Picked up this beauty the other day! Weber FT400


 
S

SimonC

New member
Hey guys,

Picked up this Weber FT400 the other day off of marketplace. I had never seen one of these before and as soon as I saw it, had a feeling I was on to something pretty cool!

Anyone seen these around before or know much about them?
 

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I finally get my Char Q that I've been searching for years for.... then you drop this on me?!?!? I must have one. lol
 
SimonC said:
Hey guys,

Picked up this Weber FT400 the other day off of marketplace. I had never seen one of these before and as soon as I saw it, had a feeling I was on to something pretty cool!

Anyone seen these around before or know much about them?
Click to expand...
Those are an open cart Summit with basically no lid. IDK if they have higher output burners though compared to the Summit 4XX series (which BTW was the first generation Summit). They're kind of a unicorn in this country as they were primarily geared to the Australian market
 
Steve, That would be great, and certainly it can't hurt to try. Unfortunately, though, these old grills are pretty much orphaned. You can still get burners and flavorizer bars, and thankfully the grates are interchangeable with the older Genesis. Beyond that, you are pretty much on your own. That's sad, but thankfully - other than the firebox - these grills were built like absolute tanks. Every time I open up my similar Summit I am amazed at the "presence" and "feel" it gives compared other grills I have used. Maybe that's just me because I poured so much into restoring it as my dream grill. But their solid build does give them a better shot of lasting all this long and with some hard work being well restored for years more use.

Cooking Away!.jpeg

SimonC,
I am not at all trying to generate sales, but if after you carefully look over your firebox on that flat-top and find the likely beginnings of burn-through, feel free to PM me about the stainless-steel reinforcement fix I came up with. If you have rust, and worse burn-through holes, it might make your cool old grill a SAFE one to use.

Front Piece with Rust Inside.jpeg

IMG_0967.jpeg

Inside after clips and SS reinforements.jpeg
 
Questions of the day -
Why did the FT never catch on in the US?
Anyone ever heard of Blackstone?
Pricing?
Marketing?
Timing?
All of the above?
 
Dave in KC said:
Questions of the day -
Why did the FT never catch on in the US?
Anyone ever heard of Blackstone?
Pricing?
Marketing?
Timing?
All of the above?
Click to expand...
Blackstone is a totally different animal. The FT4XX is an actual grill designed to be used "open" the Blackstone is a griddle. If you try to put eggs on an FT4XX they will fall through :D
 
I failed to post as I didn't have time to find that pictue, so you beat me Steve:cool:! Yes, but the Flat Top did include more than just regular grates. You also got a griddle section and something that looks a lot like a cannibalized Go Anywhere to do other types of cooking. So,I think there is some overlap with today's standalone griddles.

My feeling is that at the time, Weber was very centered on "covered cooking." The Flat Top kind of defied that belief, but it played well into the Australian market. Seeing the popularity of Blackstone, etc. now it does make you wonder whether a new model Flat Top - with a griddle included - might be a big hit?
 
Well I'll be dipped. I didn't know. I remember seeing them in Bob's Ace Hardware (where jon's Summit came from), But did not see the other accessories. So this is a total surprise
 
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