WoodieB Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 Alright!! I can now post in the Happy Camper thread! My beauty arrived Monday, at long last. Would've had it sooner, but I had to be out of town for a week, then there was a slight shipping mixup. Dennis called me from Indonesia to explain the shipping thing, then again yesterday to make sure it arrived OK. Another example of the great customer service. So, last Friday I spoke to UPS freight & scheduled delivery for Monday between 12-2:00 pm. Line up a couple of friends to help, and then went to Costco and got a cheap ($45) hand truck that converts to a 4 wheel furniture dolly. Sez it's rated for 750 lb. in the 4 wheel position, so I should be good to go. Now my driveway is fairly steep, and then we have to get it around behind the house, also uphill for the first bit, through mulched landscaping. OK, so a piece of cheap plywood ripped lengthwise will make for a nice ramp, but I'm thinking, man, it's going to be a tough push with only a 2-3 guys. Then I realized that my mighty Honda snowblower, (on tracks) will make for a nice little tractor for motive power, so I get a strap, rig it all up, and wait. Of course I'd invited people for dinner, assuming that UPS would be on time since we had an appointment & all. No such luck. 2:00 came & went, calls to UPS, they can't get in touch with the driver, all I can find out is that it's out for delivery. Finally, at 6:00 pm, the truck shows up. The UPS guys are pretty impressed with the crate, as am I and my friends. We maneuver the behemoth off of the lift gate onto my little overmatched dolly, fire up my faithful Honda, and voila', it works perfectly. All the other guys had to do was keep it steady and we motored it right on around to the patio. Perfect! Now for the uncrating. The packaging itself is worthy of more photos, but I only took the one because I was so excited to get it going. Located the crowbar, and then unscrewed the 8 long lag bolts holding the crate to the pallet, and the whole crate just lifts off and there it is, like a giant Faberge egg. Best packing job I've ever seen. OK, pry the rest of the stabilizing pieces off, remove the innards, cut the banding holding it to the pallet, and slip a couple of 2x4s through the loops to get my precious the last few inches off of the pallet onto it's wheels on my patio. Whew, that last bit was the most precarious, as we had it tilted over a bit and it was HEAVY! But finally, with no mishaps, it's on it's own wheels on the patio. What a work of art!!! You just have to stand back and admire it for a bit. Edit: Whoops, tried to do a spell check and it posted before I could stop it, and then I had to leave for a while. The rest of my story and photo's got left out! Ok, so by now it's after 7 and I haven't even started a fire yet. Get the KK assembled, in goes a load of mesquite lump, out comes my new grill starter, (Home Depot, Mapp torch, but with a 4' hose. The bottle has a belt clip the will hang on the KK handle while you light it. Awesome!) Woooo, wouldn't wanna wear your nice cashmere sweater while doing this! Get the KK fired up, but my TelTru thermometer is still in transit, so I monitor the pit temp with my remote meat thermometer. Wow, the temp climbs fast when you get a load of lump going! Awesome, get it up to 400 or so and throw on the chicken. 45 min or so later, (had some pretty big temp swings as I was getting used to the adjustments) and the chicken is awesome! My friends are just kind of dumbstruck by the appearance of the thing. It really is beautiful and unique. Anyway, without further ado: http://picasaweb.google.com/woodieb The photos in the yard folder were all taken at full extension with a Canon 100-400 L series zoom lens. Really isolates the background. The two Bengal cats are my assistants Rubin & Xena. They both very much enjoyed a little of the first cook. Can't wait to do more cooking on the KK. Everything about it is just superbly crafted. I'm totally impressed, and the customer service has been awesome for me as well. Thanks, Dennis. WB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firemonkey Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 And the pictures are where? You admitted to taking at least one...quit sandbagging! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curly Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 Yeah, what he said...let's see the thing in it's natural setting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jehlinger Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 nice pics Woodie, congrats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulR Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 Re: At Last Anyway, without further ado: http://picasaweb.google.com/woodieb The photos in the yard folder were all taken at full extension with a Canon 100-400 L series zoom lens. Really isolates the background. The two Bengal cats are my assistants Rubin & Xena. They both very much enjoyed a little of the first cook. Can't wait to do more cooking on the KK. Everything about it is just superbly crafted. I'm totally impressed, and the customer service has been awesome for me as well. Thanks, Dennis. WB Wow, that looks great! Great photo's of the whole caper! I wanna be a happy camper too!! (soon my precious soon!). Beautiful garden! How much beer did you give your little helpers? And you cooked a chook on the first night, was it very different from the previous chooks on you 'ol gasser? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanny Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 Re: At Last And you cooked a chook on the first night' date=' was it very different from the previous chooks on you 'ol gasser?[/quote']What makes this night different from all other nights? (Passover reference, kids... Isn't a new KK a religious experience?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curly Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 What is a string doing tied on your cat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanny Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 What is a string doing tied on your cat That's a parachute. See the blue harness attached? Din't you see how high in the mountains he is? What if Cat fell off patio! PULL THE CORD!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulR Posted June 14, 2007 Report Share Posted June 14, 2007 What is a string doing tied on your cat I saw that... Friends of ours in Holland took their cats for walks and they had harnesses like that Unless it's a some fashion statement? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdbower Posted June 14, 2007 Report Share Posted June 14, 2007 Nah, my wife's got two cats so I know exactly what that's used for. You see it saves on duct tape if you have one of those and just put a little eye hook on the ceiling fan blade... Congrats on the new cooker, if you leave the draft door open make sure to check for a cat napping in the bottom - hardwoods are much preferred for smoking over singed cat fur! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulR Posted June 14, 2007 Report Share Posted June 14, 2007 Nah, my wife's got two cats so I know exactly what that's used for. You see it saves on duct tape if you have one of those and just put a little eye hook on the ceiling fan blade... Congrats on the new cooker, if you leave the draft door open make sure to check for a cat napping in the bottom - hardwoods are much preferred for smoking over singed cat fur! Kids, cats, dogs everyone wants to have a ride in the KK.... I'll just stick to beef, pork, lamb, chooks etc. call me Joe-Average oh yeah NO BUGS on my KK!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
