For Christmas, my son bought my wife and I a Traeger pellet grill.  An Elite 54 model that says it's $900 but if I know him, he got it at a huge discount in trade for something.  The Amazon reviews are 40% five star and 40% one star.  Either it works great, or it's a complete POS.  Reviews say it has lots of electronics problems, wild temperature swings as a result, horrible customer service, falls apart of not kept in a climate controlled room (seriously?), and so on. "Not the Traeger it used to be, now it's all made in China junk".  Normally I'd not buy something with such split reviews, but I own it now so that's probably that.

Does anyone own a newer Traeger like this or similar, and have advice on using this grill alive and keeping it working?  

Thanks in advance!

I've had one now for a year with 0 problems.

I have read about other issues and don't know if I'm lucky or what.

I am meticulous about maintenance and cleaning though.

I own a new 34 series grill but will say that i read about all the temp swings and wasnt gonna deal with it, so as soon as i ordered the grill, i ordered the pellet pro PID along with it.  The controller came in 2 days and the grill took a week to get there.  Assembled the grill then ripped out the controller and replaced it with the PID.  I have 0 experience with the stock controller but man im completely head over heels with this controller.  Keeps temp swings within +/- 5 degrees, not even kidding.  Only downside i see to this controller is it has one meat probe, but you can buy bluetooth meat probes online for 60 dollars for a great model.  Seriously if you are serious about smoking, do yourself a favor and just invest in a great controller.  Pellet pro PID or Savannah smokers make good ones, pellet pro was just more straight forward for me thats why i got that one.

I recently bought a Traeger Pro 22 and it's been a disaster. I'm a huge fan of pellet smokers, but I'll never buy a Traeger again. It's 6 weeks old and has never worked right. Traeger has sent me a new controller (took 10 days to arrive) and didnt help a bit. They sent me a new RTD Probe (took 9 days to arrive) and didn't help. I'm now waiting for a new hopper & auger assembly which I got told 11 days ago that they'd ship it right out. Now I'm being told it may be 2 more weeks before they get the part back in stock. Their CS is polite but ultimately gives no fucks about their customers time or money.

At 225 it'll jump as high as 375 or as low as an LER flame out. At 350+ it runs fine. I cannot do any long cooks because I don't have the time to watch it the whole time.

I've finally said fuck it and ordered a Smoke Daddy Pellet Pro PID controller, auger motor and fan for it. I'm anxiously waiting for it to arrive.

I have a Pellet Pro with PID loop temp controller.  I highly recommend it.  I use it almost daily.  

I am so worried about keeping it running, that I bought all the spare parts for it.  All I have replaced is the hot-shot starter.  

I should have just bought a second grill.  That is the best way to have all the spare parts, just like a rifle. 

A couple friends have Treagers and have had no issues with them. 

Bought a traeger and before it arrived i ordered a pellet pro pid for it.  As soon as it came in i assembled the grill and installed the PID in it.  It has been flawless from day one but i have a feeling its due to the PID.

Almost all of the Grill manufacturers have whored out to the same Chinese factory.  None of those are the same as when they were made in the USA.  If you want that you need Yoder, Cook Shack, and maybe one or two others.  There will most likely be a lead time involved with getting one of these.    

As far as this issue I quoted, you cannot leave a pellet grill in the rain.  Rain (to the point of wet inside) makes the pellets swell up and they jam the auger.  That makes the gears in the motor gearbox break.  Almost everyone I know with a pellet grill has found this out the hard way.  

If you have a Treager, check out the Pellet Pro site for Smoke Daddy cold smoke generators.  These work great for bacon and cheese, or for adding additional smoke.  I use it on extremely hot days when the grill doesn't use many pellets and produces less smoke.  The simplicity of the generator is amazing and you can see how it works so well.