I'm looking to build a side-blowing charcoal/coke hybrid forge. Does anyone know whether its better to have the blower blowing in through the back or through the side?

I am planning to build it in a rectangle, akin to propane forge designs, with the front open. Should I place the opening for the fan on the long side or in the back opposite the opening? Any help would be great.

Solid fuel and propane forges are two different basic designs, you don't need a chamber over the solid fuel forge, indeed if you do it that way you will have difficulty in feeding fuel into it.

As for side or rear entry for the tuyere, it really does depend on what you are going to be doing in it or how versatile you want it to be and your fan/blower set up, if using a hand operated fan it may be more convenient to feed your air in from the side.

For general smithing I would go for a rear entry air feed and if using coke as a fuel and you expect to be using it for extended periods at a time, seriously consider the use of a water cooled tuyere set up for longevity.

Charcoal and coke also need different depths of fuel when in use so take that into cosideration also

Good luck with whatever you decide to make.

The side draft that I built had the blast in the rear. I was continually getting stuff blown into my face and the heat seemed to spread up the steel faster. After I changed it to draft from the side the problems went away. However, I started with the bottom draft fire pot and I was never really happy with the side draft.
If I was going to be useing charcole exclusivly I would definatly go to a side draft.

Ridgeway, I'm going to buy a vehicle do I need a car or a truck---please tell me!

Kind of hard to know without the details...