For now, availability doesn’t seem to be an issue, there is a dealer who has Yoders in stock 35 miles from me and the others claim they can ship within a few days to a week from placing an order.
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I as well as Old Glory & Bogy have the Gridiron. I was in your shoes as well I got down to Gridiron or the Yoder I made choice due to the removable fire pot, pellet dump, double walled construction and the custom Black cherry powder coating. I did have problems with the powder coating however once the company changed hands I was sent out new powder coated parts the large bottom shelf and the pellet hopper cover all no charge to me. I like the look of the larger base option over the looks like an engine stand that Yoder has. They used my Gridiron in their video just before I picked it up. I also ordered all the upgrades they had to offer. the cover does fit a little crazy however it does the job very well! Right now I am so very happy with my choice would not go back at all.
Happy hunting!
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I like all the same pluses you mention for Blazin and honestly I was leaning that way over Yoder for same reasons, clean out, roller grates, color choices, plus adding all the extras to make them match it came in almost $300 less. I was about to order and came across the Smokin Brothers which for some reason spoke to me and made me restart the analysis.
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TruckLoan if you are still trying to figure this out, let me say a little more about my experience with my Blaz'n. Mine was built in 2018. It was a dealer model, in fact I showed it to my wife at the St. Louis BBQ Company. Having her lift the lid on a Green Mountain sitting next to it, and then attempting to lift the lid on the Blaz'n, even with the counterweight the difference was obvious. I bought it in March of 2020, from a guy who had bought it on clearance from the ex-dealer. He had not had it long, and sold it because he already had two Yoders. I paid him what he had paid for it. So it sat on the dealer showroom floor for approximately 2 years. Since I bought it it's been outside through 3 Iowa winters, and lots of rain, especially this year. I had hoped to send you some current pictures, but we've been getting a steady misty drizzle so I don't want to uncover it. Looks pretty much like new, except it needs a good cleaning. It has always been covered. I started out with the official Blaz'n cover, which is the heaviest cover I've ever had, but its a miniskirt, only comes down to the bottom of the cooker. I talked with the owner of the company at one point and he admitted it was two short, but it was sewed by local women, and they couldn't get any larger pieces of material in their machines. He said they were looking at other options. I don't know if anything has happened on that, but I bought a custom cover that goes to the ground.
Mine has none of the rusting issues that Old Glory has had. I'm glad to hear RiverJeff had a better experience with the new company. My own experience with them has been great. I had an issue that had nothing to do with the manufacturing quality. We had a Derecho a year ago with 80+ mph winds, and it drove water up into the cooking chamber and into the augur tube. By the time I figured out what the issue was the augur motor needed to be replaced. Which is not a difficult thing to do when you figure out that's what is needed.
I love the pull out fire pot, pellet dump and double walled construction. The only issue I have with using it when it's below 0 F is that its a heck of a lot of steel to warm up. If it doesn't warm up to 160 within 20 minutes it will shut down, and I have had to restart it to finally get to temp. Once I do, it will hold temp forever. As I did research I decided that the Blaz'n was a good compromise in weight. The Yoders the guy I bought my Blaz'n from had weigh in at 335 lbs. The Blaz'n Grid Iron is 225. A Grilla Silverback is 195. That LSG? 395 lbs. The more steel you have, the steadier it holds a temp. But, the heavier it is the longer it takes to warm up. For me, this was a good compromise. It also costs a little less.Comment
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There's a current Gen MAK 2 star for less than 1900 on FB marketplace if it hasn't been snagged up yet.Comment
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I saw it earlier today, didn't feel like looking for the ad
It's WELL past beer:30
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TruckLoan I pm'd you screen shots of both listed for sale, they weren't official marketplace listings just FB group posts.
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TruckLoan not sure if you already made a decision. I was looking at the Blazin and the Smokin Brothers. I ended up getting the Smokin Brothers 36” premium. I had a dealer about 1.5 hrs away so was able to avoid shipping, though I’d say it would still be worth it with shipping. I absolutely love this grill. Low and slow it is very even across the width. It does great with chicken at higher temperatures as well though it’s slightly warmer on the left vs. right. It’s built like a tank. Any temp from 180-199 will give you lots of smoke, even pretty good up to 225.
Three grilling seasons in and the only thing I’ve had to do is replace the igniter. No visible rust anywhere ( other than fire pit diffuser but it’s very thick and holding up well. It fairly easy to clean and with the right pellets can go 3-4 cooks before cleaning. I like the split porcelain grates, makes them easy to clean in the sink.
I did purchase the heatwave sear setup. Only tried it once at their recommended 300 deg and it was underwhelming. I keep meaning to go back and try it at a higher temperature. However I just keep going back to using charcoal when I want to sear. In my mind it’s a smoker and an excellent one, if I want a high temp sear I’m going charcoal.
The “pellet dump” is a joke. It’s easier to just scoop them out by hand if you need to change pellets.
The chamber is insulated and is very efficient with pellets. I tend to cook for larger numbers of people so the 36” is great. I can easily fit six racks of ribs flat (4 on bottom and two on top, with double top shelf rack) or up to four chickens split into halves, I’ve never had to do more than three large pork butts or chuck roasts but easily could. So if you think you might ever need the little extra room, I wouldn’t let pellet efficiency dissuade you if you can afford it.
Let me know if you have any other questions. Hope this helpsComment
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RecTec seems like a good option to me.
My Pellet Rig is not my primary and I wanted a small foot-print. and I went with the Oakford from NexGrill
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Thanks to all for the input and tips. I finally pulled the trigger and placed my order for a MAK One-Star General. It was a tough choice and I was actually ready to order a Blaz’n gridiron as the best mix of features I wanted and price not too far above my original budget. Price and time irrelevant I probably would have gone with the LSG but it was too much of a $ stretch and I knew I wouldn’t handle the 14+ week wait. The reports of likely needing regular sanding and repainting turned me off to the Yoder and the lack of a confirmed good sear option with Smokin Brothers changed my mind as I decided I really don’t want to fire up the Weber gasser to finish most cooks. So as I said it was about to be the Blazin’ but something told me to check the MAK site for any new specials and between the recently reduced shipping and a Fathers Day discount and free cover, the One-Star came in under the Gridiron. It was time to $#/+ or get off the pot.
It’ll ship early next week so I can’t wait to get cookin on it.Comment
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