# Trarger Grills



## striper (Oct 21, 2010)

Just a bit of a rant here about these grills.  I've been using the lil Tex for a bit over a year and have had mostly great luck with it.  However on 2 occasions it has over smoked the meat.  Actually turned it into Creosote Coated Crap. (Even though I didn't have the unit set to smoke either time)

Then my GF decided to buy me the Junior complete with the Tail Gating kit, to use while I travel during the winter.  Both of these units have the costly upgraded control.  Of course you have to install that control yourself.  After spending a good amount of time putting the Junior together, including getting my arms covered with fiberglass from the Tail Gating kit.  THE DAMN THING DIDN'T WORK.  When I returned it to the dealer he told me they have been experiencing between 20 and 25% failure rate on the new controls.  These units are now made in China and in my opinion have gone way down in quality.  However the price is still very high for them.

As for the Pellets, I have found that I need to run them through a screening process to remove all the saw dust before they are usable.  For something that costs as much as these units and their associated supplies do, I find this situation to be a real P!SS OFF.

Striper


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## geaux tigers (Oct 21, 2010)

I bought a Treager 075 last year. It works OK. Never got the over smoked taste. However, on 225 de. it would run as high as 286. I burnt racks of BBR several times. I gave my daughter the Treager last week as I now have a Memphis PRO.


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## yrrndsmoker (Oct 21, 2010)

Same problem for me, I have the 75 lil tex.  Usually run it on the 225 setting and temps can run anywhere from 180'-270'.  Close to 100' difference is unacceptable.  I called the manufacture and they told me about the setting adjustments but it didn't help at all.  Luckily I bought mine from Costco so it will be returned with no hassle.  I think i'm going to go with the MES 40".


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## pokey (Oct 21, 2010)

Sorry to hear about your problem with Traeger QC. I hope they get it under control and do right by you.

I may be telling you stuff you already know, but here goes:

I've been using a Lil Tex since June and had one of what they call a "Flame Out". What happens is that for some reason the fire box gets overstuffed with pellets and when the fire gets going, causes an oversmoking condition where you get that creosote you described. I did it to myself by accidentally turning the unit off and on again too quickly. That causes it to start its automatic startup process which dumps a bunch of pellets to start a new fire. The problem is that there's already pellets in the fire box and the fire is already going. You end up with an over-fired situation. It hasn't happened to me since.

There's a setting called the "P" setting that controls the rate at which pellets are fed into the firebox when it's maintaining a specific temperature. The correct P-setting varies depending on ambient temperature, wind, phase of the moon, and what all. Some Traeger smokers test and set the P-setting every time they smoke. I haven't touched mine, but I'm still a newbie at this stuff. There's a web site that has a lot of useful info on using these things called pelletheads.com.

Good luck. And life's too short to stay angry.

Oh, and don't use Traeger pellets. They suck. Go with Bear Mountain or cookinpellets or BBQers Delight.


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## nwdave (Oct 21, 2010)

Joe, tell us what you think .  Sorry you're having these problems.  Looks like you're just going to have to relearn how to use your BB GOSM.  You can always burn the pellets in it's smoke box, dust and all.  The irony is that at the Bellingham Costco, they've got a traeger display with their specialists, this month.  Maybe you ought to stop by and "grill" them.


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## squirrel (Oct 21, 2010)

I have one and let me just say that if I didn't get such a good deal on it I would be smackin' around some Traeger folks. I can't rely on it to do large quantities for deadline cooks. The digital temp. is always wrong. Sometimes I can get it up to temp but most of the time not. Forget about getting it past 300F. If I do it jumps around. I can't tell the difference between any of the pellets (flavor). When I first got it I was actually thinking about upgrading to a larger one. NOT GONNA HAPPEN.


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## dick foster (Oct 21, 2010)

I'd be ticked off too. There is absolutly no excuse for the temps to run away like that on something that is electic and cost as much as these things and the pellets to use them do.

Call me cheap but I guess I'll be sticking with lump and chunk and doing the little bit of extra work every three hours or so to fuel the thing myself. I think it real wood is probably better that stuck together pellets of sawdust waste anyway. Talk about a racket.


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## yrrndsmoker (Oct 21, 2010)

I was under the impression when i bought mine that I was buying the "top of the line" smoker.  Sounds like temp control is one of their biggest problems.


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## striper (Oct 22, 2010)

Well if you really, REALLY want to know, right now I think it's a piece of sh!t.  While I haven't had the heat problems that others here mentioned, I am pretty disgusted with something that costs as much as these units do and performs as poorly as they seem to.  While I've used my lil Tex with very good results, overall, I am tired of having to screen the sawdust out of the pellets.  The local dealer has fixed the problem and the company wants me to call them about it.  Right now they really don't want to talk to me.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





   I'll call them next week.  And you are right, I do need to go back to using my BB GOSM more.


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## squirrel (Oct 22, 2010)

Today I set it for 325. 30 minutes later it was extremely hot at 425. It seems to be going from one extreme to the other. I contacted the local dealer and he is going to pick it up Monday, seems like a nice guy. I hope they can get it to work properly. I can see where it will be a useful item if it works properly. I'm starting to look at the MES 40" stainless with the door.


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## striper (Oct 23, 2010)

I have my lil Tex running now and the temps are holding fairly close.  With it set at 250 it's running a little over 265.  So far so good today, got a batck of Halibut in it for a light smoke.


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## dick foster (Oct 24, 2010)

Good lord, my charcol fired offset with a stoker fan does a lot better job if temp regulation than that. There is no valid excuse at all for an electric unit not to be dead nuts on all the time. Absolutely none. Time to get up to temp yes, but after that it should be within five degrees of target all the time. If not, then someone built crap then put it on the market.

Essentially an electric smoker is no different than any other electric oven found in kitchens everywhere.  And no one would expect or put up with that sort of nonsense from a Maytag.


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## yrrndsmoker (Oct 24, 2010)

Dick Foster said:


> Good lord, my charcol fired offset with a stoker fan does a lot better job if temp regulation than that. There is no valid excuse at all for an electric unit not to be dead nuts on all the time. Absolutely none. Time to get up to temp yes, but after that it should be within five degrees of target all the time. If not, then someone built crap then put it on the market.
> 
> Essentially an electric smoker is no different than any other electric oven found in kitchens everywhere.  And no one would expect or put up with that sort of nonsense from a Maytag.


When i bought mine I was under the same impression. You would think it would be more like a rheostat that would just have a +-3 degree setpoint that kicked the auger on or off.  It seems that Traeger pulled an epic fail on that design issue.  Hopefully they listen to their customers and do some redesigning before they no longer have any customers.


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## harley (Oct 24, 2010)

Call the company!!  They have been great for me to work with when I have had problems.  I haven't had to pay for a part yet.  That sucks about the digital temp control.  I was thinking about getting one.  Guess I will stay old school.


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## pokey (Oct 24, 2010)

It's nothing like an electric oven. In an electric oven the heat is provided by something electric. In the Traegers the heat is provided by burning wood pellets. Heat control is performed by managing the addition of pellets to the fire box. There is an electric igniter whose job it is to assure there is a fire/smolder happening, but not to directly provide heat to the cooking chamber.

I'm not making an excuse for them, but just clarifying. When I bought my Traeger, I had not done the proper amount of due diligence and I too thought I was getting a top of the line smoker. The more sophisticated smokers have separated the generation of smoke from the generation of heat for cooking and  therefore are arguably better at both. Live and learn.

If I had really domne my homework, I'd have probably gotten an A-MAZE-N Smoker and first tried to smoke in my Weber grill. Then I'd have graduated to something else, probably not a Traeger. Oh well.


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## dick foster (Oct 25, 2010)

Thanks for clearing that up for me. I was under the impression that they operated like the MES units do where the pellets were just there for the smoke and heat was provided by a heating element.

Still with a temperature controller involved there isn't a lot of room of an excuse, not for swings that large anyway. Not unless they are really messing the fuel up and loading it with something that would make it burn much much hotter or something along those lines. Either that or the temp controllers they are using simply aren't worth taking out of the box. Something is obviously very haywire.

Think I'll be sticking with my charcoal/stick burner just the same. It gets the job done and now that I've modified it so much, it has been working quite nicely, especailly for a smaller smoker like I wanted. If I make any changes at all, I suppose next I'll just build one from scratch myself. Some of the builds I've seen here are indeed awesome and make me want to give it a try.


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## pokey (Oct 25, 2010)

The rate at which the pellets burn and the amount of heat they give off is dependent on a number of factors, probably most important, the pellets themselves. The P-setting is their way of putting control over that in the hands of the owners, and seems to work according to folks who have played around with it. I haven't found a need to.

I'm not complaining. I've been lucky and have had great results. But I probably would have gone in a different direction if I knew then what I know now. But I'm not going anywhere!


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## striper (Oct 26, 2010)

Had my chat with Traeger yesterday.  Let's just leave it with my final statement to them before I hung up, "Sir you can rest assured that I'll NEVER own another Traeger product as long as I live".


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## smokinbrent (Feb 2, 2011)

I have an 075 and have had NO issues with the temps.. I DID put some bricks in the bottom tho due to the cold temps this time of year to help stabalize the temps. The elect/door top thermometer temps are quite different however the INTERNAL temp stays quite close to the electronic temp. I do make it a point of keeping the bottom cleaned out and the pot cleaned as well. JUST went out and checked it.. 300 on the electronic gauge... 305 on the oven temp unit inside.. OUTSIDE temp is 7 deg above zero.When it's COLD out the bricks HAVE to help??

Brent


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## SmokinAl (Feb 5, 2011)

Geez, I'm glad I don't own a Traeger. Almost bought one a couple of years ago, but it was a little pricey for me.


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## striper (Apr 5, 2011)

I talked with a Treager salesman at the Bakersfield Costco in January.  Told him how disappointed I am with the product.  He called me later and told me a couple of things to try when I got back home.  Tried them and I'm still running 350-360 on the readout with the control set as high as it will go.  Next thing will be to hang a temperature probe in the unit, turn it on high and see if there is a difference between actual temp and registered temp.  I keep the inside and the burn pot cleaned out also.


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## coacher72 (Apr 5, 2011)

Has anyone done a comparison between the Traeger and the Yoder pellet grills. Do the Yoder grills experience the same problems? The things I've seen and read about the Yoder have been pretty positive. Of course, as expensive as Traeger's are, it would be tough to get rid of one and buy a Yoder model or some other pellet grill because they are pretty pricey as well.


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## jjsmoke (Apr 5, 2011)

Sorry to hear of all the problems, I have had a 75 for years and my temp has always been within 15 degrees using multiple thermometers, in fact I keep hoping it will go nuts so I can upgrade to the double hopper. I am usually using there pellets and I just screen the dust out, I do the same picking thru the lump I use on my offset. I would say keep calling them as they have been nothing but great to me. Good luck.


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## striper (Apr 5, 2011)

Thanks, believe me I burned up the phone lines last fall.  To paraphrase the conversation it was "Go Away and leave us alone".  Local dealer has pretty much done all he can do, so most likely will put the 2 of them on CL this summer and go with something else.


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## striper (Apr 6, 2011)

Got bored yesterday afternoon, so I fired up the Little Tex and hung a temperature probe in it.  With it set at 225 degrees things were pretty accurate, so I decided to go for it.  Turned the dial to it's highest setting, after about 30 minutes the grill registered 418 degrees.  The temperature probe however was registering 490 degrees.  So for "Sh!ts and Grins" I turned it down to 300 and let it go for another 20 minutes or so, grill registered 325 but the temperature probe registered 370.  This weekend I'll re clean the grills probe and see if things get any better.  Right now doing Low and Slow it is hard to beat, but in trying to do something like a Steak not so good.


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## smokinbrent (Apr 6, 2011)

INteresting.. I use mine on a daily basis w/temps as cold as the single digets.. always close.. I DID put bricks in mine to help maintain temps easier to tho.. high end??? It'll PEG the temp gauge easily.. wish I could help more.


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## striper (Apr 7, 2011)

Thanks, guess I'll try adding some bricks to the bottom also.  I use mine 3-4 times a week.  Generally cook for multiple meals each time. Right now I'm leaning toward the problem being a faulty temperature sensor in the chamber.  What a chore it's gonna be to change that.


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## striper (May 24, 2011)

Well more problems with the unit.  The Hot Rod went out, so had to start lighting it with a small torch.  Talk about SMOKE.
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






   However it seems the unit is still under warranty so Treager sent me a replacement part.  While it was a bit of a pain to change, got it done and things seem to be working good again.  I've started cleaning the Temperature Sensing Rod with denatured alcholol between uses and it seems to be working a bit better.  I can say that Treager was much more responsive to the problem this time than they have been in the past.

Now it on to getting some Cheese smoked up in the GOSM so it's ready for the Annual 4th of July Rib Fest at my place.


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## nwdave (May 24, 2011)

Joe, you got mail (not on this sites message system).


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## striper (May 25, 2011)

Thanks Dave,

Gotta say that the Smoked Cheese came out AWESOME.  No I didn't try it in the Treager.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





   Did it in the GOSM using a bit of Secret Squirrel stuff and it came out AWESOME.  My first attempt ended up pretty much like the picture in the Cheese Smoking thread.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





   I did a bunch of Mozzarella sticks and a chunk of Havarti............................THERE IS A LOT MORE OF THIS IN MY FUTURE.


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## BGKYSmoker (May 25, 2011)

I have had my Lil'Tex for over 5 years with no problems at all. But thats when they were made in Oregon not china.

The dust comes from the bags being moved around on store racks or shipping. Dont really bother me.

If you have a digital controller you can set the P Setting on the controller. This is done by pushing a tooth pick or something into the front hole just above the display. P Setting can be found on line.


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## striper (May 27, 2011)

nepas said:


> I have had my Lil'Tex for over 5 years with no problems at all. But thats when they were made in Oregon not china.
> 
> The dust comes from the bags being moved around on store racks or shipping. Dont really bother me.
> 
> If you have a digital controller you can set the P Setting on the controller. This is done by pushing a tooth pick or something into the front hole just above the display. P Setting can be found on line.


Ya, that was my nistake when I bought the Treager, thought they were still made in America.  While it's cooked a boatload of food, it has had it's problems.  I've played with the P setting several times and think I might just have it finely set right.  As for the dust, I now just screen it out when I get to the bottom of the bag.

There will be another pellet grill in my future, but it wiil be one that is Made in America.


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## striper (Jun 24, 2011)

Time for an update. My neighbor told me about a guy that was looking to buy a treager so I called him and last Sunday he showed up and bought my lil tex.  Got a real good price out of it.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





   Then I pulled out the treager jr, loaded it up, fired it off and put a rack of ribs on to slow cook.  After about an hour and a half I turned up the temp a bit.  Then another hour and a half I turned the temp to 375 to finish things.  After about 45 minutes I went to check things and found it pouring smoke and stinking bad.  Got the ribs out, they were almost black, and finally figured out that the fan had died.  The auger was still working though so the unit had turned into a "smudge pot".  So I took it back to the local dealer, they decided that, "Yep the fan had died".  Since this unit had now had problems from day 1 they gave me a large portion of money back on it.  I walked out of the store feeling just like the proverbial boat owner on the second happiest day of his life.  I was now Treager Less.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





On Monday I also talked with Yoder Grills and had already ordered the YS640.  That unit arrived today and in comparision it is built like a tank.  The delivery driver asked a lot of questions about it and finally said " I'm looking to buy a Pellet Grill, but I won't own a treager cause several of my friends have them and they spend more time broke down then they do cooking on them".

Bottom line is I cooked a lot of good food on the lil tex.  I had a lot of problems with both units.  Terager customer service was terrible one time and great the next.  So after my experience with them I can honestly say that I'll NEVER own another Treager product and I will also NEVER  recommend them to anyone.


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## tjohnson (Jun 25, 2011)

Hey Joe!

Sooooo

Tell us about the New Yoder Pellet Smoker?????

Start a new thread....Please?

Todd


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## striper (Jun 25, 2011)

TJohnson said:


> Hey Joe!
> 
> Sooooo
> 
> ...




Hey Todd,

Will do. 

Joe


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## michael ark (Jun 25, 2011)

you could of checked the probe with multi meter on resitance.


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## nwdave (Jun 26, 2011)

michael ark said:


> you could of checked the probe with multi meter on resitance.


Joe's point of view is that for the bucks you pay for a Traeger, you shouldn't have to put up with the poor functioning of it.  Let's face it, a Traeger isn't cheap.  Perhaps we've been growing too accustomed to poor workmanship and quality control.  It's time to call a halt to that.  We deserve better.  We shouldn't have to check this and that to get something to work.  Especially when it's for a highly touted product that's just not cutting it.


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## striper (Jun 26, 2011)

michael ark said:


> you could of checked the probe with multi meter on resitance.


Michael,

Yes I could have done that IF I owned a multi meter AND I knew how to use it.  NWDave covered the rest of my response very well.  Having been a business owner for many years I also have a problem with a company that will send a Rep. into an area twice a year and UNDERCUT their regular distributors.  Treager does this all over the US.


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## striper (Jun 29, 2011)

So I was just sitting around last night and decided to do a bit of a comparision of the Treager Lil Tex to the Yoder 480;

Treager Lil Tex is 418 sq inches of cooking area, and weighs in at 125 lbs. But it comes with a 3 position switch, so if you want the Digital control that's extra.  Then there are NO shelves on the outside of the unit, but you can buy ONE.  Also it's extra for the extra cooking shelf, which takes away a portion of your main shelf as it sits on the main shelf,and then generally they charge you for the cover.  Equiped that way with Tax here locally it costs $1,055.00.  And then you have to put the whole thing together, including installing the Digital Control.

The Yoder YS480 has 480 sq inches of cooking area and weigs in at 263 lbs. (Just a bit more than DOUBLE the Treager)  You can add a 2nd cooking shelf for $75.00 which has it's own mounts so you don't lose any of your main grill area.  It comes with a Digital control which is infinitely adjustable.  This unit delivered to my door came in at $ 1314.00.  It comes 95% assembled and the little assembly required doesn't need any tools.

Bottom line, for $258.00 difference you get a grill that is way heavier built, has a much better control unit, has cool down feature,  and is MADE IN AMERICA.

There are many more differences between the 2 units.  Way more versitility in cooking with the Yoder, etc.


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## nwdave (Jun 29, 2011)

Uh, Joe, I think your number finger got excited and misplaced the decimal in your final figures.  Perhaps $1,321.40 might be more accurate? 

Now, you need to do one more thing and that is do a review, formally.  That's over on the right side of the page.  So, tell us what you think about your new smoker.  Can I borrow it?
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Quote:


Striper said:


> So I was just sitting around last night and decided to do a bit of a comparision og the Treager Lil Tex to the Yoder 480;
> 
> This unit delivered to my door come in at $ 13214.00.  It comes 95% assembled and the little assembly required doesn't need any tools.
> 
> ...


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## striper (Jun 29, 2011)

NWDave said:


> Uh, Joe, I think your number finger got excited and misplaced the decimal in your final figures.  Perhaps $1,321.40 might be more accurate?
> 
> Now, you need to do one more thing and that is do a review, formally.  That's over on the right side of the page.  So, tell us what you think about your new smoker.  Can I borrow it?
> 
> ...


Oops, that was supposed to be $1314.00.  FORMAL, ME?    So far I LOVE it, and yep if you can lift it into your truck you can borrow it.


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## michael ark (Jun 29, 2011)

Fluke makes a idiot proof meter .Just turn it on it auto ranges from oms to vac to vdc.


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## coacher72 (Jun 29, 2011)

Striper,

I'm glad to see you gave the Yoder YS480 a try. I have heard a lot of good things about it and I hope it is what you were looking for. The people that sells these smoker are really good people and are willing to help you if you have trouble. At least that has been my experience. I don't have their pellet grill, but I do have their Wichita model offset smoker and have been very pleased with the craftsmanship and the results I get.

anxious to read your review.


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## striper (Jun 29, 2011)

Coacher,

Thanks.  I actually went for the YS 640 and am very happy with it so far.  I used the 480 in the comparision because it was closer in size to the Treager lil Tex that I had.  I started a thread on my new Yoder and have posted my experiences there for now.  Gonna have to figure out the review thingy though as a certain guy that lives north of me ain't gonna let me off without posting one.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	




 


Coacher72 said:


> Striper,
> 
> I'm glad to see you gave the Yoder YS480 a try. I have heard a lot of good things about it and I hope it is what you were looking for. The people that sells these smoker are really good people and are willing to help you if you have trouble. At least that has been my experience. I don't have their pellet grill, but I do have their Wichita model offset smoker and have been very pleased with the craftsmanship and the results I get.
> 
> anxious to read your review.


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## petecooks (Sep 9, 2012)

3 controllers, 2 grill bodies, 7 tear-down/rebuilds.  Customer service is extremely polite & helpful, which is important, as quality is not very good.


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## petecooks (Sep 9, 2012)

OK, you have to love it when a manufacturer replaces an entire pellet smoker once, and the burner unit a second time.  Back cookin'.  They really do stand behind their product.


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