Traeger 075 Texas

by Stone Winston
(Billings, MT)

I bought the 075 ("Texas") at Costco, on sale for $800 when the rep was in town for a sale. The first time I fired it up, WHAP! the heating rod goes south. I called the factory and they sent out a new one. I installed that and fired up the grill, WHAP, it goes out as well. I called them, raised the roof and the sent me out a complete hopper. I fired it up again and started cooking ribs, WHAP, the rod goes out for a third time. I'm thinking, I just spend $800 on a grill and have to deal with this? Really, REALLY? The problem is, two or three years ago, they started having their parts made in China, BAD BAD MOVE in the quality department. I took it back to Costco and got a cash refund. I bought a Yoder YS640. http://www.yodersmokers.com/pellet.html I had it shipped with all the goodies. This thing was a bit more money, but you talk about bullet proof QUALITY! The Yoder is a life long grill, where the Treager, once the same way, is nothing but problems.

I got a chance to get to know enough about Treager repair experience to become a tech, if I ever decide to quit my engineering gig.