re: Help me overcome my fear of wood smokers

You don't need one unless you're cooking large quantities. I have a 26 inch Weber Kettle, and have smoked all sorts of things on it. Two boston butts at once, up to 3 racks of ribs, chicken, turkey, etc. I use the snake method for coals and put chunks of wood on top. Usually a 2x2 ring of coals, about 2/3 of the way around the perimeter at the bottom, and just lay fat chunks all the way around on top of that. You will learn more and more with experience, but I rarely check it once I get it started. Maybe every 90 minutes, but you can quickly walk over and look at the thermometer, or you can get one that will clip to the cooking grate or probes to the meat. Like you, I mostly just grill burgers, dogs, chicken, and simple stuff, but for versatility a kettle is great.

ETA: I used to have a big offset smoker and the Weber kettle can do anything that could do, just not as much meat at once. I liked that I could start a chimney of coals on the gas side burner, and dump into the firebox with new wood but after tinkering with the snake method there’s no sense in fooling with all that just to cook for my family. If I was cooking for a party maybe.