I'm looking at an allseasons smoker at buccees or saving $350.00 and buy the oklahoma joes smoker at Lowes. The allseason is 3/16 steel with sliding grates and baffles in the smoke chamber, the oklahoma joes seems well built but much thinner and has mostly good reviews but needs some inexpensive mods to make it a viable smoker.
For those of you with the more heavy duty smokers and those with the cheaper ones, is it worth the extra money for the heavy duty one?
I've been using a tiny offset smoker for a few years so either one will be a vast improvement.
Thanks

Apples to apples a thicker one may hold the temp better. Look for a tight one.

yep, thicker should hold temperature better ... should last longer against burn-out with proper care. Also agree tighter fitting pieces help too.

I would keep an eye on Craigslist. You can get a well built handmade heavy duty smoker for the price you will spend on a store bought and it will last you a lot longer. I have seen good handmade smokers in the 200-400 range

I agree with he thicker holding heat better comments. I had a cheapo from Lowes and when that one finally went out after a few years I got a thicker larger one and it cooks so much better. My fire box and smoke stack are both welded on to the main cooking chamber, this helps keep from losing smoke and heat between the cracks. I smoked a hog ham recently with a decent sized pile of charcoal and a few small chunks of pecan for about 3 hours and it held the heat very nicely.

I've had it for about 3 years now so I don't remember the specs, but I picked it up at academy and they still sell them there.

I have been to academy and have not seen any heavy duty thick steel smokers in years. I would keep an eye on craigslist. I bought mine off there 4 years ago for 900.00. It is on an 8ft trailer. Smoke box is 1/2 in steel and the rest is 1/4in. Very heavy duty, cooks great. Holds heat very well. You can get a cheaper one from lowes, just remember that you get what you pay for.