I love my 640 but..... Why do they send you paint? I’m going to sand and paint this spring/summer. It’s like they know it’s coming off in a year or two even if you keep it inside. H3 overshoots and it bothers me. I’m losing heat when I’m moving things in and out but H3 is to aggressive. I find myself waiting around to make sure it doesn’t go into H3. Just wondering if you had a chance what would you change? Those are my two but what a great cooker.

weird.  Mine lives outside 24/7/365 w/ a cheap cover on it and I don't have any rust or paint peeling issues.  I wonder if you are using it to grill on w/ high it if that may be causing the issue.  I have never used mine for anything other than smoking and don't think I have ever had the temp above 250 except for the initial burn.

Watching this thread with interest. I am currently about a year out from the "big pit" purchase and a Yoder has been at the top of the list. But the paint, the non ceramic igniter, and the unplug it every time has me worried. But I just don't see any other pit where you get the bang for your buck on capacity as a yoder.

Watching this thread with interest. I am currently about a year out from the "big pit" purchase and a Yoder has been at the top of the list. But the paint, the non ceramic igniter, and the unplug it every time has me worried. But I just don't see any other pit where you get the bang for your buck on capacity as a yoder.

Unplugging any outside electronic device when not in use sounds like good advice to me.  With Yoder, it might be due to the cooldown cycle so there is no auger burnback.  I'll leave mine plugged in till the next day on many occasions till I move it back under the patio cover. It's also a good customer service idea because it removes one less chance of problems. 

My Yoder will be 5 years old in Oct this year and I still have the original igniter. 

Dunno, no paint problems on mine, good smoker in my book. 

Watching this thread with interest. I am currently about a year out from the "big pit" purchase and a Yoder has been at the top of the list. But the paint, the non ceramic igniter, and the unplug it every time has me worried. But I just don't see any other pit where you get the bang for your buck on capacity as a yoder.

Unplugging any outside electronic device when not in use sounds like good advice to me.  With Yoder, it might be due to the cooldown cycle so there is no auger burnback.  I'll leave mine plugged in till the next day on many occasions till I move it back under the patio cover. It's also a good customer service idea because it removes one less chance of problems. 

My Yoder will be 5 years old in Oct this year and I still have the original igniter. 

Dunno, no paint problems on mine, good smoker in my book.

Thank you for your input. I am pretty sure I am going to go with a YS1500 and not look back. I only worry about there being no cover for it. My patio is exposed.  I do not plan to use it as a grill so perhaps I will not have paint problems either. I have other things to do the searing and pizza cooking on. My pellet smoker use doesn't really go above 350.

Watching this thread with interest. I am currently about a year out from the "big pit" purchase and a Yoder has been at the top of the list. But the paint, the non ceramic igniter, and the unplug it every time has me worried. But I just don't see any other pit where you get the bang for your buck on capacity as a yoder.

Unplugging any outside electronic device when not in use sounds like good advice to me.  With Yoder, it might be due to the cooldown cycle so there is no auger burnback.  I'll leave mine plugged in till the next day on many occasions till I move it back under the patio cover. It's also a good customer service idea because it removes one less chance of problems. 

My Yoder will be 5 years old in Oct this year and I still have the original igniter. 

Dunno, no paint problems on mine, good smoker in my book.

Thank you for your input. I am pretty sure I am going to go with a YS1500 and not look back. I only worry about there being no cover for it. My patio is exposed.  I do not plan to use it as a grill so perhaps I will not have paint problems either. I have other things to do the searing and pizza cooking on. My pellet smoker use doesn't really go above 350.

I read somewhere there are places that make custom covers but don't remember where I saw the post.

I misspoke, apparently there is a cover for it now. I found it at ATBBQ. There didn't use to be one.

Hard to beat the ys1500 for a smoker. From all accounts, it is the closest thing to a stick burner there is


Memphis Elite
Yoder YS640 - sold

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I have had my eye on it for a couple years now. I am a college student (went back to school as an adult ... uhg so much work) so it is my graduation present. I'm about 1.5 years away from the bachelors so unless something amazing comes out between then and now I will continue to have my eye on the YS1500. Cooking real estate for the price just isn't matched. I love the MAK and the Memphis being all stainless but there just isn't the same amount of real estate. And the comp cart just looks awesome. My end game of grills is the YS1500, a meadow creek PR60, and a Meadow Creek BBQ26 chicken cooker. I think once I have acquired all of those I will be done. (he said laughing internally)

.... Sorry if I hijacked this thread

My paint isn’t close to that bad just spots here and there. H3 kicks in when it’s warming up or when I leave the lid open moving food around and it loses a bunch of heat. I have the two piece diffuser and grill at 450 quite often. If you are leaning towards a yoder you will not be disappointed with the capability it offers. Unplugging it doesn’t bother me as I wheel it back into the garage after the cool down is complete.