Hand Guard On or Off?

[Tyler6590]

Hey Folks,

I have seen many people online removing the hand guard I guess to avoid bridging/tunneling etc... I'm gearing up for a long smoke for Superbowl and am considering removing the handguard in the pellet hopper. Thoughts?

 

[AHoneyman]

Do it but do not remove all three screws at once. They hold the pellet chute. It helps with non-Weber pellets, which are bigger and cheaper.

 

[BrockinFla]

Only you can answer that question. If you're too stupid not to trust yourself from jamming you hand down into a moving auger then by all means leave it on,

Otherwise if you're more like the rest of the population that doesn't have to be taught how to breathe, its probably safe to take it out.

 

[Tyler6590]

Do it but do not remove all three screws at once. They hold the pellet chute. It helps with non-Weber pellets, which are bigger and cheaper.

Cool, I only use Weber pellets but even those I have seen some pretty long pieces, which I can imagine leading to feeding issues.

 

[Tbone707]

If you have the need to stick your hand deep into the pellet grill while it is running I would keep the guard on.

 

[bbqking]

I just replaced auger assembly with the welded on Weber sent me. I took the wire guard off and the ramp. It seems like it’s not bridging as much as it used to. Also you would have to be daft, to push your hand in there at all. It’s a ways down to the auger.

 

[Tyler6590]

I'm loving the responses to this thread... I guess I should have just taken it off when I put the thing together but just left it. Luckily, I haven't really had too many issues mostly because I check the hopper every hour or 2. Saturday I am leaving this thing on and going to bed so I'll take the retard guard off

 

[Bruno]

If I get drunk enough to shove my hand in the hole, well I deserve it!!
Take it off, I took mine off and have no ramp either, works fine!!

 

[JpsBBQ]

Pellet grill augers move quite slowly really. Like 30-45 seconds for one revolution. That may sound like a short time, but it’s not. You’d have to intentionally try to hurt yourself IMO.

 

[AHoneyman]

Cool, I only use Weber pellets but even those I have seen some pretty long pieces, which I can imagine leading to feeding issues.

It is not the "long" that is the issue. That helps turn the logs to go with the flow. Weber and Lumber Jack pellets are smaller diameter pellets. All pellets have some long pellets, which may bridge if they hit side ways. With larger diameter pellets, fewer pellets fit in the hole and tend to get crunched.