My brother-in-law recently built a very nice smoker, from an old propane tank. About 10' long. He put it on a trailer, so it's easily portable. Could use a coat of paint, but that won't make it work any better.
Last weekend, he smoked a whole pig for a graduation. The party was at 6 p.m. Saturday. We were to eat shortly after. He put the pig on a 3 p.m. Friday, at 275*!! You can imagine what happened. It was awful. Tough, dry, very little smoke flavor, just charcoal. Worst part is, the poor guy thought it was great. Oh, and, he also put six chickens on. At 10 a.m. Saturday. Right over the fire! by 6, they looked like six little bowling balls. I don't think there was any salvagable meat on them. What bbq abortion.
The lesson is, it's not the equiptment you have, it's know how to use what ever you have. I far from claim to be the greatest at grilling / smoking, but I could have at least made it ediable.