# Yoder Loaded Wichita



## chazman24 (Dec 5, 2020)

Hello all, I had the opportunity to purchase a used Yoder Wichita for a good deal. After bringing it home found out that some folks have trouble with fire management in  these models.  Are there any Yoder owners here that can let me know what their experience has been,  good or bad? This smoker is a tank and very well built.


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## sandyut (Dec 5, 2020)

I am not a Yoder owner but...can you elaborate on "fire management"?  Do you mean like catching fire or temperature management i.e. fire pot???  From what I have read, I haven't read any complaints/issues.  Everything I read said these were great units.

Maybe also share the model and year??  They just came out the a new version I am pretty sure.


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## jcam222 (Dec 5, 2020)

Quick google search finds quite a bit on airflow issues. Kind of surprising from a company like Yoder. First thing I’d do is fire it up , do a cook and see if you have issues. If you do here is a place to start https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=252264


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## chazman24 (Dec 5, 2020)

Sandyut, I've heard that the vent intake is mounted too high and it does draft well. Either way,I'm sure I'll pulling some smokey goodness off of this baby, just looking for anyone that has had issues.


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## chazman24 (Dec 5, 2020)

Jcam222 thank you for the information.


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## chazman24 (Dec 5, 2020)

Jcam222 what a great read, very informative. Thank you for the information.


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## jcam222 (Dec 5, 2020)

chazman24 said:


> Jcam222 what a great read, very informative. Thank you for the information.


Quite welcome. You might be able to rig a longer stack by extending the existing one down into the smoker with stovepipe? Not sure I’m mechanically challenges haha


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## kevin james (Dec 5, 2020)

chazman24 said:


> Hello all, I had the opportunity to purchase a used Yoder Wichita for a good deal. After bringing it home found out that some folks have trouble with fire management in  these models.  Are there any Yoder owners here that can let me know what their experience has been,  good or bad? This smoker is a tank and very well built.



Check this video out:



It's by a Youtuber named T-Roy Cooks who used  to use a Yoder Witchita before he upgraded to his current Lonestar Grillz a couple years ago. His videos are great in general, but this particular video is specifically about how he manages his fire in his Witchita, so it might be very helpful to you. He also does question and answer sessions and tells people to send him questions in the comment sections of his videos. If you have specific questions you could try to reach out to him. He seems like a really cool and very down to earth guy.


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## chazman24 (Dec 5, 2020)

kevin james said:


> Check this video out:
> 
> 
> 
> It's by a Youtuber named T-Roy Cooks who used  to use a Yoder Witchita before he upgraded to his current Lonestar Grillz a couple years ago. His videos are great in general, but this particular video is specifically about how he manages his fire in his Witchita, so it might be very helpful to you. He also does question and answer sessions and tells people to send him questions in the comment sections of his videos. If you have specific questions you could try to reach out to him. He seems like a really cool and very down to earth guy.



Thank you for the information,  good video. He actually says what most are complaining about with this model that the fire needs to be babysat every 15 minutes.  I've got a newer COS Oklahoma Joe,  and I  only check the fire/temp every 45-60 minutes,  sometimes a little longer.  No doubt this Yoder is gonna cook some great meat, I  was just surprised when someone told me I'd be babysitting this one more than other brands. Thanks again for the video.


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## kevin james (Dec 5, 2020)

chazman24 said:


> Thank you for the information,  good video. He actually says what most are complaining about with this model that the fire needs to be babysat every 15 minutes.  I've got a newer COS Oklahoma Joe,  and I  only check the fire/temp every 45-60 minutes,  sometimes a little longer.  No doubt this Yoder is gonna cook some great meat, I  was just surprised when someone told me I'd be babysitting this one more than other brands. Thanks again for the video.



I hear ya. Personally, I feel like checking on your fire here and there is just part of stick burning, and frankly, tending the fire is part of the fun. But how often you need to check it is dependent on a lot of different variables. For example, how big are the sticks your burning, are they too big or too small for your pit? Also, are you using a digital ambient probe to monitor temps at grate level on your phone, and can you visually see your cookers smoke stack from inside your house?

While I'm fairly new to stick burning, I've put in a lot of time to learn my pit and I've  learned that sure....  using bigger diameter splits I can go pretty close to an hour before putting a new split in, and a lot of times it works fine.  But some times the bigger splits don't like to burn efficiently and they end up smoldering and give off dirty smoke, causing me to need to poke at the fire, flip my splits over etc to get them burning clean. Preheating the splits helps a lot, but it still has problems with bigger splits some times. If I use smaller diameter splits and preheat I never have any problems at all, but I have to add would about every 30 minutes instead of an hour. That's an easy choice for me, I'd rather add wood every 30 minutes and maintain a clean fire than push it to an hour and get dirty smoke on my food. I also use a Fireboard to monitor temps and I can see my smoke stack from my living room couch. So as long as I can see I have clear smoke from the stack, and my temps haven't dropped I know I'm good and I don't have to physically go check it until temps drop. If they start dropping and its been about 30 minutes, then I know why they're dropping... it's time to add wood.


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## chazman24 (Dec 5, 2020)

kevin james said:


> I hear ya. Personally, I feel like checking on your fire here and there is just part of stick burning, and frankly, tending the fire is part of the fun. But how often you need to check it is dependent on a lot of different variables. For example, how big are the sticks your burning, are they too big or too small for your pit? Also, are you using a digital ambient probe to monitor temps at grate level on your phone, and can you visually see your cookers smoke stack from inside your house?
> 
> While I'm fairly new to stick burning, I've put in a lot of time to learn my pit and I've  learned that sure....  using bigger diameter splits I can go pretty close to an hour before putting a new split in, and a lot of times it works fine.  But some times the bigger splits don't like to burn efficiently and they end up smoldering and give off dirty smoke, causing me to need to poke at the fire, flip my splits over etc to get them burning clean. Preheating the splits helps a lot, but it still has problems with bigger splits some times. If I use smaller diameter splits and preheat I never have any problems at all, but I have to add would about every 30 minutes instead of an hour. That's an easy choice for me, I'd rather add wood every 30 minutes and maintain a clean fire than push it to an hour and get dirty smoke on my food. I also use a Fireboard to monitor temps and I can see my smoke stack from my living room couch. So as long as I can see I have clear smoke from the stack, and my temps haven't dropped I know I'm good and I don't have to physically go check it until temps drop. If they start dropping and its been about 30 minutes, then I know why they're dropping... it's time to add wood.


You've got that right, alot of the fun is tending the fire. Also, I've got an Ink Bird and I have an easy line of sight to the smoker. I watched T Roy's video on the Lone Starz smoker and it seems very efficient,  that being said, the Wichita is what I  got the deal on off of marketplace.  I'm going to make it work with or without mods, LOL. I'll burn it a few  times  before I try any mods though.  The previous owner included an Ultra Q fan controller that he was using with it, so there's always that, but I love the stick and charcoal cookers because I don't want to plug them in, LOL.


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## kevin james (Dec 5, 2020)

chazman24 said:


> You've got that right, alot of the fun is tending the fire. Also, I've got an Ink Bird and I have an easy line of sight to the smoker. I watched T Roy's video on the Lone Starz smoker and it seems very efficient,  that being said, the Wichita is what I  got the deal on off of marketplace.  I'm going to make it work with or without mods, LOL. I'll burn it a few  times  before I try any mods though.  The previous owner included an Ultra Q fan controller that he was using with it, so there's always that, but I love the stick and charcoal cookers because I don't want to plug them in, LOL.



Honestly man, I think you'll be totally fine, and will get some great Q off that thing. I know T-Roy sure did on his, and no reason you would have any different results. It's just a matter of taking the time  to learn your new pit, what size splits it likes, what temp it likes to run at, how often you need to add wood, etc. Just have fun with it and enjoy the ride! In the end, it'll be all good.


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## sandyut (Dec 6, 2020)

hi all sorry - I missed the model in the subject...  my error sorry.


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## billy z (Aug 18, 2021)

chazman24 said:


> Hello all, I had the opportunity to purchase a used Yoder Wichita for a good deal. After bringing it home found out that some folks have trouble with fire management in  these models.  Are there any Yoder owners here that can let me know what their experience has been,  good or bad? This smoker is a tank and very well built.


Yoder sold me a new improved firebox door for a very reasonable price . It does help quite a bit. I also extended the stack with a 4” diameter stove pipe .  I had to cut a piece out to clear the stack damper.   It slips right over . The extension helps alot with the draft too. 
I have the heat management plate but no longer use it . It caused more airflow problems than its worth. 
 I initially added about 12” to the stack and that really helped. I am now going to try a longer  section. The new longer stack is now 32” , Haven’t cook with the longer stack yet .  I also added stove gasket all around the the firebox and cook lids.  It just keeps getting better with every improvement.


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## chazman24 (Aug 18, 2021)

Thank you for the information Billy z. What is a reasonable price for the door? And is it just that the vent is a bit lower? Also how long ago did you purchase your door?  I also added a piece of 4" single wall flue pipe. I  used a 24" piece of pipe and also notched ir around the damper.  It makes a HUGE  difference in draft, I even left the HMP installed and it drafted great.  Thank you again for your response.


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## billy z (Aug 18, 2021)

If I recall it was around $50 which included shipping.  I think the the vents are lower and a bit larger.  The back draft is greatly reduced  . I can now cook with the door closed, except when I really need some air.  I borrowed my bro-in-laws MIG welder and did it myself. I installed it with the hinge pins both on top so I can remove the door if I ever need.  Mine was a 2014 model. I guess they have fixed the newer ones. 
I think it was 2019.


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## chazman24 (Aug 18, 2021)

billy z said:


> If I recall it was around $50 which included shipping.  I think the the vents are lower and a bit larger.  The back draft is greatly reduced  . I can now cook with the door closed, except when I really need some air.  I borrowed my bro-in-laws MIG welder and did it myself. I installed it with the hinge pins both on top so I can remove the door if I ever need.  Mine was a 2014 model. I guess they have fixed the newer ones.
> I think it was 2019.


WOW!  That is very reasonable.  So this was a few years ago that you purchased the door.


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