Smoking ribs on something like a Weber or a Brinkman can generally be accomplished by using the "snake" system of briquette alignment. I've seen it called this in print, I personally thought of it as a fuse. You simply stack briquettes around the perimeter, I do 3's and leave a small gap where you then place hot coals. If you only light one end they will burn 6 or 7 hours in a big kettle. If you're using a smaller unit you can do a restocking at about 3 hours by adding briquettes to the unburned end extending in to the ash from the start.