Yoder Smokers Community Forum

As most of you likely heard, we are implementing a small price increase on 09/01. We have engineered a few new pieces into the pellet grills that will give you longer service life. We have introduced a new burn grate that will not change shape under prolonged heat exposure, and will have these available for sale to current owners in the next several weeks. We also have a couple of additions that will release next week.

Are any of these improvements implemented in pending orders?

Yes, there will be two modifications that have been released in pending orders. We began to ship the burn grates in this configuration last week. We continue to test and work on product improvement through customer feedback. The implementation of the new burn grate should provide great service life under the higher grill temperature that are achieved in our pellet cookers. We will post the second smaller alteration early next week.

It's great to see this info and this should be a nice improvement. Thanks, guys.

I took delivery of my new 640 last week (Friday) in Wichita and I do not have this new burn grate.

Like all companies that manufacturer products, we had to plan and forecast a time to implement the new part(s) into the production line. This decision was not arbitrary, but based on component availability and new extended build times for the completed assemblies. Logistically this requires preparing production procedures for the new part(s), and that an adequate supply of inventory of the new parts be developed so as to not stop daily production. As the inventory of these part(s) is increased, over what is consumed by the daily production, we will be able to release part(s) for individual sales. Units that do not have the new burn grate came off the production line prior to the new part being implemented.

I am looking forward to the new burn grates, since I'm on my third one.

Price for the new burn grate will be $49.95 plus shipping.

Yoder_Herb what model of pellet smoker is that in your profile photo?

mookiez wrote:Yoder_Herb what model of pellet smoker is that in your profile photo?

It isn't a pellet cooker. It is a Kingman custom wood pit, with upright. It is 2600 pounds of log burning awesomeness.

exprmntal wrote:I took delivery of my new 640 last week (Friday) in Wichita and I do not have this new burn grate.

I just realized that I do have the new grate! Woo hoo! I don't know how I missed that. So sorry for the confusion.

Just curious...on the new burn plate, it looks like the improvement is two pieces welded on the side to keep it more stable, right? Same metal, just better engineered, correct?

Great to see that Yoder is always striving to improve!

Correct, the angle is now locked and will not move.

Yoder_Herb wrote:

mookiez wrote:Yoder_Herb what model of pellet smoker is that in your profile photo?

It isn't a pellet cooker. It is a Kingman custom wood pit, with upright. It is 2600 pounds of log burning awesomeness.

Thanks too much for my experience level but I think the YS1500 will work for me as I'm upgrading from a Traeger Texan.

Dang missed it by a week...but I have a TIG welder, plasma cutter, and plenty of steel in my shop...hmmmmmm

Can you tell us about the other changes? Or do we need to wait till next week?

My YS640 Comp Cart is still a few weeks out for delivery

Sorry, we will have wait for the official announcements.

Another great example, at least IMHO, of Yoder's continued excellent customer service and pursuit of excellence, so thanks Yoder!

1. I'm just wondering if there's any reason to grab a new burn grate if mine is holding its shape fine, at least for the time being? This mod/upgrade seems to impact the longevity of the burn grate more than it's performance, assuming that the current burn grate is still holding its shape. I assume that the new and improved burn grate will be available for order going forward (at least once they're available) pretty much any time, no, so no urgency to get one until one is needed?

2. I saw this on Yoder's Facebook page and I'm just curious if the upgraded burn grate is what's being referred to here or if this is something different? It sounds like this is more of an improvement to the burn pot itself, not to the burn grate. Perhaps this is one of the items you mention above that will be discussed soon.



There has been several questions regarding the other change we made to the pellet cookers. We implemented an improved burn pot two weeks ago into production of all pellet cookers. The improved burn pot minimizes the exposure of the silicone seal at the top of the fire pot. We do have near term plans of a retrofit kit for the older versions. Once we have these kits available we will announce this and any associated cost that may be involved.
Stay tuned as we will be releasing another add on accessory next week!

Thanks!

TJ

The original burn grate will continue to function fine. This new improved version eliminates the need to manually refit the burn grate into the firebox, i.e., stepping on the burn grate to bend it back to proper fit into the firebox, when vacuuming out the ash. If you are comfortable with this process, there is no need to purchase the new burn grate.

All other upgrades/updates will be announced here as they become available.

Interested in the other updates as well, just ordered my YS1500 today from Deb.

There has been several questions regarding the other change we made to the pellet cookers. We implemented an improved burn pot two weeks ago into production of all pellet cookers. The improved burn pot minimizes the exposure of the silicone seal at the top of the fire pot. We do have near term plans of a retrofit kit for the older versions. Once we have these kits available we will announce this and any associated cost that may be involved.

Stay tuned as we will be releasing another add on accessory next week!

Thanks for the update Herb, looking forward to seeing the next accessory

Yoder_Herb wrote: Stay tuned as we will be releasing another add on accessory next week!

New firebox.jpg

Any news on the add on accessory?

Not as yet, but soon.

Well...whats the big announcement?