What pellet to buy N. Central Wisconsin

Heard the Uncle Jed's were a toasty softwood but have never tried them... sold through Earth Sense Energy.
http://pellethead.com/locations/

If you can get Rib Mountains give them a try. I think Indecks are better for heat than Lumberjack. Marth sells a variety of pellets, including Pennywise and Superior. They're OK but nothing special. Jed's softwoods are excellent. Hay Creek is pretty new -- they're from a pallet manufacturer who is branching out.

I'm burning Dejno's, which you may not able to get up there in the northwest part of the state. I like them quite a bit.

I burnt 5 tons of Indecks last year and they were weak and dusty. I had the best heat out of Marth pine pellets. I'm running a couple Englander stoves though.

Indecks do OK in my Harman. They're not the best, but better than 'Jacks and the Ozark pellets that TSC has been selling in my area. I rank Indecks with the Marth hardwood pellets I've burned. We don't see a lot of Marth pine down here in southern Wisconsin -- the BB stores just sell hardwoods.

Lumberjacks seem to have had some kind of moisture problem the last couple of seasons. They have a great deal of fines and seem to blow a lot of vapor out of the vent when they burn. In my experience, their heat output is way below Indecks. Perhaps it's a storage issue at the retailer, but there aren't a lot of blown pellets in the bags, just fines.

If you can get it in your area, Okanagan Douglas Fir is the best we have recieved and sold out of our shop.

I've never seen Okies in the Upper Midwest -- Earth Sense (the big pellet importer around here) does sell Bear Mountain and Pinnacle doug fir pellets. Maybe firs would be good in an insert to minimize ash collection.

Otherwise we have a few softwood options and lots of regional hardwood pellet makers.

I'm thinking that both Lumberjacks and Indecks have more bark content that results in the higher ash volume. We used to be able to get Heartland softwood pellets from Spearfish, SD ... through a supplier that our local Home Hardware deals with out of Duluth. Heartland had some supply issues because they were selling to the oilpatch for absorbents so not sure what their availability is now.

I know of only one dealer in my area who handles Heartland pellets. Maybe there are more vendors closer to the Minnesota border, I don't know. They're pretty rare down here.

To me, it comes down to how much you hate ash removal and cleaning of your insert. The softwoods will produce less ash than hardwoods. My boiler has an ash pan with about 6 cubic feet capacity, so I don't worry about ashes. Lots of stoves are a pain to clean out, so softies are worth the premium. Again, IMO, the heat output of a good hardwood pellet isn't that much less than a decent softwood.

I live in Colfax near you. Ive used Indeck from Blain's Farm and Fleet in Chippewa falls. They are pretty good. Used them all last winter. Blaines was selling them for 5.50 a bag this fall. Just wait a month and the price goes down.


But lately I've discovered the Hardwood Superior premium pellets at fleet farm..white bags with red lettering....those make way less ash, and burn hotter, bigger flame. But indeck in the green bags are just fine.

I never buy by the ton. Don't laugh. ..I haul them 18 bags per trip in my subaru. I pay usually 5 bucks a bag. Sometimes on sale 4.50.

My local Home Depot has started clearing out their pellets at a discount. Indecks for $179 a ton, or $3.58 a bag. They aren't top-shelf, but I'll be happy to burn them at that price.

I noticed that HD had their pellets stored under a roof, too. Nice.

rod_munch said:

I live in Colfax near you. Ive used Indeck from Blain's Farm and Fleet in Chippewa falls. They are pretty good. Used them all last winter. Blaines was selling them for 5.50 a bag this fall. Just wait a month and the price goes down.


But lately I've discovered the Hardwood Superior premium pellets at fleet farm..white bags with red lettering....those make way less ash, and burn hotter, bigger flame. But indeck in the green bags are just fine.

I never buy by the ton. Don't laugh. ..I haul them 18 bags per trip in my subaru. I pay usually 5 bucks a bag. Sometimes on sale 4.50.

Click to expand...

Greetings, Rod. Superior pellets are a Marth brand. I've also seen them sold under the Pennywise brand in addition to Marth. The pellets are perfectly fine but their bags are sure thin. I remember picking up a Pennywise bag at Menards and ripping the side of it out with my fingertips. Pellets went flying everywhere. I made the cleanup guy grumble.

By the way, I did the same thing buying pellets for a while -- drove by a Menards on my way to work and loaded the trunk and back seat.

Yep, that's the big softwood advantage -- less ash. Marth also sells a softwood (pine) pellet. I've never burned them myself, but I know the Fleet Farm in my area sells them.

Mr._Graybeard said:

Greetings, Rod. Superior pellets are a Marth brand. I've also seen them sold under the Pennywise brand in addition to Marth. The pellets are perfectly fine but their bags are sure thin. I remember picking up a Pennywise bag at Menards and ripping the side of it out with my fingertips. Pellets went flying everywhere. I made the cleanup guy grumble.

By the way, I did the same thing buying pellets for a while -- drove by a Menards on my way to work and loaded the trunk and back seat.

Click to expand...

Update. I wrecked the rear struts on my subaru hauling too many bags of pellets on a potholed

jmcvinnie said:

I live near Eau Claire, Wi. Just bought a house that has a Harman insert pellet stove. I've bought LumberJack pellets initially and was wondering what would the best pellet I could get and where to buy them. Thanks

Click to expand...

Update. I wrecked the rear struts on my subaru hauling too many bags of pellets on a potholed road.

I'm still using the Marth pellets from fleet farm. I've tried their pine ones. They cost more and I see no advantage for my Lopi pioneer. Yes they start easier.

Sorry to hear about the Subie. I don't think I ever hauled more than 8 bags at a time in my car -- I figured that equaled the weight of three passengers.

I've been burning Marth hardwoods pretty exclusively in my boiler this year. Menards was selling them for about $160 a ton after you factor in their 11% store credit rebate. I use the rebate to buy more pellets, so it's all good.

Turns out 18 bags is just too many. I blame myself.