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Anyone have experience with Traeger Ranger?

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    Anyone have experience with Traeger Ranger?

    The missus and I are fixin' to head out on a long road trip this summer, and dragging along the UDS, the Traeger Big Tex, or the Napoleon LEX is out of the question. So I'm looking at the Traeger Ranger.

    If you have or have used one, what is your experience? My friend baked some biscuits in his this past weekend and we had biscuits and gravy before a day of hydroplane racing. Later, he cooked some burgers on it. Seems pretty versatile.

    Last question, they look like they may be price-protected. Seems like they're $399 everywhere I look. Any good deals to be had?

    Thanks in advance!

    #2
    Welcome to The Pit. Sorry, but I have no experience with that cooker, but someone will be along shortly to help.

    Comment


      #3
      Thanks, RonB.

      I ordered it through Ace Hardware and they offered me a veteran's discount. Love it so far. First cooking on it tomorrow night.

      Comment


      • Mr. Bones
        Mr. Bones commented
        Editing a comment
        Here's hopin that yer thoroughly delighted with it!
        Many Thanks fer yer Service, Brother! Means a whole dang lot to me.
        Ooorrraaahhh!!!

      #4
      I think that's the one my brother has.

      Maybe he can weigh in.
      Duckman_OK

      Comment


        #5
        That's not the one that I have. I just got a Traeger Tailgater courtesy of Ducks Unlimited.

        It looks to have the same controller on it that mine has, and I can tell you that sucker it BRAND NEW! It's so new in fact that the Tech Services department doesn't have literature on it yet.

        I did a Chuck Roast on my Tailgater yesterday. I still need to post up some photos and ask some questions. It came out pretty well, but my controller was set at 180 and the smoker was running 250.

        It's spot on today... but I've also got 20 - 30 Mph sustained winds here in OOOOOOOklahoma (where the wind comes sweeping down the plains....)

        Here's my honest opinion, LIMITED THOUGH IT IS: I would buy the Scout Pellet Grill over the Ranger. It has the same 184 in² as the ranger and the old style controller. I've called in twice, and their Tech Services department doesn't have literature on the new style controller yet. When I called yesterday, I was told that "when I push the smoke button" my grill should do X,Y, and Z. I told him I didn't have a smoke button. He didn't believe me until I starting streaming video to him and showed him my controller. Long story short, this was my second call Tech Services. They're not sure if it's my RTD or controller that's faulty.

        Being an engineer and having done product development... I'd go tried and true over brand new. Just my thoughts and its certainly worth 2cents at most.

        Comment


          #6
          Thanks, BFlynn, and shucks, Duckman. Though I really appreciate you taking the time to give me all of the good scoop, I picked up the Ranger and broke it in last week. We took her out for a spin last night and I too saw the temp a little higher than the setting. This is when I was roasting some peach slices for the salad. Cranked her up to 450 for the flank steak and it was at temp very rapidly. So far so good.

          The only hit I have on it so far is that it's really heavy. I'd say 60 pounds. That said, it does seem very solidly built. I'm going to have to build some type of slide system to save my back when putting in the bottom storage on our Class A.

          Controller seemed to work fine. Will repost when I've had more time with the grill, but my wife and I are happy with the Ranger so far.

          Happy Independence week, folks!

          Comment


            #7
            sbmonty GLAD TO HEAR THAT!! My tailgater weighs in at 62 lbs according to the manual.

            Im sure ill get mine sorted out. According to Tech services they allow a 25 degree tolerance on the controller. So, just keep an eye on it. Over-all, they've been great to work with, i hope you don't have the same issues.

            Comment


              #8
              Oops, I mis-read the title, I thought it was 'Anyone have experience with Texas Rangers'. All I can say is the back of their patrol cars are more comfortable than they appear....

              Comment


              • Clark
                Clark commented
                Editing a comment
                ComfortablyNumb And they are big enough to hold both you and Panhead John.

              #9
              Coming to the party late. I have a Traeger Scout, have had it for a couple of years. Same reason, we travel with it on the rv. It is pretty good for high heat stuff like wings, burgers and hot dogs, but it won’t hold low temps. I have talked with traeger about it several times, and the last tech I talked to told me that the small size makes it difficult to run at low temps. I tried to do some country ribs with it set at 250 a few weeks ago and it was running near 375 before I took them off. I am probably going to replace it with a grilla chimp before our next long trip. I would like to be able to do some low slow stuff while on the road. Traeger tech support is pretty good though, and the Scout has a 3 year warranty.

              Comment


              • Mr. Bones
                Mr. Bones commented
                Editing a comment
                Mmmmm...!!!
                Country Style Ribs.....!!!!

              • Duckman_OK
                Duckman_OK commented
                Editing a comment
                I was actually starting to think the exact same thing about my Tailgater. That the small size is hard for the controller to maintain low temps. If worse comes to worse, I might just mount the controller to the end of a 55 Gal barrel and go for it.

              #10
              Appreciate the help, folks. I'll update on the low temp control.

              Comment


                #11
                Final post here; if somebody has a question then feel free to contact me directly.

                I am thoroughly pleased with the Ranger. It gives me what I need where I need it. I've now done some cold weather cooking with it and it stood up to freezing temps just fine. As to the low temp settings, it does well. I'm not sure I'd plan to do an all day smoke with it. That's something I'll save for home (like today, doing a pork shoulder on the Kamado Joe).

                If you want the flavor of wood smoke on the road, then this is much more convenient than building a fire each place you go and cooking on it.

                Y'all take care!

                Comment


                • klflowers
                  klflowers commented
                  Editing a comment
                  Glad it is working out for you. I bought the Grilla Chimp a couple months ago, and it is quite a bit larger and heavier. I haven't tried to put it in the rv basement yet, it may end up traveling in the tow vehicle

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