Anyone tried cherry pits?

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.

caledoniacars

New Member
Aug 13, 2009
54
Michigan
We have a few local vendors selling cherry pits. They claim that they burn hotter with less ash. Just curious if anyone has an opinion.
 
I bought a couple of bags from TSC as a novelty, But I haven't burned them yet. I heard the same thing from some members here hotter and cleaner.

Just curious to how much there getting up your way? The are more than pellets down here, So not worth the extra cost for me anyway.
 
pits are advertised at $4/bag for a 33lb bag. TSC has some for 4 or 5/bag. As a comparison I can get Uncle Jeds pellets for $229 per ton here in Michigan.
 
glockshooter said:
can you burn pits in a pellet stove? I have seen corn stoves, but im totally unfamiliar with pits.

It depends on the particular stove, if your stove can burn them they will list them in the fuels the stove can burn.
 
caledoniacars said:
pits are advertised at $4/bag for a 33lb bag. TSC has some for 4 or 5/bag. As a comparison I can get Uncle Jeds pellets for $229 per ton here in Michigan.

That works out to $242.42/ton.....nothing to write home about considering the price of pellets. Also, there some people that say there is about 3x the amount of ash, and others who say it's the same as pellets.
 
Do they smell like cherries when you burn them?
 
SmokeyTheBear said:
glockshooter said:
can you burn pits in a pellet stove? I have seen corn stoves, but im totally unfamiliar with pits.

It depends on the particular stove, if your stove can burn them they will list them in the fuels the stove can burn.

Thanks, thats pretty much what I thought. Is there a big enough supply of cherry pits to support stove fuel? or do they fall into a bio-fuel type of stove where you can burn corn?
 
glockshooter said:
SmokeyTheBear said:
glockshooter said:
can you burn pits in a pellet stove? I have seen corn stoves, but im totally unfamiliar with pits.

It depends on the particular stove, if your stove can burn them they will list them in the fuels the stove can burn.

Thanks, thats pretty much what I thought. Is there a big enough supply of cherry pits to support stove fuel? or do they fall into a bio-fuel type of stove where you can burn corn?

They are burned in multi fuel bio-mass stoves that have a slightly more complicated control system and additional things like stirrers.

As for how large the pit supply is I have no idea, however it wouldn't be limited to just cherry pits, olive pits, and likely others can be burned.
 
I have a rule here.

If it will go through the auger system and burn then it should work.

I have never seen anything on any stoves I have owned about burning Hazelnut shells but I have been doing it for years.

Just have to tweek feed rates and draft fan speeds a little.

Try the pits and see how the little beast likes it.
Out California way the good old boys burn Olive pits and it seems to work well.

Keep us posted on how well the pits work.

Snowy
 
Snowy Rivers said:
I have a rule here.

If it will go through the auger system and burn then it should work.

I have never seen anything on any stoves I have owned about burning Hazelnut shells but I have been doing it for years.

Just have to tweek feed rates and draft fan speeds a little.

Try the pits and see how the little beast likes it.
Out California way the good old boys burn Olive pits and it seems to work well.

Keep us posted on how well the pits work.

Snowy

Yup, but then you burn old stoves out of warranty.

Likely you also don't mind breaking a few rules as long as they aren't your rules.
 
Well now
A few years ago I bought a brand new Avalon and took a pail of shells into the dealer.
They were testing the new stove I was buying and I dumped the shells in the hopper to see how well they worked.

The old gal that owned the store had a Hissy fit and screamed that she would not honor any warranty.

I flipped out my cell phone and called the Manufacture. Spoke with them for a few minutes.

The manufacture was more than willing to stand behind their product.

They sent over a rep to watch how the stove worked after I had it hooked up and running.

Turned out to be too small of a stove and we sold it.

I am an outlaw though.

Hmmm stove outlaw. Or maybe Pellet outlaw. ????

As long as you dont get stupid with these things you are not going to hurt the little creatures.

Just thinking

The only issue I have ever had was back in 92 in another house I had.
We had a Traditions by Earth Stove.

I had a stick get in the feed cup and it broke the coupler that connects the motor to the feed cup.

Replaced the coupler and took to screening the nut shells and I do to this day.

Every bit of it goes thorugh a coarse screen in the bottom of a 3 gallon pail.

Other than that one incident I have had zero issues.

Running stoves 24/7 from late October to May certainly gives plenty of time for something to happen.


Snowy
 
I seen cherry pits burn and they burn well. However , if you can get along with the crunching noise GREAT. I cleaned and service that stove and I did not see any diifference the the ash, pipe,or stove parts than you have with pellets. I was there for 2hrs cleaned 2 stoves and that crunching drove me nuts.
 
I think maybe I need to explain myself here a bit.

In a previous Post I mentioned "MY RULES"

My rules are more a figure of speach and meant to invoke a smile rather than skeptisism.
(Large grin)

Top of that list is SAFETY no matter what else is done, safety is paramount.

My rules is derived from a long time at having to keep stuff working and fixing stuff that the manufactures either would not or could not fix.

Buying new pickups from major manufactures and having them basically turn their backs on us.

With over 35 years in manufacturing, wiring, mechancis, hydraulics and design work I have just gone ahead and made stuff work if it did not.

As far as buring materials other than the "NORMAL PELLETS" my take is this.

There is such a diverse amount of biomass materials available all across the country (globe) that the manufactures can't possibly test each and everyone of these products and rate their stoves for them.

Instead the companies use what is readily available to the average consumer.

Some pellets are good some are bad and the rest fall inbetween.

We have folks here that are fond of using corn and various other biomass products, myself included.

I do not or would not suggest that anyone try something that is obviously a dangerous gamble.


The different "PITS" Cherry, olive and such have all been used as fuel sources for burners.

Locally the nut shells are mostly used as fuel for large industrial burners but there are a few of us that use them as home heating fuel.

The issue here is that the stuff is not packaged and it takes a truck to haul the it, and you then have to store it in a dry place.

The Pits are going to be a similar situation.

Yesssss the crunching sounds can be a tad unerving at first.

I remember the first batch of shells I fed through the (THEN NEW) Traditions. OMG the groans and pops and cruching. Stove never missed a beat and as far as I know is still working fine.

(Sold the house with the stove in 93)

Monitoring fire temps, stack temps etc is always a real concern with alternative fuels.

You can then find the "SWEET SPOT"

I use feed rates 1 and 2 on the Prodigy. 2 gives a nice fire with very good heat. 1 is a nice spot fire that will keep the house warm when the weather is moderate (50f)

Please dont think I am some sort of renegade :) just have had to survive and make stuff work that has not always been good.

The additions of all the computers, touch pads and digital controls has met with much issue.

Here is my Opinion for what ever its worth.

The more they overthink the plumbing the easier it is to stop up the drain.

These are a box to build a fire in, the controls do not need to be super sofisticated.

Reliability is the goal not complexity.

I have read far too many posts here about control boards with flashing lights and stoves that dont work.

Simple solid state relays that time the on/off cycle of the feed motor and rheostat to control the room air blower is all thats needed.

Having a high temp snap switch that will switch the room air blower to HIGH if the feed rate is set too high for the fan speed is needed.

The safeties are a must but the extremely complex controls just makes folks misserable when it fails.

It wont fail during the summer either, just when you need it most and its cold outside.

Hope this explains my attitude about things in general.

always willig to help. :)

Snowy
 
Snowy I like your take on things mechanical and life in general. If more people thought this way I feel we would be a lot better off.
The old acronym KISS applies to lots of things
I work on my stove quite often and more than I care to. I have made a few "Adjustments" that I felt were needed to keep it up and running and make it more reliable for the wife and kids while I'm on the road for work 3-6 days at a time.
One minor thing I did was add a couple of rubber washers on a grill that covers the stir motor. Seems the manufacturer didn't take into account that the motor would move itself out and against the grill under normal use and then it would make a very nasty vibrating noise. So I bumped it out with 1/4" longer screws and a steel washer and a rubber washer per screw to dampen the noise if it did touch it even after the mod. Poor original design and a quick 2 dollar fix.

I also made up my own FAQ sheet for the wife in case she had issues with the stove and couldn't get a hold of me when I'm at work. Sometimes I'm in areas that have no cell coverage. Michigan's Upper can be tough for cell coverage.
Most things are easy fix's and common sence but she is mechanically challenged so I figured it would save me in the long run :)
 
Sounds good to me.

Arouind our house I pretty much handle the stove thing.

I am an early to bed person so usually in the late eavening the stove gets fed by the other half.

My outlook on life can be taken wrong by others if I am not careful.

I try hard to be positive but it is hard at times to do.

I get very upset in a hurry when I buy something and it does not work right or quits shortly after I get it home.

It could be very easy for others here at the forum to take me wrong in many areas.

I always call myself an OUTLAW but being able to fix stuff on the fly and MAKE IT WORK has pulled my bacon from the fire (No pun intended) many times.


I am proud to be an American and take great pride in our country and the great things we can build here.

Getting real tired of seeing all the stuff anymore being made overseas.

Was looking at some new stoves the other day and found out they are made in China.

Sits shaking head.


Snowy
 
"Was looking at some new stoves the other day and found out they are made in China."

Oh, yeah. Likely complete with pre rusted metal.
 
These were the Hudson River stoves.

The wholesaler told me that they are made in China.

They look wondeful, but why can't we get the USA stamped on the front of something anymore.

Seems that everything is made in China now.

Smokey
I looked these stoves over real good. Did not see anything like rust or ???
Actually looked very well built.

The welds looked good, the fit and finish on the sheet metal was good.

I can't say that I saw anything amiss as far as the quality goes

Just tired of everything being made overseas.

Snowy
 
Smokey

That is good if indeed they do build them here in North America. The distributor here locally told me flat out that all their stoves were made in China.

I wont dispute your statement and certainly hope its true.

I wonder why the distributor would make such a statement.????


As I mentioned, the Hudson river stoves look great.


Snowy
 
Did some snooping online and found a list of stoves made in china.
http://www.made-in-china.com/products-search/hot-china-products/Wood_Pellet_Stove.html

There are a few stoves in this lineup that look identical to the Hudson River
The Saratoga from Hudson River is a dear ringer for one listed in the made in China List.

I am decidedly currious now about who is actually making these.

So many companies have their products made overseas and then simply place their nameplate on them.

Seems strange that the manager at the wholesaler would make the statement that these were made in China if in fact they were made in Canada.


Any input here would certainly be interesting.


Snowy
 
Snowy Rivers said:
Did some snooping online and found a list of stoves made in china.
http://www.made-in-china.com/products-search/hot-china-products/Wood_Pellet_Stove.html

There are a few stoves in this lineup that look identical to the Hudson River
The Saratoga from Hudson River is a dear ringer for one listed in the made in China List.

I am decidedly currious now about who is actually making these.

So many companies have their products made overseas and then simply place their nameplate on them.

Seems strange that the manager at the wholesaler would make the statement that these were made in China if in fact they were made in Canada.


Any input here would certainly be interesting.


Snowy



It appears that they import certain parts from China ....

http://www.importgenius.com/importers/inca-metal-cutting.html
 
Smokey

Very well could be.
Anymore you never know who is doing who in the business world.

I deal with a company that makes utility trailers. He makes some here in his own shops and has some made by a company in China.

You can't tell the two apart.

Interestingly the Cummins diesel engine for the Dodge pickups is made by a cummins plant in China.


Interesting that the web site I posted the link to shows stoves that sure look like the ones Hudson River sells but one would certainly think that the Chinese are making these themselves.

COPIES "Knockoffs" maybe.

I intend to reseach this more to see what I can find out.

Snowy
 
The stoves also contain non electronic parts that are sourced from Mexico, Canada, and the US.

You are getting a box of chocolates and the parts change all of the time as to where they come from.

Stoves built in 2007/2008 in particular are catch as catch can on the parts country of origin as the big ramp up rippled through the parts manufacturers.
 
Maybe speaking out of turn, but I am all for folks like Snowy Rivers trying stuff......because if he breaks it, he fixes it. The danger here is folks who dont have much "hands-on" ability trying these things. Then they break em, and of course, take no ownership of the reason why it broke...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.