For most serious backyard cooks, the Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill is the better long-term buy over the Traeger Timberline, thanks to its heavier build and better heat retention.
The mistake most buyers make is choosing on touchscreen menus and app features, treating the two grills as if the food comes out identical. The real difference is the body: a 10-gauge (1/8-inch) steel cooking chamber and a 335-pound build give the YS640s the temperature stability to keep food consistent through cold, wind, and lid-opening, cook after cook.
Our pick: Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill — handcrafted from heavy-gauge steel in Kansas, USA, it smokes, sears, and bakes across a 150°F to 600°F range with 1,070 square inches of cooking space, and its Adaptive Control System holds your target within ±5°F.
Runner-up: Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill on Competition Cart — same cooking chamber and controller on flat-free pneumatic tires with locking casters and tie-down rings, ideal for cooks who haul their grill to tailgates or over uneven ground.
If you want the last pellet grill you'll ever buy rather than one you'll replace in a few seasons, choose the YS640s and match the cart to how you cook. Yoder Smokers grills ship by freight, palletized and delivered straight to your door when ordered through All Things Barbecue.
If you're cross-shopping the Yoder Smokers YS640s and the Traeger Timberline, you're already asking the right question: not "which pellet grill is cheaper," but "which one will I still be glad I bought ten years from now." This guide is for the home cook who's ready to move past a starter pellet grill and wants one built to sear a ribeye, smoke a brisket overnight, and bake a pizza — all from the same machine. By the end, you'll know exactly which build philosophy fits the way you actually cook, and which grill matches your patio, your storage needs, and your budget.
What to look for when comparing
Pellet grills all share the same basic idea — an auger feeds wood pellets into a burn pot, a fan stokes the fire, and a controller holds your target temperature. But that's where the similarities end. Here's what actually separates one tier from the next, and where the real money goes.
Steel gauge and heat retention. Thin-walled pellet grills lose heat fast, especially when a Kansas wind picks up or you open the lid to spritz. Thicker steel holds temperature steadier and shrugs off the elements season after season. The Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill uses a 10-gauge (1/8-inch) steel cooking chamber with a 14-gauge steel hopper and cart — part of why this grill tips the scale at 335 pounds. That mass is the whole point: heavy-gauge steel is what keeps your fire even when conditions are working against you. By comparison, the Timberline is built with 18-gauge (1/20-inch) steel for the cooking chamber, making the cooking chamber walls of the YS640s more than twice as thick. Traeger mitigates the heat loss and temperature fluctuations of a thinner-walled grill by using two sheets of thin steel, which helps, but not enough to put the heat retention or recovery abilities of these grills in remotely the same class.
True high-heat searing, not just smoking. Don't assume every pellet grill can do it all. Plenty run great as an outdoor oven but never get hot enough to put a real crust on a steak. The ones worth your money handle the full spectrum. The YS640s covers a 150°F to 600°F range straight out of the box, and with the quick removal of an access door you can cook directly over the flame — closer to the gas-grill experience but with genuine wood-fired flavor. The Timberline has a temperature range of 165°F to 500°F with no searing capabilities inside the main grill body. Traeger designed a built-in induction cooktop on the Timberline that sits outside the main cooking chamber and allows stovetop-style cooking with induction cookware.
Cooking capacity that matches your crowd. Look past the headline number to how the space is laid out. The YS640s gives you 1,070 square inches total — 640 on the primary grate plus 430 on the upper shelf — enough to run multi-zone cooks where you sear over the firebox while a side dish bakes above. That's room for 8 to 10 racks of ribs, 3 to 4 packer briskets, 6-8 pork shoulders or a couple of large turkeys at once. The Timberline, by comparison, claims between 880 and 1,320 sq. inches of cooking space combined on a 3-tier internal rack system. Enough room for 8 racks of ribs, or 6 pork shoulders.
A controller smart enough to adapt. The best controllers don't just chase a set number — they react. The YS640s runs Yoder Smokers' Adaptive Control System, built around a microprocessor that responds to real-world curveballs like a cold brisket hitting the grate, a lid left open too long, or a switch to a different pellet mid-cook. It connects over Wi-Fi and Bluetooth through the FireBoard app, holds your target to within ±5°F, and adjusts in 5°F increments. The Timberline runs on a proprietary controller called the Smart Combustion™ system and is app connected via Traeger's WiFIRE® connectivity. Traeger also loaded the Timberline up with other tech-forward features including a pellet sensor and a Super Smoke Mode for increased smoke flavor.
Our picks
Here's where the two brands genuinely diverge. Traeger's Timberline is a capable grill with a slick interface and app ecosystem, and it earns its fans. But when the conversation turns to build quality, heat retention, and the kind of durability that gets a grill written into a will, this is where Yoder Smokers pulls ahead — and it's why the following configurations are consistent best sellers at All Things Barbecue, part of an esteemed product catalog with more than 5,000 five-star reviews site-wide.
The all-around best investment: Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill (upper-mid to premium range). This is the pick for the serious backyard cook who wants one grill to smoke, sear, roast, and bake for the next couple of decades. It's the brand's top seller by a wide margin, and the reason is simple: the 10-gauge steel cooking chamber and 335-pound build deliver the temperature stability and left-to-right airflow that make food come out right, cook after cook. The standard cart rolls easily across a smooth patio and keeps the footprint clean.
Best for the cook on the move: Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill on Competition Cart (premium range). Same cooking chamber and Adaptive Control System, mounted on a cart built for life away from home. You get 8-inch flat-free pneumatic tires, locking casters, and heavy-duty tie-down rings, with an optional bump to 10-inch tires and stainless steel shelves. If you haul your grill to tailgates, competitions, or just wrestle it over uneven ground, this is your setup — it handles loading ramps without drama and locks rock-steady when you're cooking.
Best for the cook who wants everything within reach: Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill on Competition Cart with Storage Drawer (premium range). This one takes the competition cart and adds a full-width latching storage drawer roomy enough for pellets, tools, rubs, and accessories — the interior measures 21.25" wide by 29.5" long, with enough clearance to stow the Yoder Smokers wood-fired oven insert. It's a strong seller for a reason: keeping your gear at arm's reach genuinely changes how a cook flows.
Best for an outdoor kitchen build: Yoder Smokers YS640s Built-In Pellet Grill with ACS and Valance (premium range). If your plans include a counter, this version surface-mounts into a non-combustible countertop and slots seamlessly into an outdoor kitchen design. You keep the same cooking chamber, the same 1,070 square inches, and the same wood-fired flavor — it just lives at the heart of your patio instead of on a cart.
The upgrade that turns searing up to eleven: GrillGrate Set for Yoder Smokers YS640 Pellet Grill (accessory range). These anodized aluminum grates are one of the most popular add-ons customers reach for, and it's easy to see why. They push the grill's searing surface above 650°F, nearly eliminate flare-ups, and lay down steakhouse-quality grill marks with deep caramelization. If crusty ribeyes and smash burgers are on your radar, this is the accessory to pair with your YS640s from day one.
What most guides get wrong
The typical head-to-head fixates on app features and touchscreen menus, treating both grills as if the food comes out identical and the only real difference is software. It doesn't. The single biggest variable in how a pellet grill performs over years of use is the body itself — steel gauge, mass, and airflow design. A lighter grill with a flashy controller will still swing more in cold weather, lose more heat every time you open the lid, and show its age faster than a heavier one. That's the biggest (but not only) advantage of the YS640s: the 10-gauge steel cooking chamber and left-to-right airflow aren't spec-sheet trivia, they're the reason the grill lasts longer and the food is more consistent. Chase the interface and you can end up with a grill that demos well and disappoints by its third winter. Chase the build, and you get both great food and a grill you're not shopping to replace.
Worth knowing on delivery, too: because Yoder Smokers grills are heavy, they move by freight — and when you order through All Things Barbecue, that grill is delivered straight to your door, palletized to guard against damage in transit.
The recommendation
If you want a grill that demos beautifully and prioritizes tech features over longevity, the Traeger Timberline is a reasonable choice. But if you're the kind of cook who reads a spec sheet twice and wants the last grill you'll ever need to buy, go with the Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill. Handcrafted from heavy-gauge steel in Kansas, USA, its heavy-gauge build is what keeps your food consistently delicious season after season, for decades.
Match it to how you cook: stay on the standard cart if the grill lives on your patio; step up to the competition cart if you move it often; add the storage drawer if you like your gear close; or choose the built-in version if a counter is in your future. Planning a full outdoor kitchen around it? All Things Barbecue offers free, professional design consultations with a real, in-house design team — actual people who build custom frames that install faster and fit tighter than a contractor squaring up an island from scratch, not an anonymous AI configurator. Whether you're picturing a simple island or a sprawling custom build, you can start the conversation with our design team and build the setup around the grill that'll anchor it for years.
