2 Problems for new Yoder Wichita owner

slamkeys said:

The people at Photobucket have lost their minds! They want $400 bucks per year to "allow" my photos to be linked to 3rd-party sites. That should be illegal. I guess I'll have to upload all my photos as attachments from now on - whatever.

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Testing your comment about PB.

Seems to work like normal for me ^^^

Swole, see the thread indicated towards the top of this page, under "notices" for information concerning PB and their new policies. Could be an eye opener for many.

I posted a write-up over at the Yoder forum detailing my Wichita door mod, along with some back-story about why I ended up doing it in the first place:

http://community.yodersmokers.com/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=1570

Let me try a Photobucket test. Is this working? Maybe they re-swizzled the links so all the old ones stopped working.

I tried to post an honest review of the Yoder Loaded Wichita on Yoder's ATBBQ site, but they apparently rejected it. They did allow my review of the probe port, but my separate reviews of the smoker and log lighter are still in the "My Product Reviews" section of my user account page.

I'll expose them here for anyone interested in honest reviews from an actual customer, since ATBBQ won't show them:

Feedback for Loaded Wichita:
http://i.imgur.com/i4nx9Sp.gif
Feedback for Log Lighter:
http://i.imgur.com/MpGJWOE.gif

I have always hated how Yoder turned the pipe seams towards the bottom on my Loaded Wichita. Do all companies do that? They interfere with cleaning, and I've thought about grinding them smooth, but I don't want to weaken the welds by removing so much material.

Loaded Wichita pipe seams turned to the bottom:



I'm constantly cleaning the ashes out of my firebox, and I curse this stupid weld every time I clean near it. I did a deep clean today before I oiled the firebox, and I had to get a grill brush out to clean the debris that gets caked into the weld. Also notice the ash rake Yoder provides is a kind of "universal" model that is pretty useless really. The curvature on the Yoder ash rake looks like it was made to fit the 16" Cheyenne, but they use it for all models as a kind of least common denominator. It also has the log lighter cutout which is only good for owners who use the log lighter. Other companies provide rakes that match the curvature of each smoker. Yoder's rake barely makes contact with the firebox on my 20" model.


Is it safe to grind and sand these welds smooth? I asked a question on the Yoder forum to see if they do this by design, and whether they could turn the seams to the back where they wouldn't interfere with regular cleaning. This is yet another poor design decision from a very young fabrication company that doesn't seem willing to learn from its mistakes.

You do know that the pipe itself is not round, right? Any radius the jag is cut to will not be guaranteed to make full contact with the pipe. Yoder could have made the cooker from seamless cold-rolled tubing...for about a thousand dollars (at least) more.

I just rake out the bulk of the ash and then toss an old rag to the far side and use the jag to pull it, and what little additional ash remains seems to come right out. I never sweat it.

Have you considered just selling the Yoder, as your dislike for it seems to continually increase? I'm sure there are plenty of other cookers out there which you would enjoy.
Good luck.

Slamkeys do you oil the inside of the fire box and if so how often ? and how are you cleaning the ash out of the fire box ? I just usually clean my fire box with a small broom and dust pan but have not oiled the inside of the fire box

Slamkeys,

IXL is probably right... you really should look into selling that Yoder and get you a cooker which won't irritate or frustrate the ever living hell out of you! haha I understand where you're coming from as my 1st offset smoker was a Yoder Cheyenne... and I just thought that's how cooking on an offset was supposed to be : horrible! I didn't realize how bad that Yoder was until I got my hands on my new offset (Johnson Smokers)! haha Now life is good with a much better smoker. For the price you paid for your Witchita you could get a better piece of gear from some pitbuilders in your general area.

Good luck with whatever you choose but it sounds like unloading that thing might make a world of difference for you. Good luck either way and I really loved your story of the issues you've had with your Yoder... really vindicated me for how I felt about my Cheyenne. Cheers!

Impressive troubleshooting and diagnosis. Continious Process Improvement (CPI) and listening to your customer base is paramount to future success. PDSA Cycle presented by Dr. Edwards Deming in the link below. If you drive a foreign car of high quality, this is the man responsible for its manufacture. Detroit automakers at the time dismissed his ideas. There is a very large furniture company in Houston that Dr. Deming is instrumental in that companies success and paramount growth. I would send an invoice billing as a consultant and see what happens. With 5K views on this thread, there is a lot of interest to see if corrective action takes place.

https://deming.org/management-system/pdsacycle

slamkeys said:

I have always hated how Yoder turned the pipe seams towards the bottom on my Loaded Wichita. Do all companies do that? They interfere with cleaning, and I've thought about grinding them smooth, but I don't want to weaken the welds by removing so much material.

Loaded Wichita pipe seams turned to the bottom:

I'm constantly cleaning the ashes out of my firebox, and I curse this stupid weld every time I clean near it. I did a deep clean today before I oiled the firebox, and I had to get a grill brush out to clean the debris that gets caked into the weld.

Is it safe to grind and sand these welds smooth? I asked a question on the Yoder forum to see if they do this by design, and whether they could turn the seams to the back where they wouldn't interfere with regular cleaning. This is yet another poor design decision from a very young fabrication company that doesn't seem willing to learn from its mistakes.

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IF the weld joint was correctly beveled prior to laying down the MIG bead, I would say it could be ground flat. IF the pipe joint was butted together prior to welding and a MIG bead was simply laid on top, I would say no.
Good luck,

Twisted T's Q said:

Slamkeys do you oil the inside of the fire box and if so how often ? and how are you cleaning the ash out of the fire box ? I just usually clean my fire box with a small broom and dust pan but have not oiled the inside of the fire box

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I normally shovel out the ashes at the end of my cooks (which is when that weld tends to frustrate me), followed by sweeping the remainder with a fireplace broom.

I've only oiled the inside of my firebox a few times since it was new, but this last time I opened up the firebox I found some water pooled at the low spot by the log lighter hole, and it had caused some minor rusting that I wanted to brush out and oil. If the log lighter hole created a smooth transition there the water might run out on its own, but there's kind of a lip there. I'm thinking about smoothing that area with a Dremel tool to see if the water will drain by itself.

SmoothBoarBBQ said:

Slamkeys,

IXL is probably right... you really should look into selling that Yoder and get you a cooker which won't irritate or frustrate the ever living hell out of you!

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LOL! I have definitely thought about that, but my Wichita is kind of like having a beautiful girlfriend with some irritating personality quirks. I complain a lot, but every time I look at her she puts me in the mood (for cooking). :eyebrows:

And, like a beautiful girlfriend, I'm willing to ignore some of her imperfections as long as she puts out (good food that is).

yakdung said:

IF the weld joint was correctly beveled prior to laying down the MIG bead, I would say it could be ground flat. IF the pipe joint was butted together prior to welding and a MIG bead was simply laid on top, I would say no.

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OK, that definitely sounds like a big IF. I'm not touching that weld.

slamkeys said:

I normally shovel out the ashes at the end of my cooks (which is when that weld tends to frustrate me), followed by sweeping the remainder with a fireplace broom.

I've only oiled the inside of my firebox a few times since it was new, but this last time I opened up the firebox I found some water pooled at the low spot by the log lighter hole, and it had caused some minor rusting that I wanted to brush out and oil. If the log lighter hole created a smooth transition there the water might run out on its own, but there's kind of a lip there. I'm thinking about smoothing that area with a Dremel tool to see if the water will drain by itself.

Click to expand...

thanks brother

I keep my smokers in a storage building that is somewhat a PITA when I want to cook but it keeps them out of the elements , my offset is a bayou classic but I have already made my mind up if and when I ever get another stick burner it will be a LSG offset horizontal ( I like the taste of the food to well that comes off the bayou ) so I figure I will just get a lot nicer version of what I have. I have been thinking about building a shed roof off of my building and keeping my smokers under that so I can cook where they set and mostly keep them out of the elements but I am afraid of smoker thieves but may gay ahead and do it, who knows lol ....

slamkeys said:

LOL! I have definitely thought about that, but my Wichita is kind of like having a beautiful girlfriend with some irritating personality quirks. I complain a lot, but every time I look at her she puts me in the mood (for cooking). :eyebrows:

And, like a beautiful girlfriend, I'm willing to ignore some of her imperfections as long as she puts out (good food that is).

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PLENTY of fish in the sea which are just as pretty (or much more pretty) and won't be a thorn in your side. haha

Cool, again, I really respect all that you've gone through with that cooker.

Big Swole said:

Testing your comment about PB.

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They're saying on the Photobucket Screw Job thread that if you've ever had any kind of paid account on PB you have until December 2018 to use your existing account, after which you'll need to upgrade to the $399.99 account or your photos will no longer work on 3rd party sites.

I never had a paid account, so I guess that's why my photos were broken on day one.

slamkeys said:

They're saying on the Photobucket Screw Job thread that if you've ever had any kind of paid account on PB you have until December 2018 to use your existing account, after which you'll need to upgrade to the $399.99 account or your photos will no longer work on 3rd party sites.

I never had a paid account, so I guess that's why my photos were broken on day one.

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Yeah, my account was paid (small amount) so that's a good thing for me I guess. I can start saving now for that ridiculous amount in 2018