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Traeger grills, now proudly made in China

61K views 81 replies 51 participants last post by  Salmon Chaser 
#1 ·
How do you avid Traeger fanatics feel about this move?


They have recently laid off most of the US workforce because production has been moved overseas to China.
 
#7 ·
Sad state of affairs. I remember in the early 80's when Traeger was a small shop in Mt Angel making wood burning central heating units. I always wanted one of those. Great home grown Oregon business. Caught up in business discisions, bringing this country to its knees.
 
#8 ·
The Traegers have been made in China for about 6 months now but the NW has only been having the Lil' Tex models for about 2 months and the Texas style units for about a month. You can tell the difference by how they are assembled. If the legs are welded on they are NW built and if they are bolted on then they are foreign born.

They have only moved the Jr., Lil' Tex and Texas style over there so far. If you are still interested in a NW built model then the Lil' Tex Elite, Professional and the Pig are your only choices at this point. They are supposed to be coming out with a larger residential model sometime soon.

Not happy about it but not much we can do about it either. I have heard many reasons but they all don't matter.

Ron
 
#17 ·
They have only moved the Jr., Lil' Tex and Texas style over there so far. If you are still interested in a NW built model then the Lil' Tex Elite, Professional and the Pig are your only choices at this point. They are supposed to be coming out with a larger residential model sometime soon.

Ron
I bought mine when you could go to the factory and pick one up.

Look at the other models that Traeger makes. Now's your chance! Get one of the models that isn't from China. It might help keep the USA worker's employed.

If this helps any... When I was buying pellets the other day I asked about Traeger's being made in China. The sales person was disappointment too about them being made in China. They said the feed back on the ones from China, is that the welding is better.

So there ya go.......

Traegerized meals are the best.

Geemo
 
#14 ·
Quit whining, lead tastes really sweet.

Lead acetate has a sweet taste, which has led to its use as a sugar substitute throughout history. The ancient Romans, who had few sweeteners besides honey, would boil must (grape juice) in lead pots to produce a reduced sugar syrup called defrutum, concentrated again into sapa. This syrup was used to sweeten wine, and to sweeten and preserve fruit. It is possible that lead acetate or other lead compounds leaching into the syrup might have caused lead poisoning in anyone consuming it.[1]
Pope Clement II died in October 1047. A recent toxicologic examination[citation needed] of his remains confirmed centuries old rumors that the Pope had been poisoned with lead sugar. It is, however, not clear whether he was assassinated or not, as lead sugar in those times was often used as a cure for venereal diseases.
 
#15 ·
There goes my purchase of a Traeger. I always try not to buy anything made in China. It can be real difficult to buy products with my concept. Sorry to hear this, very sad news. A great product is now made inferior.
 
#18 ·
You guys are kidding right?????

I guess none of you buy at Wal-mart , Bi-mart ......or just about any mart....???

Did you guys just land on planet earth? How about your cars? Anybody drive? How about a computer or does anybody own a TV?

You guys are too much.

Happy for Traeger for making a profit. But it is too bad they could not afford to use America labor. It is our own fault, for allowing these special trade agreements in the first place. Period.

BCF:twocents::rolleyes:
 
#19 ·
Guys profit is not a dirty word. You cannot blame a company for moving somewhere else if costs are cheaper. How is a company supposed to stay in buisness if it does not make a profit?

Dont get me wrong I am not thrilled to see all the jobs go overseas. We have done this to ourselves and only have us to blame. A company will not survive by paying someone 20 bucks an hour with bennies and 401k for screwing a couple parts together.
 
#79 ·
If we could only lower the minimum wage, reduce bennies, and perhaps the companies would stay. Why do employees need to make any money? Welfare is always available. If we could only change zoning regulations to put up cities of tin roofed shacks and huts, this would help keep businesses in America.
 
#20 ·
No problem.

Traeger has always had a price point (i.e., cost) problem. $2,000 for a full-sized BBQ? What percent of the public will pay that?:passout:

In the past the price issue restricted the market coverage. Under ownership by the family, Trager was never more than a minor regional player. That, and a basketful of cash, is ultimately why the Traeger family sold to the venture capitalists.

So if the "new" Traeger owner wants to become more competitive (read --- reduce price), insert a dealer/distributor level (to increase market scope), or recoup its investment, then it has to decrease costs while keeping quality high. And that gets done by reducing costs of manufacture. Helloooo China!

U.S. jobs are thereby lost at the manufacturing level, but many more are added at the distributor/dealer/retail sales levels all around the country and the continent. Total jobs associated with making and marketing Traeger products will increase dramatically. Basically --- the welders lose, while the white collar folks win. And that is the story of stateside merchandising in the modern world.

Good for Traeger. My hope is that everyone can own one. A marvelous product.:applause:
 
#21 ·
I can see why Traeger went with the decision to move some of their models overseas. Those models are directed for the lower budget so as to make them affordable so everyone can sample "Traeger". Sad move but it eventually will go there if the door is open. I was involved in a bicycle mfg business and we were known for our "American made" frames. But they were too expensive. We had the best welders/fabricators/designers to come up with masterpeices for the competitive world. More and more people heard of the bikes but couldnt afford them........... We looked into china as our competitors had and could see profits and affordability (thats what everyone wants) But in the long run we decided against it........ we no longer make the bicycles because they weren't affordable to everyone so we peaked out.... no growth. This isnt true for some avenues of business but for most, sadly it is.
The target market isnt always the wealthy and there are alot more lower income familys than wealthy. My hats off to Traeger for keeping the business going, but I too am saddened by the thought of going overseas.
I guess you could say it's "Supply and Demand.... or Give and Take, or Pull and Push"
 
#26 ·
I could never justify the cost and certainly won't be paying the same high price tag now for a lesser version.

I picked up a virtually new Master Built smoker (basically a mini-fridge with a thermostat & timer with electric element for like $30. One bag of Traeger pellets lasts me like a year. Never looked back and results are our fantastic with that alongside the Ducane.

BTW - Just cuz everything else is made in China doesn't mean we have to:

- Like it
- Shut up about it or
- Buy it
 
#28 ·
I hate to see the manufacturing moved over seas but I'm sure they had their reasons???? Good , bad or indifferent.

Treager Industries has been very good to a number of local charities as well as supporting our fisheries issues through donations and such over the years. I personally won't forget the monies they help raised for more then one of my passionate organizations that I support. I thank them and hope they will continue. They have also supported my unit after the sale and provided A+ support and follow up.

Before you throw a company under the bus I would at least give them the opportunity to explain why the decision was made.

Also how many of you guys throwing criticism out have an over seas car in your driveway, a computer with a Asian name, a fishing reel from outside the U.S or drink a Heineken or a Corona on the weekends. Pretty easy to throw rocks by typing on a computer.

Don't blame Treager for their decision. Look at your government and how they have changed the US from a manufacturing leader to one big service industry. Didn't happen last week. It's been a spiral headed down for 30+ years and isn't going to fix it's self in the next four.

I support you in buying U.S. but maybe 9 billion Chinese wanted to do their BBQ pork cooked on a Treager and it allowed them to tap that market?
:twocents:
 
#29 ·
As a manager for one of the last major manufactures that is produces domestic products in our field, it really is nice to here that most people are upset about products being made in China that could be made here in the USA.

On the other hand........ While it makes good water-cooler talk, it's almost impossible to stay a domestic producing company nowadays. My company is more than 100 years old, and we are one of the last ones in the US that still pour our own bronze, cast iron, ductile iron, and downcast copper at our US plants. Almost universally our competition has gone at a minimum to having castings done over-seas and then assembling products here, or more likely just to producing everything over seas. The only way we hold onto domestic specs is due to the military, and specifying engineers that actually realize good products should be going into hospitals, schools, and commercial infrastructure. These products cost more to make, and they cost more to buy.

The US citizen has DEMANDED Chinese product because they want the lowest price point available. Along with that price point comes overall lower quality, less company responsibility, and a greater likelihood that a product will be unsafe.

How many rod manufactures or reel manufactures actually make their product in the US? How many USED to, but now make most of their stuff in China and only a few models here?

What do you think the bottom of your tackle box has stamped on it?
 
#32 ·
The US citizen has DEMANDED Chinese product because they want the lowest price point available. Along with that price point comes overall lower quality, less company responsibility, and a greater likelihood that a product will be unsafe.
I disagree.

The U.S. consumer does not make a conscious decision to buy goods that are made outside of the U.S. The consumer makes a conscious decision to buy the best product for his/her hard-earned dollar, without regard to where it is made.

And, in general, quality does not suffer. Quality actually improves.

We keep hearing about tainted drugs, lead paint contamination, etc. When you consider the volume of products made in China (and other lower-cost countries of origin), quality problems are minimal.

Let's take drugs as an example. Class I recalls are the scary ones. These are defined as "a situation in which there is a reasonable probability that the use of or exposure to a violative product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death."

Chinese-made drugs, on a volume basis, have less than one-tenth of the Class I recalls as those made in the U.S. The problem is that with the volume of drugs made in China you are going to hear about such recalls more often. It's an artifact.

Big-box retailers don't sell poor quality on purpose. They sell the very best products available for a given price point. The U.S. consumer then buys the least expensive product that will get the job done.

No conspiracy here.

It's a world economy, folks. Prepare yourself and your children accordingly.
 
#30 ·
We did this to ourselves, and have no one to blame but ourselves. I for one do not drive a foreign car and I buy items labeled "Made in USA" whenever possible. However, it is getting harder and harder finding stuff that doesn't say "Made in China" on it.

Let me play Devil's advocate for a moment.

With the big three in serious trouble I'm not at all surprised that (GM at least) is gearing up for production in China. It's very simple, they cannot compete. It's not the quality or even actual production costs that are killing them either. It's the labor/healthcare/retirement costs that must be added to the cost of each unit. In short, (I know how unpopular this is going to be, but unfortunately it's the truth) the unions have priced themselves right out of a job. Not to mention it's nearly impossible to fire a non-productive union member. Couple that with the environmental lobby that exists here and we're practically chasing our manufacturing base right out of our country. Really sad.

Our current President elect ran on a platform of keeping jobs here in the USA. Personally, I did not vote for him, but I hope he is successful and even more I hope he is successful in keeping jobs from going overseas. He has got one hell of an uphill battle. If he was indeed serious about that then he'll have to go against two of his most powerful supporters, unions and the environmental lobby.

I for one will not even consider buying a Traeger now. I'll stick with my trusty charcoal fired Webber that says "Made in USA" all over it.

My :twocents:.
 
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