Traeger despair

[SteveT]

I have one of earliest (nearly 30 years old) Traeger (not American made) grills. Had I known at the time it was made in China I wouldn’t have bought it and I felt betrayed when I did find out from a friend who did own an American manufactured one it was likely built there. I’ve always kept it covered with a Traeger brand cover and mostly under a deck out of the weather. I rarely use it except for large cuts of meat and large gatherings and we’ve really loved sharing the results with friends and family. A couple of years ago my big grill started having problems (being unreliable) I’ve virtually replaced everything other than the digital control and it’s still unreliable. It might quit feeding a few hours into a prime rib which thankfully I discovered pretty quickly and was able to enlist my gas grill with my pellet smoker tube to adequately finish it.

I also have a PTG (Portable Traeger Grill) which has been useful. Because of the larger grills reliability issues I enlisted the small one recently to do a small pork roast for house guests. The temp control was acting up but it seemed to settle down so I went get a shave and in the span of ~15 minutes it went berserk and self destructed taking my iGrill with it apparently it has no over temp protections on it.

I don’t think I’ll try to resurrect either of them. It was a novel idea at the time but I’ve gone more or less old school and bought a Kamado Joe without electronic anything

 

[RayClem]

I doubt the Traeger grills were made in China 30 years ago. According to Google AI, the first Traeger grills were sold in 1988. That was 37 years ago. The company was run by Joe Traeger and the grills were made in Oregon. In 2006, the company was sold to venture capitalists. In 2010, manufacturing was moved to China. That was 17 years ago. Thus, if your grill was made before that, it would have been made in Oregon, USA.

Traeger guarantees their grills for three years. Some of the powder coated parts are covered for 7 years. The premium Ironwood and Timberline grills are guaranteed for 10 years. If you got more than 10 years of service from your grill, you have done well. Even indoor appliances rarely last more than 10 years these days. Those made back in the 1950s lasted a lot longer.

 

[Manannan]

I have one of earliest (nearly 30 years old) Traeger

Blimey, if both me and my Traeger (bought last year) last another 29 years I will be a happy boy!

 

[SteveT]

I doubt the Traeger grills were made in China 30 years ago. According to Google AI, the first Traeger grills were sold in 1988. That was 37 years ago. The company was run by Joe Traeger and the grills were made in Oregon. In 2006, the company was sold to venture capitalists. In 2010, manufacturing was moved to China. That was 17 years ago. Thus, if your grill was made before that, it would have been made in Oregon, USA.

Traeger guarantees their grills for three years. Some of the powder coated parts are covered for 7 years. The premium Ironwood and Timberline grills are guaranteed for 10 years. If you got more than 10 years of service from your grill, you have done well. Even indoor appliances rarely last more than 10 years these days. Those made back in the 1950s lasted a lot longer.

Glad you’re happy mine definitely has a made in China label inside the lid of the pellet hopper AND it was definitely built about that long ago. The metal is well preserved and if they’re selling replacement parts I assume it’s a reasonable expectation to rebuild it. I guess any assumption I had about enduring quality was in error. I’ll sell it so someone else can discover how to love everything about both of these.