Ironwood 650 Upper Grate Mod

[JayHog]

I found a larger grill grate that just fits in the upper rack of the Ironwood 650. It's about 3 inches longer than the Traeger, which increases the upper cooking area by 78 cu. inches. At first I thought it was not wide enough, but when I pushed it all the way back, it drops over the front and rear steel guides. It weighs 5lbs, so it's solid and secure.

This basically makes your IW 650 into an IW 728... : )

Since I'm using smoke tubes (with wood chips), I noticed the food on the upper rack was getting more smoke and formed a nice bark. So, this allows me to smoke a fair amount more on the upper rack.

Hope this is helpful to someone. This online store has tons of grates and they list them at this link... https://www.clagrills.com/allgrillparts/all-cooking-grids2-pg1.htm
I wish you could search by size, but, oh well...

The link to the grate I installed is... https://www.clagrills.com/allgrillparts/all-cooking-grids2-pg2.htm

Part Number: 58671-SS
Dimension Front-to-Back: 14 3/4”
Dimension Side-to-Side: 21 1/2”
Material: Stainless steel
Weight: 5

 

[overnightbbqryan]

Awesome!

 

[BobbyQ]

Nice find.! Thanks

 

[HotSpringsBBQ]

Nice, I like to cook on the upper rack as well.

 

[konig]

Nice tip, but it seems to balance on the edges. Not afraid that it will fall off on one side and make a mess?

 

[Big Man Dan]

I've never used the upper grate and, in fact, have removed it. I should rethink that and get more meat going!!

 

[JayHog]

Nice tip, but it seems to balance on the edges. Not afraid that it will fall off on one side and make a mess?

I thought that at first also. I was going to send it back.

But the grate is just the right size to hang over the front and back guides (see photo). Once it's in place, it can't slide off. Can you see how the front bar (going left to right - not the grills you cook on, but underneath them) just hangs over the side guide? It does this perfectly in the front and the back of the guides.

If the grate guides were the same width all the way back, you could slide it easily until it drops in place. But they cut out some of the middle of the guides, so you have to set the grate in at the back first to make sure it's on the guide.

Also, note, that this only works on the Ironwood 650.

 

[JayHog]

Nice tip, but it seems to balance on the edges. Not afraid that it will fall off on one side and make a mess?

I added a short video to show how it stays on the slides.

 

[BobbyQ]

Nice find.! Thanks

Update. I purchased one and unfortunately, the dimensional consistency of the Ironwood leaves a bit to be desired. I fit it on the guides and slid it around as in the video and there was one particular orientation that caused the grill to slide off at the rear. Admittedly, it's a remote possibility but you don't want a rack of ribs taking a tumble. No problem though, I devised a fix. Using some stainless pipe strap left over from my temp probe guard and #8 stainless screws I came up with some supports as shown in the pics. And I can still use the stock grill but only in the forward position if I want.

 

[JayHog]

Brilliant! I haven't had any issues, but I think I'll do that too. Thanks for posting.

 

[JPSBBQ]

I utilize the upper racks in my cooker a lot. It’s preferable to the main grid when doing low and slows. Also, you get high heat rolling off the lid when trying to crisp up skin and what not