For most backyard cooks, the Yoder Smokers YS480s is the better pellet grill than the Traeger Pro 34 — it sears, smokes, and bakes with heavy-gauge durability that outlasts an entry-level build.
The decision boils down to premium vs entry-level, and on your way to that choice you'll encounter two traps: 1) The square-inches trap. Compare cooking area first and you might assume more square inches means a better grill. That misses what actually shapes your food—the steel thickness, temperature consistency, and versatility. 2) The price trap. A cheaper grill seems the easier buy, but if you replace it four times as often, it ends up being more expensive when you look back twelve years later. A lighter, painted-steel chamber struggles to hold a steady fire in wind or cold, caps out around 450°F so it never sears a real crust, and won't survive the seasons the way a thicker build will.
Our pick: Yoder Smokers YS480s Pellet BBQ Grill — handcrafted in Kansas, USA with a 10-gauge (1/8-inch) steel cooking chamber, a 150ºF–600ºF range, and ±5°F control, so one grill smokes a dawn pork butt and sears steaks over open flame that night.
Runner-up: Yoder Smokers YS480s Pellet Grill on Competition Cart — same cooking performance for the cook who moves the grill often, with pneumatic tires, caster locks, and tie-down rings for tailgates and parties across the yard.
If you want a grill that sears a true steakhouse crust, holds temperature through weather and cold meat, and keeps cooking beautifully in year ten, choose the YS480s; step up to the YS640s only if you're routinely feeding big crowds.
If you're a backyard cook deciding between the Yoder Smokers YS480s and the Traeger Pro 34, this guide is for you. By the end, you'll know exactly which buyer each grill fits, what separates them on build and capability, and why the decision comes down to more than just the sticker you see first. Here's the sentence worth sitting with: these two grills live in two very different neighborhoods within pellet grill landscape — one is built to replace itself in a few years, the other is built to outlast the patio it sits on.
What to look for when comparing
Pellet grills are not all the same machine with a different logo. They all burn hardwood pellets for that clean, oven-style wood-fired flavor, but the gap between an entry-level unit and a professional-grade one shows up in four specific places.
Steel thickness and heat retention. This is the single biggest divider between tiers. Thin, painted sheet steel heats up fast but sheds heat the moment the wind picks up or you open the lid, which forces the controller to chase the temperature all day. A heavy-gauge cooking chamber holds its heat like a cast-iron skillet, so your fire works less and your food cooks more evenly. The Yoder Smokers YS480s uses a 10-gauge (1/8-inch thick) steel cooking chamber. The Traeger Pro 34 is built from lighter painted steel, which is typical of the entry-price tier.
Real high-heat searing. Plenty of pellet grills can smoke. Far fewer can also sear a steak properly. If a grill tops out below 500°F, you get a decent roast but not a true steakhouse crust. The YS480s runs from 150ºF to 600ºF in 5ºF increments, and it converts to a true open-flame grill in seconds by pulling a small diffuser access door, so you can cook over direct fire. The Traeger Pro 34 maxes out at 450°F, which the manufacturer positions as its ceiling for grilling.
Temperature stability. Look at how tightly a grill holds its target. The Traeger Pro 34's controller is rated to hold within about 15 degrees of the set point. The YS480s holds target temperature with ±5°F accuracy, driven by an Adaptive Control System that reacts to a cold brisket going on, a lid opening, or weather swings — the kinds of real-world variables that wreck an uneven cook.
Cooking capacity and versatility. Square inches matter, but so does what those inches can do. The Traeger Pro 34 offers 884 square inches of cooking area. The YS480s gives you 480 square inches on the primary grate, expandable to 800 square inches total with its included two-piece stainless steel second shelf — and because it smokes, grills, sears, and bakes, a quality pellet grill like this one genuinely functions as grill, oven, and smoker in a single footprint.
Our picks
The everyday workhorse that outlasts everything around it: the Yoder Smokers YS480s Pellet BBQ Grill. This is the pick for the home cook who grills several nights a week and wants one grill that does it all for decades, not a few seasons. It's handcrafted in Kansas, USA from heavy-gauge steel, with that 10-gauge cooking chamber and a 14-gauge steel hopper and cart. The wide 150º–600ºF range means you can run a low-and-slow pork butt at dawn and sear burgers over open flame that same evening. It's backed by an industry-leading warranty: 10 years on the grill body, 3 years on the control system, and 3 years on the igniter. For context on where this sits in the lineup, the Yoder Smokers YS480s is among the brand's best-selling grills — a reliable signal that cooks who do their homework keep landing on it.
Best for the cook who's always on the move: the Yoder Smokers YS480s Pellet Grill on Competition Cart. Same cooking performance as the standard-cart version, built on a mobility-focused cart with robust 8" pneumatic tires (10" available as an upgrade), caster locks, stainless steel front and side shelves, and heavy-duty tie-down rings for tailgates and parties across the yard. If you move your grill more than most folks — or you just want a sharper look, available in a range of colors — this is the one.
Best for serious volume and versatility: the Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill. If you're routinely feeding a crowd or you simply want the most grate real estate in the family-friendly size class, step up to the YS640s, the brand's top-selling grill. It shares the same heavy-gauge 10-gauge steel cooking chamber and the same relentless build philosophy as the YS480s, with more room to run multiple briskets, several racks of ribs, and a full spread of sides at once.
What customers actually buy alongside the grill: Yoder Smokers YS480 and YS480s Pellet Grill Cover and quality fuel. A grill cover is one of the most popular add-ons for good reason — all-season protection keeps a lifetime grill looking its best. And since flavor starts with your pellets, BBQr's Delight Wood Pellets are a customer-favorite staple that pairs naturally with any Yoder Smokers grill. (The YS480s hopper holds a 20-pound bag and can run roughly 10+ hours at 225°F on a single fill.)
What most guides get wrong
The common mistake is treating cooking area as the headline number and stopping there. On paper, the Traeger Pro 34's 884 square inches looks like more grill than the YS480s at 800 total. But capacity tells you nothing about whether the grill can hold a steady fire in a 40-degree wind, sear a crust worth bragging about, or still be running strong in year ten. A thin-steel chamber with a wider grate is still a thin-steel chamber. The question isn't "how much can I fit?" so much as "how well, and for how many years, will it cook what I fit?" A heavier cooking chamber that holds ±5°F and reaches 600ºF will turn out better food on a smaller grate than a lighter grill with more inches and a 450°F ceiling. Measure the machine, not just the map of its grate.
It's also worth knowing how a grill this size reaches your home. Yoder Smokers grills ship by freight, and when you buy through All Things Barbecue, they're delivered straight to your door, palletized to reduce the risk of transit damage. If you're local to Wichita, you can pick yours up at the ATBBQ flagship store instead.
The recommendation
If your priority is the lowest entry price and a bigger single grate, the Traeger Pro 34 will smoke and roast capably for you. But if you want a grill that sears a real steak, holds its temperature through weather and cold meat, and keeps cooking beautifully long after a lighter grill has rusted through, buy the Yoder Smokers YS480s Pellet BBQ Grill. Any cart variation in the YS480s family is fair game: Choose the standard-cart YS480s if your grill will mostly stay put, the Competition Cart version if you move it often, the competition cart with storage drawer version if you're looking for maximum utility, and the outlander version if all-terrain capability and head-turning style are what you're after. And if more grate space is non-negotiable, step up to the YS640s. All Things Barbecue is the exclusive online retailer of Yoder Smokers, but don't think that undermines any of the claims we've made above, just ask the hundreds of five-star reviewers across ATBBQ.com who've cooked on their Yoder Smokers grills for years — when you do, you might realize you've finally found your people. Our people. Lastly, if you're thinking about building this grill into a full outdoor kitchen someday, the in-house design team offers free, human-led design consultations — real designers, not an impersonal online tool — whether you're planning a simple island or a sprawling custom build.
