they would still work good for feeding hay but due to the top part being cut off one end would spill when feeding grain. now having been around horses all my life i realize this is not a big deal but im sure the ranchers would rather buy barrels with both ends on them. As for making a grill or cooker, no way. We have 6 to 12 to 24 inch casing from the oilfield in abundance so theres no way we would use a barrel to make a smoker. the grills we weld from these casings fetch hundreds or even a grand for the ones that we weld permanently to trailers. i doubt anyone around here would want a barrel grill it pales in comparison to that haha