Another Successful Yoder Restoration (Pic Heavy Thread)

beachda · Mar 27, 2020

So, this is my first real post but I wanted to wait til I finished this project before I put one up.

I started searching for a Yoder pellet cooker just kind of messing around here and there figuring if I found a great deal I'd buy one used. I had seen prior restorations before (See Dan Elders Classic Yoder Restoration) and was excited about being able to possibly do this myself. Then, much sooner than I expected I found a guy selling a used YS640 in Satellite Beach which is about 3 hours from me. I bought the cooker with a cover, AMAZN Tube, and a few other accessories for $600. It ran me about 100 bucks in gas and 20 bucks for the UHAUL.

I'll post pics in the order that I fixed her up. I started this in the beginning of February and finished exactly one month later.

These are the pics sent to me by the seller and me picking it up:

BBQ Freak · Mar 27, 2020

very cool and wish I could find a deal like that , congrats .

Stingerhook · Mar 27, 2020

Must have been a steal with all the sheriffs around Dan. Looking forward to the rehab.

beachda · Mar 27, 2020

Here are some pics of the outside condition of the cooker:

Mike Twangzer · Mar 27, 2020

Nice deal. Looks like a lot of cosmetic. Inside looks pretty good. Electronics ok ? Gonna be brand spanking new !!!

beachda · Mar 27, 2020

I started working on the inside scraping all the gunk and crud out that seemed to have been in there quite awhile. If you see Dan Elder's Classic Yoder Restoration you will see what he had to deal with (hammer and chisel required), but luckily mine was conquered with a scraper, shop vac, and lots of Simple Green. I wanted all the "seasoning" to be from me and not someone else's who knows what. I also resealed some of the seams. Pics are before and after:

beachda · Mar 27, 2020

Thanks guys I appreciate it.

@Mike the electronics are good to go. Took em all out to complete the sanding/painting and they looked great. Outside is totally cosmetic. Some it was pretty heavy and took a lot of elbow grease but it was worth it in the end.

@Stingerhook HAHAHA yes I felt about the same way. They would've had and open & shut case for sure.

beachda · Mar 27, 2020

Sanding and working away on the cooker body and the cart once it came back from the sandblaster...

beachda · Mar 27, 2020

Prime, paint, and reassembly of the cart...I also bought the new casters you see on the YS640S as the old ones were shot. I removed all fasteners/hardware and chemically cleaned them then hit them with a stainless wire brush before reassembly. The wheel hubs I just hit with black spray paint.

beachda · Mar 27, 2020

The cooker body primed and painted. It should be noted after I sanded I prepped all surfaces for paint by degreasing with denatured alcohol and cleaning them. Then I applied high heat primer and high heat paint. I did the same with the cart.

beachda · Mar 27, 2020

Finished product! Some parts you don't see after this is I bought the grease shield for it. I also intend to get the two piece diffuser and eventually will upgrade the controller. I had to rig up a bucket liner since the old grease bucket was shot and I had to order another one. So, I threw a pic of that in as well. Overall I've had several cooks with it and man I love it. MAJOR upgrade from my old and trusty 18.5 WSM. Forgot to mention the seller included the cover as well.

For those that want the numbers:

Cooker: $600
Fuel: $100
Trailer: $20
Material: $50
Sandblasting/Powder Coating: $130
Silicone Bumpers for Counterweight: $8

So, including every single dime to get this beast to where I wanted it and it be functional I'm all in at $908. The grease shield was a want, not a need, as were the bumpers but they do make a difference. Once I pick up the new upgraded ACS conversion (400 bucks) and the two piece diffuser (189 bucks) along with the grease shield I already bought I'll be all in at $1577 for basically a YS640S with all the upgrades. Now, I'm gonna run with this controller and diffuser for a good while till I can save up, but man am I happy with how this turned out and the food it puts out.

gtsum · Mar 27, 2020

Impressive! If you end up keeping it to cook on (??), get yourself the two door diffuser if you are wanting to do reverse sears and grilling etc. that’s a heck of a deal you got and a lot of effort to get it looking nice. Congrats!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

bluegrass smoke · Mar 27, 2020

:clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2:

TechMOGogy · Mar 27, 2020

Love it!
Favourite part are the shelves. Very cool looking.
Thanks to Jay for sending me the link.
Dan E. :-D

Whodat985 · Mar 27, 2020

Might be a dumb question from a rookie. What makes this pit special. Used 600 an they say you got a deal ?

chingador · Mar 27, 2020

Really nice work. Beautiful cooker. Really like the orange paint on the concrete. I bet that was a fun conversation with the wife.

beachda · Mar 27, 2020

Whodat985 said:
Might be a dumb question from a rookie. What makes this pit special. Used 600 an they say you got a deal ?

These pits run $1799 new before any add ons is why its such a good deal. This one was made in January 2016. To all reading this thread I meant to add that I'm gonna install the ceramic ignitor as well so add $50 to the total I mentioned earlier.

beachda · Mar 27, 2020

chingador said:
Really nice work. Beautiful cooker. Really like the orange paint on the concrete. I bet that was a fun conversation with the wife.

Yeeeeaaaaah I didn't care about overspray on the concrete. She, however, did and provided me with the blue sheet you see in some of the pics. It was strong suggestion on her part that I use it lol

beachda · Mar 27, 2020

TechMOGogy said:
Love it!
Favourite part are the shelves. Very cool looking.
Thanks to Jay for sending me the link.
Dan E. :-D

Loved the way yours turned out too man! You set the standard for it I'd say. I love the shelves too. They couldn't have turned out any better. Several cooks in and everything is holding up great.

rwalters · Mar 27, 2020

Most excellent!!!! You sir did a beautiful job

Another Successful Yoder Restoration (Pic Heavy Thread)

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