First, before you do any mods to your smoker do so at your own risk. Traeger like most smoker mfgs. states that any mods may void your warranty.
The most worthwhile mod I have done to my Traeger 07E was to install a manual fan switch. A lot of Traeger owners have trouble with burn back into the auger tube. This can happen especially when shutting down from a high cook temp, over 250 deg. It can occur when there are pellets built up as high as the auger tube and tries to keep on burning. It seeks oxygen through the tube and burns back into the tube.
One way to get around this is when your last set temp was high, set to the smoke mode and let run about 15 to 20 minutes to burn up the pellets in the burn pot before shutting down. I had problems 4 or 5 times. The first time I even had smoke pouring from my pellet bin. If left unchecked and the fire gets to the pellet bin, you could have a bad fire damaging your smoker. After I installed the manual fan switch I just shut the smoker off and flip the fan switch on and let run for 15 to 20 minutes to burn off the pellets. Many of the newer aftermarket PID controllers will have this feature.
The first mod I made was to add leg braces and a lower shelf. This keeps the legs from coming loose; they are too flimsy being bolted on.
Like many owners trying to get more stable temps I added fire bricks. They act as a heat sink and do help stabilize the temps. I started with 5 bricks in my 07E but now I just have 3 in. That seems to work for me year around. The only downside I have seen is if you do a high heat sear then drop to a low temp it takes a lot of time to come down.
When my heat shield warped and would not set level I bolted ¼ inch thick steel to the bottom. This took the warp out and provided me with some more heat sink.
I added a second shelf for more cooking area.
I would have liked to repost all these here but don’t really have the time. If you are interested you can go to my blog link and view the write up and photos. Under My Recipes click on INFO and they are all there. Smokin Don
