Early this morning I get a call from Estes saying they were about 15 minutes out from my house with a delivery. Sure enough up pulls an Estes truck! The driver gets out a pallet jack and unloads 280lbs of Rec Tec goodness!
Then I was tasked how to solo this near 300lb box from my garage to my back patio. All I could come up with was a tiny dolly.
Slow and steady was able to manage the Bull all the way to the back patio. I figured minimizing the amount of movement post assembly would be best. I unboxed it all and couldn't resist a photo session
The Bull was peeking out of the box ready to bust out!
Let me tell you, this grill is excellently packaged. Corrugated cardboard protecting against bumps, plastic covering everything to prevent scratches, Styrofoam making sure things don't move around. Major protection! Kudos Rec Tec. I had remembered watching an assembly video of the Bull on YouTube and fired that up and went step by step with the video. Everything was just as in the video except one part, bolting up the PID controller/side table. I had some extra bolts in the side of the Bull doing nothing really. They weren't holding anything on or in place. Just a nut and a bolt. I unscrewed these and ended up not using them as the hardware kit has enough bolts that also have flat washers and locking washers. You can see in the first picture the two bolts and then on the second picture the locations of the 4 necessary bolt holes to hold the controller/side table in place. Either way, no big deal and breezed through this step.
After getting the legs, bottom shelf, controller/table, pull bar, and bull horns on I was able to muscle the Bull up onto the legs. I thought it would be rather challenging since the packing slip lists it at 280lbs. Well the other hardware that comes with this grill is also very beefy! I mean really really well built. The heat deflector, large drip tray, even the grates themselves have some good weight to them. So with all that out of the grill it weighs quite a bit less. Next came time to attach the smoke stack. Just two bolts there and wallah!
Last was putting the inside together. I placed the deflector in. Next I took the drip pan inside and wrapped in with foil, per the video being careful not to go over on the sides. I didn't want to prevent the airflow. Lining it is super easy. There is a raised lip on the sides that you can lay your foil right up against to ensure a nice straight line. It took me two strips of foil as it's so wide! Then I cleaned the surface grates with some soap and water in the sink and dried them off. I put the wrapped drip pan in followed by the freshly cleaned surface grates. Now it looked like a proper grill!!
So out with the old and in with the new! The Rec Tec is replacing a grill I bought 5 years ago from Lowe's. A Charbroil gas grill I found on sale super cheap for Memorial Day sale I believe. It flares up quite a bit and really chars food if not watched like a hawk. It has set itself on fire a time or two while being unattended. I sure won't miss it! The grilled food that did come off of it was OK though. And before that Lowe's grill I had a gas grill I got for free that someone was throwing out because the push button igniter wouldn't light anymore. I feel like I"m moving up in the world lol! I'm hoping this Rec Tec with the sear kit will allow me to completely replace this old grill. The upgrade in overall space is also a plus!
That's about it for now. Time to run up to Rural King and pick up some pellets and get the burn in done! Will have more feedback once that's done and will get a smoke going this weekend! So pumped!
Then I was tasked how to solo this near 300lb box from my garage to my back patio. All I could come up with was a tiny dolly.
Slow and steady was able to manage the Bull all the way to the back patio. I figured minimizing the amount of movement post assembly would be best. I unboxed it all and couldn't resist a photo session
The Bull was peeking out of the box ready to bust out!Let me tell you, this grill is excellently packaged. Corrugated cardboard protecting against bumps, plastic covering everything to prevent scratches, Styrofoam making sure things don't move around. Major protection! Kudos Rec Tec. I had remembered watching an assembly video of the Bull on YouTube and fired that up and went step by step with the video. Everything was just as in the video except one part, bolting up the PID controller/side table. I had some extra bolts in the side of the Bull doing nothing really. They weren't holding anything on or in place. Just a nut and a bolt. I unscrewed these and ended up not using them as the hardware kit has enough bolts that also have flat washers and locking washers. You can see in the first picture the two bolts and then on the second picture the locations of the 4 necessary bolt holes to hold the controller/side table in place. Either way, no big deal and breezed through this step.
After getting the legs, bottom shelf, controller/table, pull bar, and bull horns on I was able to muscle the Bull up onto the legs. I thought it would be rather challenging since the packing slip lists it at 280lbs. Well the other hardware that comes with this grill is also very beefy! I mean really really well built. The heat deflector, large drip tray, even the grates themselves have some good weight to them. So with all that out of the grill it weighs quite a bit less. Next came time to attach the smoke stack. Just two bolts there and wallah!
Last was putting the inside together. I placed the deflector in. Next I took the drip pan inside and wrapped in with foil, per the video being careful not to go over on the sides. I didn't want to prevent the airflow. Lining it is super easy. There is a raised lip on the sides that you can lay your foil right up against to ensure a nice straight line. It took me two strips of foil as it's so wide! Then I cleaned the surface grates with some soap and water in the sink and dried them off. I put the wrapped drip pan in followed by the freshly cleaned surface grates. Now it looked like a proper grill!!
So out with the old and in with the new! The Rec Tec is replacing a grill I bought 5 years ago from Lowe's. A Charbroil gas grill I found on sale super cheap for Memorial Day sale I believe. It flares up quite a bit and really chars food if not watched like a hawk. It has set itself on fire a time or two while being unattended. I sure won't miss it! The grilled food that did come off of it was OK though. And before that Lowe's grill I had a gas grill I got for free that someone was throwing out because the push button igniter wouldn't light anymore. I feel like I"m moving up in the world lol! I'm hoping this Rec Tec with the sear kit will allow me to completely replace this old grill. The upgrade in overall space is also a plus!
That's about it for now. Time to run up to Rural King and pick up some pellets and get the burn in done! Will have more feedback once that's done and will get a smoke going this weekend! So pumped!
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