There are maks, yoders and fast eddies starting $1600/$1800+. But yeah, they are certainly pricey. And you're right about the accessories.
I'm in the market for an upgrade myself.
The cheapest "latest" or "this year's" MAK I've seen out there, the MAK 1 Star General, is $1,800.00. Just the grill.
The cover is another $100.00. The "Flamezone" for searing steaks, if you want it, is another $400.00.
That would bring you to $2300.00. Free shipping.
The bottom storage shelf, which is underneath the cooking chamber and sits between the grill's wheels, is another $150.00
That gets you to $2,450.00 for their bottom of the line grill with just those accessories.
But even if you skip the flame zone, you have $1800.00 for the grill, $150.00 for the bottom "storage" shelf which fits beneath the grill and the grill's wheels, and $100.00 for the cover. That would top you out at $2,050.00 shipped.
I've seen them knock $100.00 off during the 4th of July or was it Memorial Day sale.
The Yoder YS480s, their smallest pellet grill, comes in at $1,579.00 plus shipping. It weighs in at 277lbs. Shipping won't be cheap. The other option is to find a dealer, drive to them and pick it up.
The cover is $113.00. Door thermometer is $59.95. Dual door thermometers are $119.90 if you want them.
Perhaps the most popular Yoder out there, the YS640, now the YS640s, starts at $1,799.00. The cover retails for $113.00. Door thermometers, if you want them, refer to above. And then there's shipping.
The Fast Eddy Cookshack PG500 retails for $1,815.00. The cover retails for $142.29.
The
Rec Tec Bull retails for $1,199.00. The cover is $84.98.
Not that the other grills, the MAK, the Yoder and the Fast Eddy, aren't great, but with the exception of the baby Yoder, the YS 480, all of them are going to run you into that 2 grand range.
If one wants to spend that kind of money on a pellet grill, well, that's certainly one's prerogative. And they would definitely be getting a quality product.
But if you don't want to drop the better part of 2 grand or so on a pellet grill and cover, the
Rec Tec, IMO, is a very good option.
I thought about buying a MAK 1 Star when I bought my Stampede. I paid $899.00 shipped for my Stampede. I'm sure that the MAK is great. But is worth $1,151.00 more than my Stampede? I decided that for ME, it wasn't. It may well be to someone else. But grilling real estate, hopper size, etc., for me, I didn't think that I was going to get food off of it which tasted $1151.00 better than food that I would get off the Stampede.
I bought the Stampede. And liked it so much, that a few months later, I bought another one and gave it away as a house warming gift. And was still only down $1800.00 for those TWO Stampedes, vs the $2,050.00 I would have been down for just ONE MAK 1 Star.
Good luck to you archer75. Happy grilling and smoking whatever you decide on.