Quality smoker

[rjmeyer]

Im a new beek..purchased the global smoker from betterbee...the handle broke off on third use and this weekend it fell off hivebout 18" and snoot pushed in...going to buy another smoker but they all look similar in the photos...who makes the best quality smoker ???

[sqkcrk]

Dadants Smokers are good ones. Order from Waverly,NY and you should have it in hand in one day or two.

[kentuckyjeff]

kelly bees has good quality smokers

[westernbeekeeper]

Mann Lake's dome top smokers are very good; also the same for Dadant's smokers. Never buy a smoker from Brushy Mtn or Betterbee.

[adam@azapiaries]

I can't resist. After looking at your location, I had to think that your experience must have been an "Amityville Horror!"

[rjmeyer]

Thanks all...ordered one from mannlake..gonna get one from dadant as well..and im bout 2 min walk from horror house..if i ever get honey..gonna call it amity horror honey..lol

[Keth Comollo]

IMHO the Dadant smokers are the best.

[Jim 134]

Im a new beek..purchased the global smoker from betterbee...the handle broke off on third use and this weekend it fell off hivebout 18" and snoot pushed in...going to buy another smoker but they all look similar in the photos...who makes the best quality smoker ???

the handle


BEE HAPPY Jim 134

[jrbbees]

Kelly's are good and seem to last. My two are 30 years old. Have to wait to see if they last.

[sqkcrk]

Thanks all...ordered one from mannlake..gonna get one from dadant as well..and im bout 2 min walk from horror house..if i ever get honey..gonna call it amity horror honey..lol

I inspected apiaries right around there years ago. Cool.

[Ross]

I don't care for dome top smokers. Bigger is better. The large Dadant works for me.

[BeeCurious]

I have a tall Dadant with the heat shield. Mine hasn't been babied, and it's holding up well.

[Katharina]

I have the regular one from Dadant with heat shield. There are only who things that weren't right with it. The heat shield has little wire end going up and they should be bend toward the smoker. I had to fix some so nobody scrapes themselves on them. Minor thing, but I feel it should have been done right from the get go. Some were bend into position and half were not. The second issue was the smoker hole on top. It was not round and I like to push a cork into it to stop the burning when I'm done. I had to fix that too. Otherwise a good smoker and I would buy my next one from them again.

The MannLake looks flimsy with the plastic bellow and I worry about plastic cracking. I have never used one, so I cannot attest to it's quality. Just what it looked like to me.

[doc25]

I have one with the plastic bellows not sure where it's from. Not very happy with it. It is the taller one as well. Doesn't seem to push enough air into the smoker. Most of the time I use an old one I found at a garage sale for $5.00. The leather bellows works well. Even covered in duct tape the plastic one doesn't seem to push as much air through.

[NasalSponge]

I have a dome top Mann Lake (never liked the "original" style) with the yellow bellow (hehe) works perfect, no issues as of yet.

[westernbeekeeper]

Same here as with NasalSponge. I have had my Mann Lake dome top plastic-bellowed smoker for 3 year, and the fellow that had it before me had it for 4 years. I may add that it has been used aggressively, and there has been no problem with the plastic bellows.

[rjmeyer]

Hi Jim134, the handle that was tac welded to the dome to open the smoker top to fire it up.

[rjmeyer]

Thanks again to all for the replies, i agree that the dadant looks like the real deal, i went with the Mannlake at the moment because it got me free shipping on some other items i ordered but i will be ordering the dadant as well...i love backup equipment..and beeees...lol

[cinch123]

I have one with the plastic bellows not sure where it's from. Not very happy with it. It is the taller one as well. Doesn't seem to push enough air into the smoker. Most of the time I use an old one I found at a garage sale for $5.00. The leather bellows works well. Even covered in duct tape the plastic one doesn't seem to push as much air through.

I have one from Mann Lake with the blue and yellow rubber bellows. I totally agree with you - it does not push enough air in. I have another smoker - a standard one from Dadant, and I'm much happier with it. I am considering taking the Mann Lake one apart and seeing if I can improve its performance; it would be a shame to spend $30 on a smoker that is hard to get going.

[David LaFerney]

I didn't realize a needed a new one until I borrowed one for a few days recently - my old one (4x7 of unknown origin) is hard to light, hard to pump, and hard to keep lit. Ordered one of the big Dadant smokers based on these recommendations.