Yoder Smokers
Yoder Smokers Loaded Wichita Offset Smoker
The Loaded Wichita is Yoder's 20-inch offset, built in Kansas from quarter-inch pipe and plate and sold with a lifetime warranty. 'Loaded' is the only trim Yoder still lists and it bundles the door counterweight, dual gauges, a probe port, stainless grates, a heat management plate, grease drain and log grate — items that are extra-cost options on most pits in this class. Yoder's smaller Cheyenne offset has been discontinued, leaving the Wichita as the brand's entry offset.
Goes to the manufacturer. We earn nothing on this one.
Specifications
Pros
- ✓Lifetime warranty on a quarter-inch welded body, backed by an established Kansas manufacturer
- ✓1,628 sq in across four main grates, a two-piece slide-out upper shelf and two firebox grates
- ✓Heat management plate is included, not an upgrade — it evens out the firebox-end hot spot that plagues bare offsets
- ✓Integrated probe port means you can run a leave-in thermometer without jamming the cable in the door
- ✓Sold through a real dealer network (ATBBQ, Chadwicks & Hacks, Classic Patio) so you can see one and get it delivered without a factory queue
- ✓Heavy front casters plus rear wagon wheels make 704 lbs steerable by one person on a flat surface
Cons
- ✗$2,899 is before shipping, and freight on 704 lbs is substantial
- ✗Retailer prices drift above list — some dealers show $2,960-3,078 for the same configuration
- ✗No insulated firebox at this price, unlike some competitors near $3,000
- ✗Yoder discontinued the smaller Cheyenne, so there is no cheaper way into the brand's offsets
- ✗704 lbs is effectively permanent once positioned
Compare the Yoder Smokers Loaded Wichita Offset Smoker
Related grills
More from Yoder Smokers →
Yoder Smokers
Yoder YS640s
The Yoder YS640s is a 315 lb pellet smoker welded from 10-gauge American steel in Yoder, Kansas, with the FireBoard-based ACS controller and true direct-flame grilling. On BBQ forums it's the buy-once-cry-once pellet grill.
Workhorse Pits
Workhorse Pits 1975 Offset Smoker
The Workhorse 1975 is a 3/8-inch-wall offset — thicker than the quarter-inch that defines the premium tier — with a 48-inch chamber and a 27-inch firebox, weighing 1,080 lbs on casters. Workhorse Pits builds in Texas and sells direct with a roughly 110-day queue. The fully loaded configuration adds a cowboy firebox grill and a top rack, taking total cooking area to 2,316 sq in.
Lone Star Grillz
Lone Star Grillz 20" x 36" Offset Smoker
Lone Star Grillz builds to order in Conroe, Texas and sells factory-direct only. The 20x36 is the smallest of its traditional offsets: 3/16-inch chamber, quarter-inch firebox, 485 lbs, with a Tel-Tru gauge and two sliding food trays fitted as standard. Its distinguishing feature is a cross-flow baffle arrangement that moves heat top-down across the chamber rather than the straight firebox-to-stack path of a bare offset.
Old Country BBQ Pits
Old Country BBQ Pits All-American Brazos Smoker
The Brazos is the pit that made Old Country's reputation: quarter-inch plate steel, all welded, 429 lbs, with a 5.5-inch grate-level smokestack that pulls smoke across the meat rather than over it. It is the cheapest quarter-inch offset sold new in the US by a wide margin, which is why it is the default recommendation for anyone who wants Texas-pit behaviour without a two-thousand-dollar custom build. The All-American trim is the current Academy configuration and includes the counterweighted door.
Old Country BBQ Pits
Old Country BBQ Pits Wrangler Smoker
The Wrangler steps the Pecos up from 14-gauge to 11-gauge steel with 3/16-inch doors, and adds a hot plate over the firebox for searing and pot work. Total grate area is 920 sq in across a main and an upper rack. At $750 it is the cheapest 11-gauge offset sold new in the US, and the thickness jump is the reason it runs noticeably steadier in wind and cold than the Pecos.
Oklahoma Joe's
Oklahoma Joe's Longhorn Classic
The Oklahoma Joe's Longhorn Classic is the larger, heavier-gauge sibling of the Highland, built from 2.5mm cold-rolled steel for better heat retention and more cooking capacity — 751 sq in on the main chamber, 1,060 sq in counting the firebox grate. Oklahoma Joe's added "Classic" to the name without changing the grill: it is the same SKU (13201747-50) people still search for as plain "Longhorn".