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[Maineac]

Maybe we can get some creative juices flowing -
I'll start - When I was looking for a pellet grill I went to a dealer who had a MAK 1-Star and a 2-Star side by side. One of the first things I noticed was the difference in cooking heights between the two with the 1 Star being 32" and the 2 Star being 35" which felt like the right height for me. The problem was that I really wanted the 1 Star, so that's what I purchased with the intention of increasing its cooking height.  I just made risers for it.  I think MAK is making the 1-Star the same height today.

Once the risers were in I made a shelf which was low enough that my plastic pails weren't affected by the heat.  This image shows both mods.

[pz]

Nice work Maineac - the modification I've done to a Trager has made the largest impact of anything I've done - a PID replacement for the stock controller.  Simple plug and play.

[Maineac]

Nice work Maineac - the modification I've done to a Trager has made the largest impact of anything I've done - a PID replacement for the stock controller.  Simple plug and play.

PZ, the controller is one of the big advantages that MAK had.  After reading some about the Pellet Pro, I believe it could be a big game changer.  Nice!  Plug and play to boot!

[hughver]

Attached a 5" X 1/4" threaded stainless steel rod to the side of the GMG DC heat shield using two stainless steel nuts. Drilled a corresponding hole into the side wall such that the rod sticks through the hole. Allows you to adjust the heat shield location real time. I will post pictures if anyone is interested.

[pz]

Had I to do it over, I'd not have gone with a Traeger, but that was all I knew at the time. In my opinion it is overpriced, and underwhelming when it comes to fire control.  I'm definitely not money ahead (behind actually), but because the unit works just fine right now, I'm going to use it until it goes down for the last time, then go with a higher end unit like yours, Rec Tec, Yoder, etc.

Attached a 5" X 1/4" threaded stainless steel rod to the side of the GMG DC heat shield using two stainless steel nuts. Drilled a corresponding hole into the side wall such that the rod sticks through the hole. Allows you to adjust the heat shield location real time. I will post pictures if anyone is interested.

I'm interested in any mods for the Davy - please post pics 

[Maineac]

Attached a 5" X 1/4" threaded stainless steel rod to the side of the GMG DC heat shield using two stainless steel nuts. Drilled a corresponding hole into the side wall such that the rod sticks through the hole. Allows you to adjust the heat shield location real time. I will post pictures if anyone is interested.

Hugh, is that to allow a region of the grill to be hotter?

[RichW]

Under the Smokin Brothers section on the main page there is a topic "Getting Something Started" I posted Reply #6 about the Kuma style modification I made to eliminate the heat shield and separate drip tray, and make this one piece with a slide open center directly over the fire pot.  I have about 25 hours of smoking and searing since this mod and haven't yet had a hint of disappointment. [ Invalid Attachment ]  [ Invalid Attachment ]  The heat up with the slide open is twice a fast to 225 deg. or about 7 min. and the control of smoking temp of 170 or so is still dead on.  No hot spots except along the open inch at the back and front of the cooking area.  No grease fires even with dripping brats.  [ Invalid Attachment ]   The heat shield just vaporizes the splatter.  I use a completely solid piece of stainless on the tented slide to block off the center when smoking or baking and have a 1 1/2" baffle along the entire front and rear of the heat shield which keeps the smoke rolling uniformly.  This entire mod cost me about $100.00 in material and a little time to do the bends and welds.  Probably about 3 hours time with a cheap Harbor Freight Press and some angle iron to do the bends, boring 11 holes in the S.S. with a 7/8 " Ideal carbide cutter that costs about $30 on Amazon was the easiest part.  I have no regrets and now love the versatility of my grill,  I think I also made a similar post under the Kuma section.   

[hughver]

Hugh, is that to allow a region of the grill to be hotter?

A while back I replaced my warped heat shield with one of the newer stainless steel ones. My original shield had no need for adjustment since the notches were an exact fit. The newer one had wider notches that allowed left or right adjustment. To answer your question, yes, I was told by GMG technical support that moving the heat shield would effect heat distribution and that I should start with the shield 3 1/2" from the hopper side wall. A very slight movement seems to have significant effect on temperature. I've never seen a DB or JB but I think that they have the same shield setup.

[LowSlowJoe]

Everything I did in the past has been removed...

I wired up a off the shelf PID on my Traeger Junior,  I learned a lot doing it... but now that I have other pellet grills I put the original smoke/med/high back in it.

I had some fire bricks in the Junior for awhile too, but removed them... they never really did much.

I did put a GMG Pizza Oven attachment in my Traeger Texas,  that's still inside the Texas,  but it can easily  e removed .

[Queball]

PG500 ... Rotisserie!
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[Maineac]

Cueball, I'm very envious of your rotisserie.  I've wanted one for my MAK since I got it. Some foods are just better cooked on a rotisserie like rib roasts and chickens.  Unfortunately most pellet grills don't lend themselves to an easy adaptation as you know, but you got it done.  Now you can enjoy the fruits of your labor.   

[Free Mr. Tony]

I did a rotisserie on my pg500, as well as my louisiana whole hog

[pz]

That does it.... definitely going to try a rotisserie modification 

[Queball]

 [ Invalid Attachment ]
FMT's PG500 vertical rotisserie

[pz]

Nice work Queball! 

Do you have pics of the motor unit and how it is connected to the cooker?

I'd like to do something like this, and perhaps add a gas infrared burner to allow cooking from the side. Gyros are in my mind.