jason,
hiya from st augustine.
got your email and will try to call you today.
for now here's my feelings on the sm and fec thing since we have both.
fec-
pellets are great as you can custom blend them to both your taste preferences and your fec's preference. in our case we find bbqr's delight works best for our tastes but more importantly for my fec. this is an area where you will have to experiment for your self. the fec goes to higher temps and turns out great chicken and biscuits too!!
sm150-
only 2 drawbacks to them.
1-they ain't allowed in competitions since they are electric but i think the real reason is if you keep good notes everytime you cook after a year you could duplicate anything you have ever cooked in it. that being said consistancy (though it is the hobgoblin of small minds) is exactly what your customers want and from that stand point it slightly edges out the fec in my opinion. also my health inspector loves the auto hold feature. we use the same pellets in it that we use in the fec.
2- get a generator at least 2000 watts and that assumes no further load is placed on the gennie which is draw back number 2. however i will say that running my fec and sm along with the hood system, 22 cu ft reefer,7.2 cu ft freezer, water heater and pump that 2 3000 watt gennies work fine and in a 24 hour period will only burn 6 gallons of gas.
if you go to page 3 of this pro forum look up "2 greyhound rig pics we hope". it will give you an idea of how you can layout in an 8 x 18 foot area.
hope this helps some
again will try to give you a buzz this afternoon
jack