Back last winter, my brother gifted me a Traiger he had gotten for free because he knows of my love of BBQ. I used it once and honestly disliked the entire experience. Don't get me wrong, the Traiger is a fine grill and performed as it should. I did not care of how disconnected you are the process. Pour in pellets and turn a dial. I like to tinker and be involved in what I am doing. There's a pride in knowing my knowledge of how to manage the fire has a impact on the quality of the food. Its same reason I preferred my old manual Nikon FM2 or Hasselblad 500 vs. auto-everything Nikons I owned. Maybe I'm a control freak....I like manual transmissions, too!
It was small sample size, but I did cook a rack of baby back on the Traiger the exact same way I do on a kettle, including the same wood species. The smoke flavor from the Traiger was very mild compared to seasoned chunks.