Buying New Smoker - Need Advice!

Brethren, what to do?

I sold my TOP-Pearsall today and am ready to buy something different. I live in MN where both the used and new options for legit smokers are slim pickins. I have three options based on my price point (less than $1500), each with its own pros and cons. What would you do?

NEW
Yoder Cheyenne with a couple extra options thrown in. $1200.
Pros: Stick burner flavor (my preference); Free delivery.
Cons: Stick burner effort, and very small (I'm not talking capacity. I don't need much of that as I only cook for 3 people. I'm talking height.)

Yoder YS 480. $1449.
Pros: Ease of pellets. Free delivery.
Cons: Not quite same flavor as sticks; electrical components.


USED
Yoder Loaded Wichita. $1200.
Hold your horses, I know you're thinking this is a no-brainer. But the cooker is 275 miles north of me. Have you checked UHaul's mileage prices lately? I don't have my own truck, and having just moved here, don't have close friends who'd lend me one. 550 mile round trip is a huge commitment of time and money in this scenario.


What advice do y'all have? Or life hacks for transporting heavy things less expensively? Also, if you are a fan of the YS480 option, please give feedback on:

1) How long should I expect the electrical components to last?
2) How is the warranty and customer service at Yoder if they fail?

And finally, if you have a different option to recommend that is udnder $1500 including shipping, I'm all ears.

Thanks, brethren. Happy smoking this summer.

PnkPanther said:

Are you shopping at quetopia? He's only local Yoder dealer I know. Ask him about good one open range. I'm very happy with mine


Yoder's have drafting issues that would make me hesitate

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Yes, Quetopia. I saw the Good One but I'm not at all familiar with them and it looked so odd I didn't even give it a second glance. How hard is it to use? I guess I'll have to start researching those. I also didn't know about Yoder's draft issues. Another thing for me to Google.

Thank you!

Joshw said:

I have a ys640 and Love it! I can't imagine you not liking a ys480, other than I think it would be too small for me. So I would really think about how much you cook at one time. I personally don't think there is that much difference in flavor, than a good stick burner, once you learn temps and play around with a smoke tube. I find that I cook a lot more often, just because it is so much less time consuming. If you are busy at all, I highly recommend the pellet. I know most people will disagree, but they probably haven't cooked on a Yoder. It's just so great to come home from work sthrow some food on, and go inside and relax while dinner is cooking.

Warranty is: 1-year on the igniter, 3-years on the control system and 10-years on the cooking body.

I have had mine since last September, with no issues at all. When they shipped it, they forgot to pack my 2 piece diffuser plate. I called them, they knew exactly who I was. Apologized, and said they would ship me one. When I got home from work the next day, it was sitting on my porch. They sent it overnight. I haven't needed to talk to them since.

That is a good deal on the Wichita, I would check on uship, and see what it would cost to get it shipped. If I could get a good deal, and had the time to use it. That would be
the way to go.

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How much do you cook at time? He didn't have a 480 to show me, only 640s, but he said the 480 is three grates wide instead of 4 like the 640. It still looked plenty big to fit a brisket, and with two shelves, something else too. All I care about is being able to smoke a 16 lb brisket whole, or a similar size pork butt. Those are the largest cooks I ever do.

Lastly, how in the world do you get a smoke done between work and dinner? I'm jealous!

PnkPanther said:

They're extremely easy to use. They're charcoal smoker, basically set and forget. Quetopia owner uses the Marshall in competition

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Could I use actual wood instead of charcoal, like in a stick burner?

sudsandswine said:

:becky:

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Ha Yeah, yeah. I know.

93_confirmed said:

How are you getting free delivery on the Yoder? :shock:

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The local dealer will deliver in our metro area for free. But I'm also paying full retail plus his shipping costs from Yoder, so in the long run, not sure how good a deal it is. I've never price shopped for Yoder's anywhere else. If anyone's familiar with typical Yoder prices from local dealers, I'd be interested in hearing how my local dealer compares.

patrickd26 said:

I have owned a Wichita, YS480, and now own a YS640. The Wichita and YSxxx are two completely different cookers. Do you want to maintain fires, or set-it and forget-it?

Let me share my experience. I ended up selling my Wichita because I couldn't get it to run efficiently without having the perfect wind blowing into the firebox. For me, that meant spinning the cooker into the wind. Yuck. I won't go into details, but I've read where maybe things weren't designed for the greatest airflow. I ended up getting a Horizon offset and it works as expected.

Cheyenne.... Too small!!!

The YS480 is just a mini tank. I really miss the one I sold, but I did sell so that I could get a YS640. The 480 was just part of the family and I miss it.

I, personally, would buy a cheap offset just to see if you like tending fires and to learn the "craft". If you're going to spend some extra dollars, then look no further than the Yoder. Can you buy a YS640 and a Lowe's offset? That would be a really nice setup.

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I'm very grateful for this feedback. I just sold a really nice offset, but it was my first time owning one and there were multiple factors working against my successful learning of how to use it. It was huge and had a gigantic vertical chamber, which meant an extra layer of complexity. Also, I bought it in December in Minnesota. Yeah. And it's been winter since! I literally had to tend fire every 20 minutes every time I used it. Now, I enjoy the romance of a little bit of fire tending, but it was nowhere near the "once an hour" I've heard so many Southern smokers enjoy in the nicer temps. It really made it hard to want to keep going. So I sold it, and am either going to downsize to a smaller offset with no vertical chamber, or go the pellet route for a while and see how that goes. I suppose if I want to dabble with the offset I could go the cheap-o route and get an OK Joe for $299 or something. That's not a bad idea. I'm definitely seriously consdiering going the pellet route for a while just to enjoy some set-it-and-forget it and get me smoking more again like I used to. But man, that is such a great deal on the Wichita it makes it a hard decision. I'd actually be spending more on the smallest Yoder pellet grill than on a loaded Wichita! So hard to pass it up.