A rep yesterday claimed that the Traeger can maintain temps because once it falls more than 3 degrees out of temp, it'll kick on the automatic feeder. In theory, I'd like to think this is accurate, but have you found this to be reality?

I'm also curious how many hours you typically find a bag of pellets to last (compared to a 35 hour average claim based on low heat by the rep).

Thanks!
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I went through about a third a bag this week-end at about 180 going 12 hours, so 35 hours sounds about right. Three degrees plus or minus I can't verify, but I will say I would tend to believe him. Seems to sit at a very stable temp after about ten minutes.
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Duane, I started rep'ing Traeger's in the early 90's, bought me first Texas BBQ in 94. I would say that the digital T-stats hold at plus or minus 5 or better, depending on how dirty the probe gets. 35 hours on a 20 # bag seems like a good average, depending on how YOU cook and which pellets YOU use. Now stfu and go buy one Bro, ya know ya want one! :-)
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I wish it was that easy. If I was working, I would have ordered one yesterday. I won't be done with school until May and then have to take the NCLEX exam to get an RN job before I can splurge on luxuries like this.

I also checked out a buyers guide of various other brands. Looks like Green Mountain, IPT, and Sawtooth make units of comparable size/price without getting into the outrageously priced stuff. I have a Weber 22.5 WSM and would love to trade that and some cash towards a used pellet smoker in good condition especially.
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Hi Duane, a friend of mine here just bought a Green Mountain Daniel Boone model. He said he compared it to the Traeger and decided on the Green Mountain. Not sure what his reasoning was, but I do like the domed top of the Green mountain as well as the controls on it.
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I saw the ability to have a remote with the GMG, but it's not necessary at all. I figure these things should pretty well regulate their temps on their own.

I found an IPT pellet smoker on craiglist for a great price, but it's 16-18 hours round trip worth of driving. Throw in the $200 for gas and the windshield time, it's not really worth it.
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Mine varies about +/-5 from setpoint
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Still quite reasonable IMO.
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I found a listing on a used Texan from 2007. Only used once and it's the pre-china build with some very minor rust. Has the older thermostat that'll I'll upgrade to the digital. Other than that, a new bucket and a good cleaning and I'll be in business. Also got 2 bags (one of which wad onion????). I'm toying eulogy the idea of making a built-in setup for it on the deck.

Took it home for $350.
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Nice score! :-)
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Congrats on the new cooker. You will love it!!!
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I've got to get a new digital thermostat for this thing. I had a recommendation on BBQ Bretheren from Ortech Controls. This old setting is smoke, med, and high, which correlates to 180-220, 300-320, and 425-450 respectively. Thus far with my WSM, I've always targeted the 225-250 range for virtually everything I've done, so this will really throw me off my "game" so to speak. Will try to score one on ebay really soon.
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Pics while I'm at it...I think a pretty good deal for $350 for a Texan. Have to get my own grease bucket and will upgrade to the digital thermostat, but other than that, she's ready to roll. I did have 1 screw up moving it to the deck as I had the bin on the mower, I ran over the cord and it snapped. I grabbed a 10' extension and just spliced it in as I would have needed an extension cord anyway to get to the outlet on the deck.
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:-) ...congrats....and saw you on the Brethren forum where you're known as "forgop"....go figure :-)
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How did I not know about these beautiful things? Seems like a genius idea.
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Makes it a whole lot easier using the same name/password for virtually everything. :-)
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true....i just didn't think of it back then..."PaSmoker" on bbq brethren
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Duane, I always targeted the 225 to 250 range before I had a Traeger.
Now I generally set it at 180 and adjust for longer cooking time.
I have not been disappointed yet.
I wouldn't bother with the new thermostat without giving the current one a few tries.
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Yeah, I was thinking of firing up some butts in it this weekend. I like to do ribs really low and slow and then sauce em and increase the temp a bit, but I think the medium setting would work just as well at that point. My only concern is something like butts, as I pull mine off around 200. Therefore, I'm hoping the smoke setting is more than capable of staying closer to 225 than it is 180.
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Mine is a digital so it may be different, but smoke setting holds at 180. If you want to know before you start cooking, you might google it. I think you might be able to find it on the Trager site or maybe some of the BBQ Forums. Got a thermometer probe?
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