Jon Tofte
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
OK, first let me say that I have NOT seen a Weber SmokeFire in person. That is obviously important to make a fair comparison. I have, however, seen in person the Traeger Ironwood and Timberline series grills that I mention. I post this only because of questions some have had about Weber's pricing. There are certainly cheaper competitors than Traeger - and I am sure some will do just fine. Even Traeger has entry-level lower priced models. Clearly, however, Weber needed to challenge the leader and leader's best stuff, not lower priced copycats.
The Ironwood has been stated to be the "target" that Weber was aiming at. What do you get? At $1199 for the smaller grill and $1399 for the larger one, you get the same basic grease bucket as other older pellet grills. Don't like those Weber nickel-chrome plated grates on the SmokeFire? I don't really either, but I also don't like the porcelain coated ones that come with the Traeger Ironwood grills.
https://www.traegergrills.com/pelle...50-pellet-grill?icid=20191111|holiday|sale|cs
The Timberline series are Traeger's top-end grill. They DO look very nice and come with stainless grates (although I didn't magnet test them):
I guess they should be pretty nice with prices set at $1,799 for the smaller Timberline and $1,999 for the larger one.
https://www.traegergrills.com/pelle...50-pellet-grill?icid=20191111|holiday|sale|cs
The Timberline is a worthy competitor for the SmokeFire but costs A LOT MORE. Also, I don't think Traeger tries to claim the same high heat capability. The Timberline, I believe, tops out around 500 degrees. It does have some nice doodads and looks good overall.
I would submit that based on what we have seen and heard so far that you would come out way ahead of even Traeger's Timberline with a new SmokeFire upgraded with a decent set of middle of the road stainless grates such as Qlimetal, Hongso or if you want to spend a little more BBQParts.com or Midwest Hearth. And, of course, you could go all out and by Dave Santana/rcplanebuyer grates and STILL have a lot of $ left for stuff to smoke and grill on your new SmokeFire. It is my understanding that classic Genesis size grates will interchange on the SmokeFire - 2 for the smaller one and 3 grates for the large.
So, I think that Weber is very fairly priced in light of the offerings from their most serious competitor. I don't think the Ironwood is even really close, and the Timberline is priced much, much higher. It is going to be interesting to see how this plays out for sure!
The Ironwood has been stated to be the "target" that Weber was aiming at. What do you get? At $1199 for the smaller grill and $1399 for the larger one, you get the same basic grease bucket as other older pellet grills. Don't like those Weber nickel-chrome plated grates on the SmokeFire? I don't really either, but I also don't like the porcelain coated ones that come with the Traeger Ironwood grills.
https://www.traegergrills.com/pelle...50-pellet-grill?icid=20191111|holiday|sale|cs
The Timberline series are Traeger's top-end grill. They DO look very nice and come with stainless grates (although I didn't magnet test them):
I guess they should be pretty nice with prices set at $1,799 for the smaller Timberline and $1,999 for the larger one.
https://www.traegergrills.com/pelle...50-pellet-grill?icid=20191111|holiday|sale|cs
The Timberline is a worthy competitor for the SmokeFire but costs A LOT MORE. Also, I don't think Traeger tries to claim the same high heat capability. The Timberline, I believe, tops out around 500 degrees. It does have some nice doodads and looks good overall.
I would submit that based on what we have seen and heard so far that you would come out way ahead of even Traeger's Timberline with a new SmokeFire upgraded with a decent set of middle of the road stainless grates such as Qlimetal, Hongso or if you want to spend a little more BBQParts.com or Midwest Hearth. And, of course, you could go all out and by Dave Santana/rcplanebuyer grates and STILL have a lot of $ left for stuff to smoke and grill on your new SmokeFire. It is my understanding that classic Genesis size grates will interchange on the SmokeFire - 2 for the smaller one and 3 grates for the large.
So, I think that Weber is very fairly priced in light of the offerings from their most serious competitor. I don't think the Ironwood is even really close, and the Timberline is priced much, much higher. It is going to be interesting to see how this plays out for sure!