Has Anyone Else Removed The Screen From The Pellet Hopper?

[good eats]

Seems to me that this thing is only good for making emptying the hopper much more difficult. I suppose it was put there to keep clumps of fused pellets out of the hopper but is it really necessary. Any thoughts?

 

[Murphy's Law]

Gone since day 1.

 

[RustyJake]

Better off asking who hasn't removed it. Might be less people that haven't
This basically boils down to safety. If you have small children, leaving it might be a better option. It would also help protect large objects from falling in, but I have never considered that really
The auger moves so slowly that not having it wasn't a concern for me. I wouldn't stick my hand that close to the auger if it was on. I basically just stir.tje top of the pellets to level it off and stop tunneling

 

[RayClem]

The grate is still in my hopper. I seldom remove pellets from the hopper. I even left them in for months at a time over winter and never had an issue.

I worked my entire career around machinery in paper mills, printing plants, envelope converting factories, etc. I have seen my share of mangled hands and arms; it is not a pretty sight. I even know of one instance where long hair got caught in machinery and scalped the individual. Fortunately, it did not end in fatality. While the risk of the auger doing such damage to my hands is small, the inconvenience of leaving the grate in is not so great as to compel me to remove it.

I see people all the time who take unnecessary risks such as not wearing proper personal protective equipment and removing guards, Some risks are worth taking, but some are not. Evaluate the situation with wisdom.

 

[midwest]

I've not removed mine and never felt the need to. I have also never changed out my pellets. I've found a mix I use for everything so never needed to.

 

[Clint62]

I yanked it as soon as I got the smoker home, for no other reason other than the salesman who sold it to me said most folks do lol

 

[Slimpicker]

Never installed it, still in plastic bag

 

[BobbyQ]

Gone and not to be replaced. It’s only there to make the lawyers happy.

 

[Slimpicker]

I never let my pellets get low enough to have my hand near anything... I shift loads when I see tunneling and that's probably half empty so I just add right away.
I'd CUT my hand on that grate trying to move pellets around. sorry but it has zero use if you keep your pellets up to the top and check often.

 

[BobbyQ]

I'd CUT my hand on that grate trying to move pellets around. sorry but it has zero use if you keep your pellets up to the top and check often.

Unintended consequences as often happens when the nannies get involved.

 

[OldMayfield]

See comments from earlier discussion

https://www.traegerforum.com/threads/what-is-the-honeycomb-thing-in-the-hopper.1735/#post-13061

 

[HymieP]

Removed the first week.

 

[GrillMeister]

First thing I do when I put one together. That stupid screen is nothing more than lawyers trying to prevent Darwin candidates from leaving the gene pool.

 

[cableguynoe]

Yep, mine was also gone day one.
I like being able to stick my hand in there when pellets are low to even them out, obviously understanding where the danger area is. I don't even come close.

Basically, someone somewhere stuck there finger in there and now we all get that screen.

If you can avoid fire you can avoid an auger.