. It took about 6 hours.
However, pulling/chopping/processing the hog took me about another hour by myself. But it was very enjoyable.
You will get about 40% edible meat from a whole hog--a 50 pounder will give you about 20 lbs meat. I have done 20 lb green hams as well, so just be aware that doing a whole hog is more about the satisfaction of doing a whole hog than about producing meat for a large crowd. If you want to produce a lot of meat, use the RK and do 2 butts and 2 hams.
On my 48 lb hog, the ribs were about the size of a pencil! The hams were maybe 4-5 lbs each, shoulders (butts) maybe 3-4 lbs. So, clearly, they don't slaughter hogs that young and small for ribs, hams and shoulders.
This being my first whole hog, I chose to go simple: I rubbed the skin with extra virgin olive oil, and sprinkled both sides liberally with salt and black pepper. I wanted to taste the smoked meat much more than I wanted to flavor it up with some rub. Of course, you could inject yours or coat it with your rub of choice. While chopping, I taste tested, and sprinkled more salt and pepper into the choppings.
I removed the head and feet to fit the RK. Very easy--just cut through the knees (hocks?), and through the neck. No need to use a woodsaw as shown in one of the above links - you are just cutting thru raw meat, and then between the vertabrae thru the spinal cord.
I butterflied it, cooked it skin side up for first three hours, then flipped it to skin side down for last three hours. I used small fires under each end of the hog, below the access grates. I did begin to get a little skin burning directly near the fire, and so I foiled the ends to prevent scorching.
When done, I found the skin overall was not so crispy, even with the EVOO, because it was soaked with the melted fat of the hog. I now wish I had started processing by removing the skin first (after the hog was done), and smoking it more while chopping the meat, in order to get a crispy skin I could chop up and add to the meat.
For a drip pan, go to a restaurant supply house, and get either a full size baking pan, or two 1/2 pans--preferable because the smaller ones are easier to handle, especially when full of hot drippings. Line them with foil for easier cleanup. Use a full size baking pan to handle the hog, slide it onto/off of the grill, and to hold it while pulling and chopping.
Don't know about your refrigeration equipment: preferable to leave it at your suppliers until you are ready to prepare it, and then straight onto the RK. But if not possible, you could get a freshly cleaned (new?) plastic garbage can, and put the hog, first inside a garbage bag, then in the garbage can, and ice it down liberally. We don't want anyone to get trichinosis from this party!
I used my BBQGuru, set at 275 pit temp, and set meat target temp at 195. Pit probe was placed near the back, close to the shoulder, body side (away from fire). Meat probe was in the shoulder.
Hope this helps. Please post any further questions...
