Thanks for posting your review of the Pro 34. We are sorry to hear that you had such an unpleasant experience with your new Traeger. Usually, issues like this are related to an auger jam caused by old pellets, but the grill would typically have had to been used for a while for this to take place. In reality, at least based on your description, what you may have been witnessing is more likely the normal behavior of the auger. Although it is not commonly known, the auger feeds pellets at one speed and pauses as a way to control temperature. It occurs even during startup, but within a minute or two it will start turning again and more pellets get dropped into the firepot. For verification, simply put the heat baffle, drip tray and grating back in, then close the lid to see what happens. Odds are the grill will begin to heat up and work as expected.