Old Traeger Lil Tex

[smokymtnjonny]

Found this old Lil Tex on FB for a song and have been out of the pellet cooking game for several years. It was HEAVY! Seeing this cooker reminded me of my first Traeger BBQ 100 back in 1995 and the awesome Q made with just a 3 speed smoker control. Trying newer cookers over the years with the new controllers gave me tighter temps but that good old flavor was missing. When I found this old cooker, I bought it and put on some ribs. The pellet dumps put out plenty of smoke and the ribs were amazing. It really took me back to the old days. I guess sometimes we can engineer/over think ourselves right out of some great food. Glad I found it!

 

[rwalters]

Awesome! I had an American made Traeger back around 2004. Bought it used from a guy that had hardly used it. Drawing a blank on the model, but it was solid. This isn’t it, but this is exactly what it looked like.

 

[Stingerhook]

Congrats and great looking ribs.

 

[smokymtnjonny]

rwalters, that IS the BBQ 100! Same one I had. Best design change they made was moving the hopper OUTSIDE the cooking area! My mom still has one, but it’s the Deluxe with the hopper outside on the left. Thanks for looking, Marty! I really believe the old 3 speed controllers are something special and turn out some mighty good bbq, despite just running on a timer.

 

[rwalters]

rwalters, that IS the BBQ 100! Same one I had. Best design change they made was moving the hopper OUTSIDE the cooking area! My mom still has one, but it’s the Deluxe with the hopper outside on the left. Thanks for looking, Marty! I really believe the old 3 speed controllers are something special and turn out some mighty good bbq, despite just running on a timer.

Oh that’s right… the BBQ 100. I remember now. And yes, the internal hopper was silly… and greasy.

 

[wazzou]

I still frequently use my 20+ year old American made Little Tex.
It has the original 3 Speed controller.
I’ve made some simple modifications over the years;
Better gaskets sealing the lid, Fire Bricks along the auger tunnel and a heavy gauge steel heat shield to replace the flimsy one that seemed to be always twisted.
I was planning a hopper extension and a better slope sheet within but I just haven’t gotten around to it and based on the cooks I typically do, I’m not sure it’s necessary anymore.
I was surprised to see the height of the smoke/draft shield on your stack.
I’ve always had mine quite a bit lower.
Any thoughts on that?