My second one and I'm just as happy as the first one. Cooks way more meat than I originally thought it would. I've had pretty big briskets on it and tons of fajitas as well as many many tri tips. This thing makes a quick smoke/cook so easy. I'm not much of a gas grill guy, so this fills the gap of quick evening cooks and we still get great smoke flavor, plus I use it for hours long cooks and it is so reliable. I used to make fun of electric pellet grills...

great little workhorse

Great little smoker to have around. Easy to pack in the bed of a truck for a cookout.

I like everything about it. Perfect for apartment/condo living

Works great and easy to use. Hope it lasts

Runs about 15 degrees higher than set but just adjust the temp down 15 and it's spot on. The griddle is amazing 😍. Pretty compact a bit heavy but not unexpectedly heavy.

I live in a townhouse community where we're not allowed to have propane grills. For a while I got by using a Weber electric Q grill which did the job but didn't impart any flavor to what I was cooking. I didn't want to deal with the hassle of charcoal, so my last resort was a pellet grill. I did a lot of research and it seemed like the Ranger was the perfect size for me. I really just wanted to be able to grill some burgers, hot dogs, and maybe a steak or two. I'm not advanced enough to start smoking meat on this - yet.This grill tops out at around 450 degrees so it doesn't get as hot as a charcoal or propane grill. That's fine enough for the basics, and if I was to cook a steak on it I'd just do a reverse sear with my cast iron pan inside on the stove.One thing that I was worried about was how long it'd take for the fire to burn out once I was done cooking. My concern was about how long I'd have to baby sit the thing until it was done. Fortunately it takes just about five minutes once the grill has been put in its shutdown sequence. So far it hasn't been a problem.The only reason why I am giving it four stars instead of five is that the handle and the catches to keep the top clamped down get HOT during cooking and you can easily burn yourself if you're not careful. You need to keep the top shut while you cook for the air circulation to happen properly.Traeger doesn't make a stand or cart for this, so I ended up buying this stainless steel cart from Amazon. It's made it super easy to roll the grill in and out of my garage. (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AH0XVZ8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1) I also added some magnetic hooks on the side to hang my grilling tools from. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XG5HFVW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Initial Impressions: I would not recommend this as a beginner's unit. This is made for travel. They are expensive and if you are interested in learning and doing a lot of smoking, go with wood burners (IMHO) for that classic smoke flavor. These are not exactly BBQ grills nor are they likely good for competition grilling/smoking. These are ovens with a fan (convection) that can give you pretty good smoke flavors using pellets that need to be about 70% oak and 30% flavored wood (soaked in flavored oils I guess) so that the burn is cleaner with little ash left on your food. You are told to use Traeger for this reason, and I will. They claim other cheaper brands may have bark or not enough oak (for clean burn) and I don't see a big enough difference in price to argue about it. You want the thin blue smoke, not white puffs, so burn what they tell you to burn is my thought.These are made for travel and will be great for tailgate for four at the most, or camping/RV at the park. When determining where you will set this unit, remember that you need 12" spacing all around it and at least 40" above it. Smoke will stain your bricks, eaves, and soffits, etc. not to mention the occasional grease fire. Also the grill can heat up to 450 (or a little more) so I'm not going to "set it and forget it" with kids around and I will at least be watching it on wifi camera.Information I could not find anywhere: After the feet are installed, the footprint measured from outside of legs (not the unit dimensions) is 12 5/8" depth X 16 1/4" width, so you will ne a 13" X 17" (minimum) table top/surface capable of holding a possible 100 lbs and heat resistant (there is a report of it melting a plastic floding table in a review I saw). Tailgates and park picnic tables are fine as long as they are level and do not disrupt the grease flow to the back of the unit into the bucket.I saw a review that claimed the griddle was 12 lbs. Its not. Its 8.5. If you add the grease tray, grill, and bucket it likely is about 12 lbs. If you have the hopper full that will add more weight (about 10 lbs). So, if you have to carry it by yourself for a distance, empty it all out and it will likely weigh around 47 lbs. That's still fairly heavy - use your legs when lifting.Useable grill surface is anything under 10" W X 13" D X 5" H and must be positioned carefully over the grease plate to avoid the grease fire. So again, any hunk of meat less than your grease tray and not touching the lid should be ok if positioned with care. You can't put a full packer in there, but you could possibly separate them and cook separately. Boston butts higher than 5" are out of the question but you could easily do a pork shoulder, etc. I don't see how some are saying they've done both but the dimensions I gave above are maximum USEABLE dimensions.I wish I would have understood the pellet management in these things better before I bought it. The hopper is inside the unit which makes it impossible to add any during a burn without interrupting the smoke or hold/stall temperatures so you have to ensure you fill it all the way for a long smoke. It has the capacity you might need.Other than that, no big deal and makes it easier for travel and storage not having an outside hopper (or smoke stack).Controller: Currently Traeger has a huge issue (IMHO) with units shipped and still on shelves that have malfuntioning controllers (center button will not scroll to timer, alarm, probe, and icons on left side of screen will not show. This renders your probe useless and they can not fix this issue. Traegers are made in CHINA like most other smokers but currently there are dealers having to pull rangers off the shelf to check for this defect. Traeger help desk would not acknowledge this of course. It seems like they hope you will just give up.Shipping: On time with no damage to exterior box (came via Prime truck).Unboxing - You should not try to lift the box initially, use a cart to get it to its location. After you open the box you can take out the heavy parts that will reduce it by 15 lbs (estimate). I lifted it by myself but it was heavier than I thought.After opening and inspecting I found no missing items but they did give me an extra rubber foot which is good because everytime you lift it at least one of them falls off. Everything was packed well and individually wrapped items fit inside the grill just right. There was a sheen of oil on the grease tray and will leave oil marks on your clothes or whatever you sit it on so you should probably leave it wrapped until burn-in time. It did not come with starter pellets, no weather cover (bought separately), no samples of rubs etc., nor did I expect them.Assembly and Quality Inspection - There was not a whole lot of assembly involved. There are 4 feet with rubber cups for each. You have to turn the unit on its side or even upside down and use a phillips screw driver and the provided washer and bolt to mount the 4 square metal legs then cover them with the rubber cups. There was a nice heavy handle to be screwed into the lid for lifting (not carrying the unit). The screwdriver they provide is nice enough but not large enough. if you tighten down with the provided screwdriver it does not get the proper bite and you will likely damage it for further use. Use a regular phillips. This unit comes with a small bucket for grease collection out the back, a grease tray (heavy gauged metal) that must be inserted properly so that the bucket can hang from it at the rear of the unit. The grill is heavy and coated. The griddle is cast iron and weighs 8.5 lbs. The external dimensions are correct and the unit itself is made of heavy gauged metal (very similar to weber grill). If I had to knock anything on quality it would be the hasps and hinging. The lid hinge mounts need to be beefier in my opinion in case the lid is up and the wind catches it. I'll likely mod it with a safety strap when the warranty is up. The front hasps are sufficient but again, beefier would suit me better.Instructions - I've yet to see a perfect manual and this one did not surprise me. The initial burn to clean out chemicals and oils etc. is unfinished. it says go to Pri then 450 and let it burn for 30 min. - so far so good, but then it doesn't tell you what to do afterwards. I chose to do the shutdown as I was not going to cook anything today. So, it says to press center button for 3 seconds and it will flash off, then scroll down to shutdown and alternates with temperature. Mine did not scroll down to anything and flashes with time, not temperature. Then it flashes the idle mode "[ ]" mode awaiting further instructions. Is it safe to turn off now? No "finished" or any other clue to say what's next. I turned it off at the switch and unplugged it. Hopefully its ready to go when I cook. (see updates below)There's lots of warning as you could imagine when playing with fire and they seem to be sprinkled liberally throughout and all of the rest deals with technical functions but I haven't finished it yet.I'll update this after a few cooks.UPDATED 6/12/20:One reason the manual might not have been so great is my ARC controller was not fully functional. The center button would not take me to timer or alternate temperature and time display. Also, you are supposed to get indications on the left of the panel when the probe is recognized and/or the timer is being used. Mine did not. The instructions say nothing about if the probe has to be plugged in BEFORE it starts or if you can plug it in any time. It explained the timer mode but since mine did not work I should hope there would be something in the manual for troubleshooting. There is not. The only thing that troubleshooting portion shows is error codes, which I did not have. All in all, I wish they had a better troubleshooting section. If you call tech support they will be using the same manual you are looking at so don't expect any knowledge tips as they likely are unfamiliar with the Ranger.So, I called the Traeger help line. The first call I got someone under two minutes and although knew less than I did was certainly helpful in attitude and pleasant to talk to. Then i got the "hello are you there, hello..." and she could not hear me, lost connection... I hope it was just that, a bad connection. I called back and think it was the same person. We determined that the probe should be plugged in while in the idle mode and since I was in the middle of a cook I should call back if that did not do the trick. I wasn't sure about the timer mode entry yet so I thought I would just finish the cook and start over again. It still did not detect the probe. Could not go into timer mode and probe could not be recognized. I called back and this person was very helpful with enough experience that she recognized something was wrong with the controller and from there it was a matter of setting me up for a new one to be shipped with a tracking number emailed to me. I'm editing this before I have received the tracking number email to let me know it shipped but just wanted to keep this updated in case you were looking at one. This is not a "nightmare issue" or unexpected for me. I'm glad I chose Traeger just because of this reason. Their controllers are modules that are easily replaced by plugging and unplugging and I read nothing on other brands other than the usual "no answer" type stuff. But I don't expect these modules to last more than a few years (the warranty is 3 years).Update to Shipping 7/2/2020: I was supposed to receive another (second) controller that never came but was told it was awaiting UPS to deliver to USPS and then got lost, and then apparently found, and delivered to me. I think they were confused and thought that was the 1st controller replacement that did not work and the second never was shipped as they could not find it and I have a video doorbell and it never arrived at my door or the mailbox. But I'm taking them at their word that it was lost in shipping. I'll update when I get the second controller replacement.Cooking: Without a probe or timer I cooked two 1 lb cornish hens and some vegetables with traeger pecan pellets. I watched the temperature swings and/or if it stayed at selected temperature. I must say that the system as a whole is pretty accurate and made my guessing at doneness a breeze. I set it at 270 and it added pellets then temperature went to 350 and then cooled off to 270. I put everything on the grill and watched temperature build back up to 300 and then settle down quickly to 270. I had to lift the lid during cook to get the serial number from the hopper lid, the temperature went back up and settled back down. When the lid was kept shut the temperature never varied by more than a few degrees on a very windy day. The smoke was thin (like it should be) unless the lid was lifted and it was burning off pellets. After an hour and 10 minutes I took an instant read and pulled it all of the grill. The wife loved it. I hate heavy smoked chicken and Traeger pecan is a weaker smoke flavor. And because with pellet burners you don't get as heavy a smoke as wood or charcoal (not to mention pellet burners are more consistent flavored from one cook of a chicken to the next) I think this was just what I expected. We shall see, and I'll keep you updated as I travel around with it and use it more.I'll update this after I get the new module and install it.EDIT 6/18/2020: Received the new module and it did the same thing!!! That is not possible typically. I called Traeger immediately and had her walk me through the instructions to make sure I had the correct manual and that the module was loaded with the correct software. She determined I needed to calibrate the probe but I reasoned that if I was unable to get into the timer mode, probe mode, or alarm mode, then calibrating the probe that wasn't being recognized when plugged in would not fix my inability to scroll through modes. I told her I did not want to use the probe at all and I could still not scroll with center button on either old or new controller. I had asked if I could speak to someone who actually owned and operated a Ranger but that will not happen and all you will get is going to be someone walking you through your manual. She also tried to do a live stream video but the link did not work with my phone, maybe because of web/antivirus protection I use on my phone, not sure, tried firefox and chrome browsers. So, she put me on hold and after what seemed like a half hour (likely 15 minutes) the connection was lost again so I called back and got my 4th agent. He seemed to be aware of the situation already and was very patient as we again tried the live stream and finally used my wife's phone which worked. Remember, once you've cooked with the unit it can not be shipped back so likely they will keep sending controllers until they find one that works and this is probably the case with green mountain or pit boss too. A note on replacement of controller is I was told its easy and on youtube. Its not, and its not. My big hands could not both fit into the small opening to plug and unplug connections and the arc controller is not currently on youtube, only for other models.Note of some value: I have literally years of training in electronics/servicing/production and have manned the helpdesks at times so I am familiar with all of this from both sides of the phone. I'm not going to be the customer I used to joke about after we would hang up. There's no use in it and they are being as helpful as possible in their job capacity. So, if you are that customer, your experience with them is going to be very frustrating. The agents you talk to do not have immediate access to techs or engineers. So not because traeger agents aren't great at their job, its because the company itself is not geared for great quality control or after sales repairs that I am downgrading this to 4 stars for now. I've spent $500 for a grill (and accessories) that doesn't work and surprised they do not check the units out or update them before sending them out. The ones already on the shelf at the store they must know they are not going to work and are expecting your call.? Right now I have a pretty high level of confidence (because of the Traeger name) they will make it right but I might be a little nervous in a day or two. My wife's giving me the stink-eye every time I try to explain what's going on. I'll continue to update this in case your getting ready to make a travel grill purchase. Stay tuned!Update 7/2/2020: I'm downgrading this review from a 5, to a 4, now to a 3 as this has turned into the typical helpdesk experience everyone complains about as the previous one was lost in shipment, they say. I've now talked to 7 different voices (none are technicians) and they have all made me walk them through the issue. None of them have ever operated a traeger ranger or arc controller. they've only read the manual. They can not put me in touch with anyone with experience on my model. They can't explain why three controllers malfunction the same way. I can't return this for refund or replacement.7/7/2020: So this has become worse, if you can imagine that. I called to check status of the lost then reordered again controller and was told there was no record of a previously ordered (second) replacement. This was after a 35 minute (officially timed) hold while she asked the team leader about how shipping works. When you track the UPS number they give you it goes to a "USPS is awaiting delivery" and the status had not changed. All that really means is someone printed a label and notified shipping that a tracking number has been created. I asked if the package had left the building and she said yes (without checking) and that they get 10 business days to deliver and that the above status means nothing. (Thanks for the tracking number, Traeger) This is what happened to the previous controller. I was given a tracking number and order number and the status never changed after 10 business days so it was reordered.I typed a big long log of all the phone calls, names, times, order numbers and tracking numbers to prove someone ordered it and it was all for not as the email came back with an auto response saying it was an unmonitored email account. So here I sit until the 15th of July without use of the pellet grill.I'll update this later and let you know if the latest controller arrived and actually fixed the issue.Sorry this is so long, but it was a great opportunity to give perspective buyers more information that just isn't out there yet and let them know that if they decide to buy a Traeger Ranger and receive a malfunctioning one, they are in for a high level of exasperation. I can not recall a more uninformed, unhelpful, uncaring helpdesk. Oh, and the wait times for an answer are 25-30 minutes long (unless you get conveniently dropped) or you can press 1 and they will call you back in about an hour.7/17/2020 UPDATE - it took longer than they said for another controller to get here. I plug it in and it does the same thing. So three different controllers all malfunction the exact same way? What are the odds? Well apparently pretty good from what I've gathered elsewhere. In my opinion they have a problem they can't fix. So, I called Traeger HD and spoke to another technician and he was also helpful but we had to go through the same troubleshooting steps as we did with the other 2 controllers but I was unable to use the center button as needed so the next step was to take it to a dealer and let them troubleshoot it. I had to call Traeger HD again to get the warranty request form with authorization number and then I delivered it today on same day as this update.7/25/2020: I updated this a few days ago to wrap this up but it did not get posted. Maybe I've been censored. I'll make this quick. They had me take it to a local dealer to get it troubleshot and possibly fixed.. They could not fix it. Traeger offered upgrade but all they had in shop was outdated tailgater and they the PRO line which will not travel. The shop was extremely helpful and empathetic. They advised me to go get my money back. Amazon was great and I had gone past 30 day window but it was a warranty issue with Traeger and they refunded my money, no sweat. I gave the Ranger and Traeger help desk every chance possible and they both failed. If you order one, chances are it will not work properly. Check it out the controller BEFORE YOU FIRE IT UP to make your return easy and return it immediately. Perhaps in a year or two they will have this issue resolved but right now. I've personally operated 4 different controllers on 2 rangers and they all had the exact same problem. I know of a store who is pulling them off the shelf and finding the same issue with their stock. So now you know everything and if you still order this hoping you will be one of the few who got lucky, I'd think again.Folks, I've had the same webber grill for over 25 years. Its a pain to store so Its been left outside all that time without problems (except i had to get new set of wheels). No it doesn't have an augering pellet system. But the charcoal bag weighs about the same as the pellet bag, I can smoke larger pieces of meat than the Ranger, its lighter and has wheels. I'm beginning to believe that its a far more pleasant experience with a webber and family, than a traeger ranger and helpdesk technicians.