To be fair I've never heard anybody say anything bad about the Yoder pellet cookers outside of the very light smoke flavor. I believe it has a PID controller (Brethern, if I'm wrong, please correct me) and that will lead to a much tighter temp control, but on the flip side you're going to see less smoke flavor. I've watched a lot of videos about the YS-480/640 cooker and too often I see the Amazen Pellet tubes inside the smoking chamber. If you're paying ~$1500 for a cooker you shouldn't have to add a tube like that to get the smoke flavor you want.
GrillaGrills goes with the motto "trust the swing" and by the swing they mean a reasonable swing in temperature. There is no PID controller on their cookers so it's a bit more like an offset in terms of fluctuation... generally people are reporting a swing of about 10-15 degrees in either direction. I will also add that GrillaGrills has a built in air-gap for insulation, and I think that brings a lot to the table and especially so when you're cooking up in your neck of the woods. Looking at the YS-640, Yoder will charge you an additional $250 to buy a thermal jacket which might be a necessity for you.
Either way I totally understand not wanting to go with a cooker that's at or near the "Traeger level" of quality. As always it comes down to cost versus features. I'm not trying to sell anything but I always like for people to explore their options before dropping a huge amount of cash on something. Good luck either way and I hope it works out for you when you do make the decision.
Cheers!
Yoder actually says their controller is not PID. They have their own controller that they have designed in house, with their own programming. Although, I find nothing wrong with PID, and there are some good cookers out there that use them. I guess saying having an inaccurate controller, is a good thing, might convince someone, but Really? I don't think temps swings of 20 degrees is going to hurt you in anyway, but it isn't going to help you either. Not sure why you would try to sell temp swings as a good thing. If their air gap was working, you shouldn't have temp swings like that.
Yes Yoder, does sell an insulated cover, that is very nice, and very over priced. It does work, and I like mine. But, if you don't want to pay for it, you can do what people have been doing for years, and cover it with a welding blanket. I have done this on stick burners even. Why fight cold wind, when you can avoid it? Yoder gives you the option of buying their custom fit cover, why is that bad?
As far as smoke flavor, I believe Yoder has the reputation of one of the heavier smoke producing pellet grills. That is why I bought mine. I like a heavier smoke. Do I use a smoke tube, absolutely! I don't understand why people consider this so bad. First of all, it gives you the opportunity, to add different wood accents, to your cook, without having to mix your pellets. I like to run Hicory in my hopper for most cooks, but sometimes I will put a smoke tube full of cherry, mesquite, or Jack Daniels pellets, to add color or flavor. On short cooks, I might put one in, to supplement smoke flavor. But honestly if you are doing low and slow cooking, and cooking for long periods of time, you don't need to supplement the smoke. If you are a hot and fast cook, then yes a tube is necessary to get a more pronounced smoke flavor, but who cares? If I use a stick burner, I use charcoal to get a good bed of coals. If I use charcoal, I add wood to get more smoke flavor. Why not use a smoke tube in a pellet grill to get that flavor you want? Just saying.
I have no connection to Yoder, or any company, but I feel, they sell a great pellet grill. I think most people that have done their research would put Mak, Yoder, and Memphis at the top of the pellet grill market. If you like the Yoder, and the price is your only concern, I would look at Blazin Grill Works. They are very similar to the Yoder, but a little cheaper. I have cooked on my YS640 in sub zero temps with a -20 wind chill, with no problems. I do have the insulated jacket, and that is not a typical winter day here in OK, but it will do those temps. Up where you are, I would certainly not rule out an insulated cooker either, just a matter of they style of cooker you want, and how often you will be cooking in those temps.
