Dadant smoker

[dano41]

Grand kids bought me a Dadant smoker for a recent birthday after they saw my battered but fully functional chinese smoker which I have had for maybe 8 years but is still going strong.They did some research and formed the opinion that dadant was top of the range in smokers.
What arrived in the post was what you can see in the pictures.After a few emails to Dadant through the company I bought it from in England the answer boiled down to,we don't see anything wrong with the smoker in the pictures,we have made them this way for years and will continue doing so.
You don't get this low standard of work on a Chinese smoker at two thirds the price and if you were a bee supply company and did commission them to be made in China and they turned out as bad as that this there would be hundreds of other engineering companies in China who could make them properly.Has anyone with one of these got the same standard of finish?

 

[Quis Custodiet]

I bought a couple of large smokers from Simon the Beekeeper, three of them cost less than one Dadant of similar size. They have all been in constant use for the past several seasons and no problems. The price of beekeeping equipment is difficult to justify, good luck to anyone selling at a reasonable price.

 

[TooBee...]

... You don't get this low standard of work on a Chinese smoker at two thirds the price....

I got a really good smoker recently for £7.49 all in inc. P&P, very pleased with it, I was Ok with buying from an unknown source, as I bought via Amazon, so any problems, I complain to them and they sort it out. Naturally it's from China, looked very similar to the one's beekeeping companies claim they are making themselves...

I suspect you got a poor quality Chinese smoker, as opposed to a good quality smoker, the problem is with the 'middle-man' not sitting on top of their own far eastern suppliers.

PS: by saying 2/3 the price, I assume you talking less than £12 all in? A 50% mark up would be good.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

My mother bought me a Dadant smoker a few years ago (makes a change from shooting kit) - best gift I've ever had, the build quality may seem a bit industrial, but it's workmanlike rather than badly made, they are tough and made to last. They light so easily, you only have to wave a lighter at it, and the biggest problem is getting it to go out.
I found one tucked away in a corner of the old association apiary shed, all battered and grimy (luckily I gave it a quick wipe and saw the logo before almost scrapping it) the beginners now fight over it every apiary day. No different build quality to the new ones and a bit of detective work ascertained it belonged to Nance (our second oldest member who sadly died this year) and it would have been her husband's smoker (he died over twenty years ago).
I found that people look at quality in different ways - some don't care how well it works as long as it looks good and some who don't care (within reason) what it looks like as long as it works well.
A bit like Russian firearms - no polished finish, all looks a bit rough and industrial, but they will take a hammering and will outlast any copy the Chinese churn out at a cheaper price.

 

[Popparand]

Grand kids bought me a Dadant smoker for a recent birthday after they saw my battered but fully functional chinese smoker which I have had for maybe 8 years but is still going strong.They did some research and formed the opinion that dadant was top of the range in smokers.
What arrived in the post was what you can see in the pictures.After a few emails to Dadant through the company I bought it from in England the answer boiled down to,we don't see anything wrong with the smoker in the pictures,we have made them this way for years and will continue doing so.
You don't get this low standard of work on a Chinese smoker at two thirds the price and if you were a bee supply company and did commission them to be made in China and they turned out as bad as that this there would be hundreds of other engineering companies in China who could make them properly.Has anyone with one of these got the same standard of finish?

Absolute rubbish. It looks as though the spout/lid has been squished down on to the fuel container because the metal is wrinkled. I bought a cheapo Chinese job last year, made out of very thin metal so it was always a b*gger to shut the lid. This year I inherited an old fashioned brass coloured Th*rnes smoker along with a lot of other beeky stuff - a real improvement.

As for the smoker you photographed it is clearly not of satisfactory quality; "the standard that a reasonable person would regard as satisfactory, taking into account the price, description and any other relevant factors" and the supplier should replace it or give you your money back. Under the sale of goods act your rights of action are against the seller, and as it was supplied through a UK company, it is their responsibility. Good luck!

 

[REDWOOD]

I have one, and although roughly constructed but not as low quality as yours, probably someone has been selling the rejects through the back door.

As JBM the best smoker I have owned

 

[foghornleghorn]

My mother bought me a Dadant smoker a few years ago (makes a change from shooting kit) - best gift I've ever had, the build quality may seem a bit industrial, but it's workmanlike rather than badly made, they are tough and made to last. They light so easily, you only have to wave a lighter at it, and the biggest problem is getting it to go out.
I found one tucked away in a corner of the old association apiary shed, all battered and grimy (luckily I gave it a quick wipe and saw the logo before almost scrapping it) the beginners now fight over it every apiary day. No different build quality to the new ones and a bit of detective work ascertained it belonged to Nance (our second oldest member who sadly died this year) and it would have been her husband's smoker (he died over twenty years ago).
I found that people look at quality in different ways - some don't care how well it works as long as it looks good and some who don't care (within reason) what it looks like as long as it works well.
A bit like Russian firearms - no polished finish, all looks a bit rough and industrial, but they will take a hammering and will outlast any copy the Chinese churn out at a cheaper price.

bought a new one during the summer and have no idea whether those tiny faults the op 's one has are there but it works perfectly and will do for years to come.

Op did you light yours at all?

 

[TooBee...]

Just another thought, you could make a complaint to Dadant itself, acknowledging that it is not the legal responsibility but the actual seller's in the UK: I'm thinking that if Dadant is careful enough to ensure that the products manufactured for them are very good quality (and there is no sign that this has suddenly changed) then there are two options to explain this;
1. it's slipped through their quality control, alerting them to this fact will help them to fix the quality control issue,
or
2. it may be a copy / second (reject)... I've known such things to happen. For example, lets say that Dadant gets it's far eastern supplier to ship direct to it's distributor in the UK, the supplier may send seconds, knowing that they will not be inspected directly by the Buyer, I have had such a thing happen to me, so it is possible!

 

[Ian123]

I went and checked mine and would say its identical to yours....all i can say is mine is about 12 years old and the 3rd ive had 1 getting lost and 1 given away. The lid on mine has come off hinge as with most smokers and i have duct tape over a hole in bellow fabric. Its been dropped, abused and left out in the rain but looks like it could do many more years. So whilst not pretty it is only a smoker and i would not buy any other. Ive seen a lot of the cheaper versions but they just tend to rot out or springs in bellows go

 

[dano41]

Thornes offered a full refund straight away.Ian your's backed up what I passed on to Gabe Dadant that they have been making them badly for years.His reply was thats the way they have been made from years and will continue to be made like that.Americans are always very quick to boast about their manufacturing and engineering skills seems they have let their standards slip now.Possibly following the lead of big chief orange face

 

[Ian123]

Hi dano am glad you have your money back and clearly thornes did the right thing if your not happy. I would say i dont consider them badly made as they are perfectly fit for purpose, its a smoker not a rolex and accept it could be regarded as a little argicultural. I will gladly see a little less finness in return for more robust construction with better quality materials. Rough looking or not they are the choice of most the pros i have met.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I would say i dont consider them badly made as they are perfectly fit for purpose, its a smoker not a rolex and accept it could be regarded as a little argicultural. I will gladly see a little less finness in return for more robust construction with better quality materials. Rough looking or not they are the choice of most the pros i have met.

Nothing wrong with the Dadant, and well done Gabe for sticking to his guns. It's a tool not a fashion accessory

 

[Beefriendly]

Nothing wrong with the Dadant, and well done Gabe for sticking to his guns. It's a tool not a fashion accessory

Just checked mine against OP pictures. It's identical to mine, although with 6 years worth of use mine is perhaps a little dirtier with an odd bit of duct tape patching the sole hole in the bellows. That's the way they are made.
It does what it says it does.

As an aside I find the smaller smokers are more difficult to keep smoking, possibly due to lack of through draft when stood. For example, I could never keep wood shavings smoking in a small smoker, no problem in a Dadant sized smoker/...although the new problem was the tarry deposit