Looking at Ironwood Series- Lid Issues Fixed?

[abjrjrm]

Ready to move from my old Century 22 to the Ironwood. Is the lid issue fixed on these grills? Not thrilled about putting an aftermarket Lavarock gasket on a brand new $1400 grill. How is the WiFire connections these days? Any comments would be appropriated, along with any other thoughts before I drop this kind of money on a new grill. Thanks in advance!

 

[Walleye Hunter]

I don't see how a metal lid to metal body is going to seal tightly. Maybe Traeger should seal it but the cost of a lavalock seal and the labor to install it is minuscule IMO. When the lid is down you can't even see it.

 

[bfletcher]

I'm not aware that Traeger feels there is anything to fix on the lid. It is not at all uncommon for pellet smokers to leak a little at the door and they are not designed to be fully-sealed units. I believe you would need to add your own gasket if that's something that would bother you. I have the Ironwood 885 and I have zero complaints about it. Some folks had or are still experiencing issues from the latest firmware update where they cannot get their phone app and smoker to communicate, or cannot get the smoker to connect to their home WiFi. I did not experience that issue.

I also purchased the accessory front-folding shelf and I don't think I could get by without it.

Good luck on your purchase!

 

[PriceMP5]

I added gasket to my ironwood just because my buddy had some extra leftover from his new smoker. I have no complaints with my ironwood really just a couple of 2 cent suggestions, looking forward to installing the pellet sensor this weekend.

 

[jp9724]

Apparently Traeger has a gasket for the lid and its back ordered. So my most recent email as of yesterday. Granted the person emailing me also has no idea what seems to be going on. Hopefully its not just a bottom seal. They said it wasn't, but I don't have much faith... either way, Felt gasket for 20 bucks fixed it 98%. Also, a front folding shelf is needed 100%. I thought i could get by without it, nope.

 

[abjrjrm]

So I want to spend $1500 for a new Traeger that may or may not have the WiFire work, and some say the lid is fine and others say Traeger is working on a new gasket for the lid? Are those of you with new units happy with your purchase? Or should I wait until Traeger gets their stuff together? Or look at a Rec Tec? Just seems to be uncertain time for Traeger quality control.......

 

[Mr Smoke Alot]

So I want to spend $1500 for a new Traeger that may or may not have the WiFire work, and some say the lid is fine and others say Traeger is working on a new gasket for the lid? Are those of you with new units happy with your purchase? Or should I wait until Traeger gets their stuff together? Or look at a Rec Tec? Just seems to be uncertain time for Traeger quality control.......

My Ironwood 650 is about 1 month old. I live in Ontario Canada and the D2 motor is able to keep the Traeger at reasonable consistent temps even in cold weather. I don't have any issues with the lid but yes smoke will escape out of the front as it is not designed to be air tight. The latest firmware cause havoc among most Traeger grills with Wifire but they all seemed to be repaired and I'm 100% up and smoking. Would agree get the shelf I got one when I bought mine and and super happy I did.

 

[bfletcher]

I have an Ironwood and I have an R-T Bull. My Ironwood works as advertised. As for my Bull, my app alarms do not function and some percentage of other users are experiencing this issue. It's not a problem for me because I was already used to using third party vendor thermometers for monitoring my pit temp and food temp. But some other folks were wanting to rely solely on the Bull's advertised alarm functionality and they have a right to be quite upset (think of doing overnight smokes).

Both of my lids leak. The difference is how R-T responds to that complaint: they openly share that their units will leak around the lid and they are not intended to be sealed units.

I don't know what number of Traeger users experienced connection issues during their recent firmware updates. Oddly, my unit never missed a beat. The update performed automatically and I never had to touch anything to get it going again. But it's obvious from reading other threads in this forum that some users were having fits after the update.

Here is something interesting: I see smoke coming out my Bull's smokestack 100% of the time. On my Ironwood downdraft unit I get a sore back from bending, stooping, and searching for TBS (thin blue smoke); I see a very faint hint of smoke on occasion. But in the end I get the same flavor on my food regardless of which unit I'm using. Psychologically, though, I prefer the Bull because of the visible smoke volume.

 

[PriceMP5]

100% agree with bfletcher about the visible smoke, I wish I was always seeing some smoke pumping out of the downdraft system at all times but at the end of the day my food has great smoke flavor and I’ve had some great looking smoke rings.

 

[bfletcher]

.. and I’ve had some great looking smoke rings.

The smoke rings are crazy intense. I rarely get them on one of several charcoal smokers and don't even care about a smoke ring but you could be blindfolded and get a great one on these pellet smokers.

 

[Unhappycubfan]

I don't see how a metal lid to metal body is going to seal tightly. Maybe Traeger should seal it but the cost of a lavalock seal and the labor to install it is minuscule IMO. When the lid is down you can't even see it.

I just got mine and a lot of smoke comes out of the tube leading to the drip bucket. Is that normal? What’s leaking is nothing compared to the smoke coming through that outlet

 

[magoo40]

I just got mine and a lot of smoke comes out of the tube leading to the drip bucket. Is that normal? What’s leaking is nothing compared to the smoke coming through that outlet

Yes, it means your grill has lots of smoke inside.

 

[RayClem]

I have an Ironwood 885. I do have it connected to the WiFire app, but the main reason for this is to alert me if the pellet hopper is going empty. The Ironwood has the pellet level gauge.

I rely on a separate digital thermometer to monitor the grill temp and the internal temp of the protein. I do not use the Traeger internal temp probe, nor do I use the Traeger app to monitor the grill temp.