Lock your Casters!

[jfmorris]

Folks, as many of you know, I have a rather large Camp Chef FTG900 - their largest 6 burner flat top grill. We had some bad weather blow through here on Saturday evening. I had battened down the hatches, or so I thought - all grills were covered, patio umbrella I use for grilling was cranked down, and so on.

Somewhere between 9pm and 10pm I think, I had just left the room to hear my wife yelling my name. She heard a big crash in the back yard, and thought a tree had fallen on our out building or something (my office!). We went out to discover the umbrella and Camp Chef flat top out in the middle of the grass, about 10 feet from where they should be. The Camp Chef was upside down!

To make a long story short, once I extracted all the loose stuff from inside the cover, I was able to pull the propane tank and the cart itself out, and set them back up, and then the griddle top, which was upside down and holding the cover to the ground. One brace, across the back of the cart, was bent, but was easily pulled back straight, and I can discern no damage - I cooked on it yesterday.

The casters were NOT locked, and this thing was on some pavers next to the concrete patio by the pool. Best guess is that the huge cover on the grill acted as a sail, and it was pushed off the edge of the pavers, after being hit by the umbrella, and everything went tumbling over.

Take away: lock the casters on your grills if you don't want the wind blowing them around and possibly off the edge of your patio! I was just lucky there was no real damage. I had a friend lose his gas grill as something similar happened and it went rolling down the hill that was his backyard, after it blew off the edge of his patio.

[GolfGeezer]

jfmorris Not only lock the casters, but pay attention to the cover and how it may be secured. I had a Weber Summit E450, casters locked, launched across my yard during a major storm. The cover had straps to cinch it tighter. It made for a great parachute/balloon to lift that heavy grill and toss it 20 yards away. So I stopped strapping that one down. The one I have now for my Napoleon has venting mesh above the straps, so much less ballooning.

[jfmorris]

The Camp Chef cover was cinched on tightly. That is partially why it acted as a sale - otherwise wind would have just blown through the open cart design. It is also very top heavy, with that 80+ pound rolled steel top.

[Mr. Bones]

That's a 'Mild Breeze', here, Jimbo!

[jfmorris]

Haha - I bet. Nothing to block the wind out there on the prairie!

[Michael_in_TX]

Upside down?! Wow.

Of course, we get hurricanes here....but I remember one relevant incidence back in 2006 or so.

We actually had the remnants of a tornado come down our street. (It was wild: only our street was affected.) At the end of the street was a pile of what I now know were Weber kettles blown out of at least three people's yards. Craziest thing.

(My house suffered significant siding damage when my neighbor's backyard trampoline hit my house....thankfully it hit the siding and not the window!)

[Jim White]

I can see the movie now: "Grillnado!". (I'm a big fan of the Sharknado movies.)

[jfmorris]

Yeah Jim White - I'll watch Grillnado! haha.

Michael, the flat tops are very top heavy - in this case the 80+ pounds of cold rolled steel just sits on top of an open cart. The burner assembly is bolted to the top of the cart. Aside from the propane tank perched on one end, all the weight is up top. That probably contributed to flipping over.

I have a neighbor with a large tree that likes to lose branches in storms. That tree has caused thousands in damage to my house (not theirs).

[Dewesq55]

We had dinner very strong wind a couple of weeks ago. When I got up in the morning, my gasser had started traveling across the deck.

[jfmorris]

I can believe it. My dad had his Weber Spirit flip over into the yard not long after he got it, due to not having the castors locked. I should have learned a lesson from his experience, but usually don't have the level of wind he has.

[ecowper]

I had to replace the first gazebo I put over my grills because I didn't secure it with stakes. windstorm lifted it up and tossed it across the yard. Pretty much bent every bendable piece on the thing.

[jfmorris]

Well, considering my gazebo is built out of heavy PT lumber and each of the six 6x6 posts are anchored with bolts into concrete, I am praying we never see the storm that rips it up.

[ecowper]

Mine is more lightweight than that :-)

[Clark]

My Weber gasser rolled 15' or so across our patio when we first moved to Oklahoma. That was the last time I didn't lock my casters. So windy today my wife had to help me put cover on it after cooking lunch....like handling a sail.

[Mr. Bones]

Yup, I know th feelin, Brother!

[Donw]

On the good side, it blew onto the grass and not into the pool.

[jfmorris]

Very good point! The safety cover is still on the pool, but I am not trusting it to 160 pounds of upside down grill!

[Mr. Bones]

Kansas Territory 0-35 mph "Breezy"
35-70 mph "Windy"
70-150+ mph "Gusty"
150+mph "Tornado"

[Deaf Arty]

Yep. Wyoming too.

[Argoboy]

Yes if I had locked castors my Akron would not have been blown off the deck, my new Primo lives in garage. On the plus side the steel from China bends easily but does not brake.

[Dewesq55]

As a follow up to this thread, believe it's what I asked up to this morning after a "high wind advisory" night:


In case it isn't obvious, the gasser normally sits on that Hardie backer pad oriented 90° to how it is situated in the photo. And, BTW, my casters are locked.

[Mr. Bones]

LOL!!! So, a 'mild' South-Westerly breeze, I take it...

[troymeister]

I remember one time I left my patio umbrella open overnight. (Much red wine was involved) When I woke up I I found the umbrella flew from the back yard over the house and upside down in the front yard. Nothing was damaged except the umbrella....We counted are blessings, patched the umbrella together and used it for a year or two more.