Has Anyone Owned Traeger?

[Mike260]

Based on a friend's experience with an older Traeger, early last year, I bought a Pro 575 at my local Ace. My initial cook, hamburgers, took over twice as long as the recipe said it should, so I checked the pit temp with a thermometer I trust. It was 70 degrees colder than what I set. I fiddled with it for another day, but no matter what I did, it would never get above 400 deg. Forget reverse sear. When I called customer service, I was told since I bought the grill from a third party, there was nothing they could do for me. WHAT?! It was 4 days old! From what I read on forums, I was not the only one with 575 issues. I wasn't about to spend $800 and then start replacing components in an effort to get it to work as it should, so I took it back to Ace, got my money back (a whole other story, but thank you corporate ACE), bought my 590, and have enjoyed every minute of cooking on it since. Get the RecTeq.

 

[TheBear]

Had a Trager Texas Elite for 8 years and gave it to my nephew and is still going. Had many good cooks on it and customer service was good. That said, I recently bought a Rectec RT700 Bull. It cost more but does have better quality. Rectec also has great customer service.

 

[Greg B]

I’m torn between Traeger, it’s history, and the Pro 575 and wondering if anyone thought the same way but decided to buy Recteq? Why?

I've owned two Traegers over the past 10 years. The first one was a bad design with the pellet hopper inside the grill chamber. It rusted quickly and the paint was pealing off in many areas. To Traeger's credit, after two years they replaced the unit with a brand new, better designed unit. It worked great over the years but very little of the metal is stainless steel so there was rust forming and paint chipping. The temperature also didn't hold very well and it couldn't get past 380F at the top end. As well, the fire pot shield has warped and is almost completely rusted (my Traeger never saw rain, was always covered and stored indoors during winter). I switched to rec teq mainly because of the solid construction with a lot of stainless steel components and the very positive online reviews. I've had my req teq 590 for about 3 months now and it has worked much better than my old Traeger. With Traeger, to get more solid stainless steel components, you have to buy their top line model which is much more expensive than the req teq 590. Just my opinion...

 

[Treyes627]

Own a RT 340. The crew at the station got a Traeger. Initial thoughts are that the Traeger is flimsy, the controller is very basic. It went through about 12 lbs of Kingsford cherry pellets doing the initial burn in (+1 hour) a trio of spatchcock chickens, and a set of biscuits (great way to find your hot spots). Burns hot along the front, btw. Had a guy working with us who owns a RT700with a were talking to somebody who was asking what the differences are. The basic response is Traeger is like a Honda and the RT is an Acura. So glad I went here!

 

[johnnyd48]

I’m torn between Traeger, it’s history, and the Pro 575 and wondering if anyone thought the same way but decided to buy Recteq? Why?

I had a traeger and It couldn’t hold the correct temp. i would set it for 225 and it would bounce around anywhere from 200 to 500. Piece of junk if you ask me. However that was 2 years ago and the new models may be improve. My stampede holds the exact temp and I couldn’t be happier.

 

[Charlie]

I’ve had several friends return there’s to Costco they where very unsatisfied
with them they ended up buying a REQTEC SMOKER

 

[C. Keeper]

I have a Traeger but look at my profile photo carefully

 

[Dean]

Gosh, if you had been around in 2018 I would have given you mind..But gave it to the Guy down the street,who gave it to his son, ???? Just buy a Bull 700.and be happy.

 

[C. Keeper]

Gosh, if you had been around in 2018 I would have given you mind..But gave it to the Guy down the street,who gave it to his son, ???? Just buy a Bull 700.and be happy.

Ouch

 

[sdynak]

I’ve had several friends return there’s to Costco they where very unsatisfied
with them they ended up buying a REQTEC SMOKER

I returned my first one to Costco and stupid me bought another thinking they updated it with the new controller from Cabela's. Floor model yet with a problem that I did not know about till I got back. Well no long term return and they are a 3+ hr drive for me. So I got stuck with it after getting a new controller which fixed the non-working issue but temp issues remained. Luckily sold at a low price as soon as I put my order in for the Bull. Never again. The Bull is Night and Day difference on only 1 cook so far. Live and learn I guess.

 

[C. Keeper]

Poor Traeger

 

[Mastertech59]

I've seen and made contact with a few Tragers pellet grills in the past and that was as far as I was willing to go. My Bull is and has been working great has a solid construction, now that being said the recteq app definitely needs some work to make it more reliable and consistent in the way it works.

 

[C. Keeper]

C'mon, Traegers need love too.

 

[Tjs]

I’m torn between Traeger, it’s history, and the Pro 575 and wondering if anyone thought the same way but decided to buy Recteq? Why?

I have owned and liked my Traeger, I liked it way better than my huge natural gas grill........ I am now looking at a new grill, and am seriously considering a Rec Tex. I am hoping that I will not be having temp swings as I had in the past. I have been a fan of low and slow, but could tell (especially with vegetables) that it was getting too hot. I hope I’m looking in the right direction. Are there any after Christmas deals at the Rec Tec HQ in GA? TJ