I personally think Mesquite sucks for smoking......same for Kiawe.
Crash, I hope you buy ALL your pork products in Honolulu for that, AND take them home on the Pali highway!
(Guys, a mean menehune will get you if you take pork over the Pali.)
On a different note, I remember seeing big massive Huli-huli chicken roasts taking place, advertising "kiave" cooked chicken, and seeing the BIG stack of MEXICAN 40 pound bags of mesquite chunk charcoal. (Same kind I have a big stack of, incedentally.)
Crash, if you haven't cut up the second drum, look at my brother Sterling's (Skouson here) posts, for his directions to set up a real UDS. Also, look for a weber kettle as a donor rig, on CL or wherever you can find a semi-rusted one.
With the weber-based UDS, you effectively get another 10 inches in height. The Weber lid will (almost) fit a regular 55 gal drum. You can easily run 2 cooking grates. And, with the patented "fatboy" mod, you don't need to bend way down to adjust the heat.
steve