Fireside Ultras

Phil Do's fire. said:

I picked up a ton from local HD on Saturday. Looks like a softie, smells and burns like a softie and there not excessively ashy. I recommend the Canadian pellet for shoulder season or everyday. I like super premium softies so this is a good fall-spring season pellet for me.

Click to expand...

I burned FSU all last year and most of the year before. Loved them. They seem to be a blend with lots of pine in them. Great smell when you open the bag, low ash, low fines, great heat and uniformly small size. They were terrific and probably are this year as well.
My HD did not get them in this year, but they do have Heat'rs which seem very very similar to me. They are a blend from Arizona. Small pellets but some longer ones (up to 1") in the mix. Minimal fines, low ash and great heat. FAR superior to my option of Green Supreme, which burned filthy when I tested a few bags.

Picked up a ton of these a couple of weeks ago. I can't wait to try them and they are uniformly short versus other pellets I have purchased so far.

Still working on my leftover FSUs from last year. Then I have 4 tons loaded in the house that I got in August. Burned 2 tons last year after burning 2 tons of Infernos (rookie mistake, won't buy them ever again).

I figured I would give an updated opinion of the Fireside Ultras for this season, not impressed is my review. Picked up some at the local HD and I find them to be very sooty, the inside of the fire box has blackened because of them. The heat output doesn't seem to be anything great either, at least compared to Green Supreme that I picked up last year and that I still have left over for this year. I hear everyone bad mouthing the GS, but at this point I rate GS's over the FSU's and it's not ever close. Can't remember if my sig says it, but I'm burning them in a Harman P68.

Just finished a ton of FSU's and the heat was fine, but ash and clinkers were well above average. Not really a complaint as it takes all of two minutes to clean that up but other pellets produce less ash and clinkers while giving you similar heat. Good pellet but wouldn't be at the top of my list.

I also have had no issue with the FSU's. Only 3 bags used so far but the heat was very good and I personally didn't have any clinkers. The only comment I will make is that the pellets are really small. I actually had to adjust my feed because in comparison to the Pres-To-Logs they are about 1/3 the size. My bags are also labeled as being from Canada.

Phil Do's fire. said:

Wow another Harman owner with FSU negative results Look at my stoves firebox picture. After 700 hours on FSU's a bright white fine ash. The firebox is painted black like most stoves, no issue at all with the pellets. Are the stove adjusted correctly? What is the bar code number on the bar? My FSU's came from Canada.

Click to expand...

I would agree, hot burning, but more ashy than my other pellets. For me, I get the same white ash coating, but do you see those black ash hangers on the backplate and top? To me, that's ashy, as my other pellets don't do that.

I have about 10 bags left out of my ton of fsu I bought. I have dark black ash. When I scrape it out of the firebox on my Harman p43 you can hear it clink in the ash pan. Have gotten carbon buildups the size of a half dollar right over the igniter. I scrape the pot 2-3 times a day. It would give me issues to where it would only burn the one side and push the rest of the pellets over into the ash pan unburnt. Don't get me wrong they put out good heat but might just buck up and buy curran softies for 300 a ton or hamers for 319 a ton. I have burned them and they burn clean and I have no problems at all.

It's weird. It seems like as I get to the end of the ton they are burning a little better but still hard ash. Not light and fluffy like some people have said. If you put it in your hand it almost feels like very small pebbles.

I just got home from work and scraped the pot and I had a ball that was as big around as a penny sitting in there. Still glowing. Seems like they just fuse together. It's awkward.

I burned FSU all last year and most of the year before...loved them. Maybe different plants?

I think at about 2000degrees F you can get the silica minerals in wood to fuse into a glasseous clinker. Maybe the way your stove burns, bottom-feed, increases this possibility.

Here's a pick of a clinker I got out of the burn pot on the Harman today. About the size of a small marble.

Working on my 4th ton of FSU. Real good heat, a bit ashy - I need to shut down the stove every 20 - 25 bags and vacuum the beast out. I like 'em.

My St. Croix loves the FSU's I've been getting from HD. All have had a date code of either 08-14 or 09-14. Haven't tried them in the Harman as I have other crappy stuff I'm burning (only another 1.5 tons of it left). But I would be puzzled if the Harman thought the FSU's were no good since what I am burning in the Harman was not liked at all by the St. Croix.