My question is :
1) can you effectively smoke on the Abilene 20" ?
2) Is the size difference between the Cheyenne 16" and the Wichita that big of a difference? I want to know if there is enough clearance for pork shoulders without the lid touching them. thanks!
I've never used the Abilene, but figured sure, would just build coal bed on far right side, place meat in middle and left side???
Between a Cheyenne and Wichita, 4" is a big difference, are you talking if you have a Wichita with a second rack will a pork butt touch the lid or from the lower level? Both can fit fine on lower level, on a second level on a Wichita, the butt will most likely touch the lid, it even does with my kingman,
If you're buying to smoke, I would go with Wichita, if you have the $$$$$ go for the Kingman 
You can some in the Abilene, just as kcphilaflyer states, but, you drastically limit the amount of meat you can smoke at one time, because the fire is in the cooking chamber, i.e., imagine half the chamber used for the fire and the other half for the meat.
To put "big meats" on the top shelf, you need to be mindful of the vertical height between the grate and the lid. Naturally, the largess amount of space will be in the center of the grate, where the arc of the cooking chamber has the greatest distance to the grate. In this case pork butts are best orientated the long way running from the firebox to the chimney, so that they stay within this large clearance "zone".
The real question that you need to answer for yourself before deciding on a cooker, is the number of people that you want to cook for, or the amount, and type, of meat that you want to cook at the same time.
after reading numerous posts, this will be the last grill/smoker i'll ever buy so i'll be going with the Wichita, just cooking for around 20 people mainly shoulders and briskets. Is a square box available?
We do offer a square firebox for the Wichita, it lists for $450.00. Give us a call and we will be glad to get you one started.
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