Fred,
Nice looking pig roaster there. How big or what is the biggest Pig you have roasted in there? My friend is always BBQ a pig when they get a good young sow each year, they usually do it with a 50-65 pounder. Wild Pig that roam around out here and tear up grape vineyards. They also have them on their hunting property land.
I've cooked four pigs in that roaster, the biggest was 220 pounds dressed. It's an annual party my Wife and I put on.
The roaster is 6' by 5' outside, a concrete footer with 2 feet tall fire brick cased with angle iron. The lid is rolled 12 guage steel with two half moons on the side I welded to it. The lid got so heavy I had to put a pole behind it with a pulley and a boat winch to lift it. It roasted the big pig in 8 hours time using apple wood.
Gee Fred, that is one big pig BBQ. I take it you use domestic swine for the roasting, right? Too bad you don't have these wild pigs like we do out here, they are a real pain in the rear for a lot of farmers/ranchers etc.
Nice roaster Beanman! When you get tired of monkeying around with that boat pulley, just rig up a counter-weight to the back of the lid assembly. it will open and close with one finger if you get it set up right. I'm sure that you can figure something out judging by how well the rest of the roaster looks.