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[Jcorwin818]

Does anyone have any experience with this new smoker or heard anything on how it performs?

[Bentley]

Is this the Timberline?  I read somewhere that folks were liking the 850? but the bigger one not so much...

[Jcorwin818]

Yep it's the Timberline.  There was one team at the Lenexa BBQ that had one but they left before I could talk to them.  Will try to look them up next year.

Thanks Bentley for the info.

[Free Mr. Tony]

Seems like they need to work out several kinks in the firmware. Once that is ironed out I would consider purchasing. Until that happens, I'm glad I held off.

I have messed with one in person. It's a great overall design. I think they will work it out, but it's unfortunate that they have the issues they have had for such an established company.

[Bar-B-Lew]

I think I paid less than that for my XL 6 or so years ago.  But, comparative to competitive prices for a similar grill with wifi, it is a pretty good price.  I think if Traeger leads the price war and continues to add features, it should drive prices down on other grills out there too.  For that reason, I hope they get their issues worked out on this model if indeed they have problems.  I have never seen one so can't comment on the grill itself.

[bproffer]

I am one of the ones who have had many of the problems associated with the Timberline 1300's. Soot, burn back, flame outs, failure to start, ash donuts in the fire pot,smoke from the hopper etc... I have owned it since May and I think that last night I finally was able to get it to run correctly. Traeger has been great this whole time and their customer service has been top notch. They replaced everything on my smoker with the exception of the body (lid, gasket, fire pot, auger, igniter, hopper, controller). When basically everything was new, I ran it and there was a mysterious noise that sounded like a solenoid buzzing.  Traeger was ready to send me a new grill, but I was able to diagnose the problem to a loose screw that was causing the blower fan to vibrate. I'm replacing the screw today and that should take care of the issue. It shouldn't have taken so long for my unit to be fixed, but I had a very busy summer with work and traveling so there just wasnt time to tinker with it.

I think Traeger has now addressed most of the issues that plagued them in the beginning with the 1300's, with the exception of Super Smoke mode. I have heard it still produces soot for some people.

Here are my thoughts on the whole deal:

1. It seems that Traeger primarily focused on creating the Timberline 850 and the 1300 was an afterthought. They probably thought that they could just mimic the settings from the 850 and didn't take the differences in cook chamber size, air flow, etc into consideration. Either that or they knew they had issues with the 1300 and that is why it was released after the 850, and they chose to release it anyways.

2. They need different firmware for their controllers based on model (850 or 1300). One size does not fit all. A fix released for the 1300's messed up the 850's. Maybe they will do this in the future, but I think it is needed.

The whole deal has sucked from the beginning, but it seems to be getting better. It is reminiscent of what Yoder went through when they first came out. I am not sure I can really recommend the Timberline series just yet, but they seem to be making progress.

[Bentley]

I am not going to allow manufacture bashing on this site, just decide won't have it like Pelletheads...

But this is a fair assessment folks...This is how it should be done if you have issues.

I am one of the ones who have had many of the problems associated with the Timberline 1300's. Soot, burn back, flame outs, failure to start, ash donuts in the fire pot,smoke from the hopper etc... I have owned it since May and I think that last night I finally was able to get it to run correctly. Traeger has been great this whole time and their customer service has been top notch. They replaced everything on my smoker with the exception of the bod...

I think Traeger has now addressed most of the issues that plagued them in the beginning with the 1300's, with the exception of Super Smoke mode. I have heard it still produces soot for some people.

The whole deal has sucked from the beginning, but it seems to be getting better. It is reminiscent of what Yoder went through when they first came out. I am not sure I can really recommend the Timberline series just yet, but they seem to be making progress.

[Jcorwin818]

Nice article with great information.  Going to continue with my Texas and just see how the Timberline develops.

[AnyExcuse2Q]

I do hope they work the bugs out.  I want one!