21gambler
New member
Hi all - first post here! Been enjoying learning the Traeger "Fremont" purchased at Costco over Memorial weekend. Bought it on sale at $499. So far so good except when I totally forgot there was a on/off switch on Father's day and couldn't, for the life of me, figure out why there was no power! Briscuit had to be done on friend's ceramic LOL. Thanks Dave - owe ya one.
Anyway, wanted to share some mods
1. Lava rock seal has worked out great. Definitely seems to keep temps more steady and keeps more smoke in as opposed to leaking around lid. Applied to lid and closes like a fridge (someone else pointed that out and was spot on!).
2. Bit of a beast and awkward to move around. Looked at changing the legs out, but would have been big $'s. So bought these little 3-poly wheeled casters on Amazon. Get the blue wheel ones - much easier to roll and not get hung up like the Home Depot model did. And wheels are a bit softer so easily moves over walkway cracks, tree debris and other little things.
The main purpose is that I want to be able to store in back shed for extended periods and want to roll it easily in. So far so good and have made them more "permanent" with a good size bolt up from the bottom of the caster and fits in a bolt hole of the foot of the leg. Once you aim the legs in, it's easy. I have not screwed it in, rather choosing a bolt very slightly smaller in diameter.
3. So in doing this, obviously this raised the pitch of the unit by about 2 3/4" or so. Actually, probably more so. I then replaced the back wheels with 11" wheels from Ace. Unit comes with 7" wheels. Took a lot of trial and error with bolt size with mostly the length, but also diameter to ensure a free spinning wheel. Need to do some more tweaks since the wheel is a bit wobbly when moving unit. Might be able to live with it though since I'm only moving a few times a year. Again, lots of trial and error with wheel sizes and 11" was the trick.
This raised the grill quite a bit, but I've found it not to be an issue. The other thing is the grill is still pitched maybe a 1/16" off level, but no more than an 1/8", but I've not had an issue with grease draining from pan to collector(? the V inside) and into the pail.
4. Got some neodymium magnets and glued them in the Trager hub cap to finish the look after daughter painted them SF Giants colors.
5. Did the pail with a small chain and the magnet is strong enough to keep the pail from unloading onto the concrete and making a big mess if it's bumped. Why Traeger doesn't use a larger nub to keep it in place is beyond me.
Hope this helps. Been a member of a prior BBQ forum when I built the outdoor kitchen and it was a HUGE help, though I can't find it anymore and share the 12 year old update. I do believe in sharing ideas and looking forward to learning so much more of the art of smoking and creating good food from this forum!
Thanks!
Anyway, wanted to share some mods
1. Lava rock seal has worked out great. Definitely seems to keep temps more steady and keeps more smoke in as opposed to leaking around lid. Applied to lid and closes like a fridge (someone else pointed that out and was spot on!).
2. Bit of a beast and awkward to move around. Looked at changing the legs out, but would have been big $'s. So bought these little 3-poly wheeled casters on Amazon. Get the blue wheel ones - much easier to roll and not get hung up like the Home Depot model did. And wheels are a bit softer so easily moves over walkway cracks, tree debris and other little things.
The main purpose is that I want to be able to store in back shed for extended periods and want to roll it easily in. So far so good and have made them more "permanent" with a good size bolt up from the bottom of the caster and fits in a bolt hole of the foot of the leg. Once you aim the legs in, it's easy. I have not screwed it in, rather choosing a bolt very slightly smaller in diameter.
3. So in doing this, obviously this raised the pitch of the unit by about 2 3/4" or so. Actually, probably more so. I then replaced the back wheels with 11" wheels from Ace. Unit comes with 7" wheels. Took a lot of trial and error with bolt size with mostly the length, but also diameter to ensure a free spinning wheel. Need to do some more tweaks since the wheel is a bit wobbly when moving unit. Might be able to live with it though since I'm only moving a few times a year. Again, lots of trial and error with wheel sizes and 11" was the trick.
This raised the grill quite a bit, but I've found it not to be an issue. The other thing is the grill is still pitched maybe a 1/16" off level, but no more than an 1/8", but I've not had an issue with grease draining from pan to collector(? the V inside) and into the pail.
4. Got some neodymium magnets and glued them in the Trager hub cap to finish the look after daughter painted them SF Giants colors.
5. Did the pail with a small chain and the magnet is strong enough to keep the pail from unloading onto the concrete and making a big mess if it's bumped. Why Traeger doesn't use a larger nub to keep it in place is beyond me.
Hope this helps. Been a member of a prior BBQ forum when I built the outdoor kitchen and it was a HUGE help, though I can't find it anymore and share the 12 year old update. I do believe in sharing ideas and looking forward to learning so much more of the art of smoking and creating good food from this forum!
Thanks!
