Barefoot, Okanagan or Cubex?

If they all cost the same, I'd be buying the Cubex.

Good God! If I could find all three at the same dealer I would think I'd died and gone to heaven All three praised highly on this board, so it's pretty much a toss up. I favor Okanagans myself. Price might be the deciding factor there.

I can only compare the Cubex and the Okanagans. Both are excellent pellets. I would give the Cubex a small lead BUT, at $60 more than the Okies, I would go for the Okies without a second thought. As macman said, if prices were the same it would be a very tough decision.

I'm burning LG's right now and I am not blown away....yet.

Chan

Another vote for Cubex. Geek, Don't forget about them Hamers either there just as good if not better than them Barefoots! But the Cubies take the cake for me! $230 a ton is "SWEET" too!

My order(Yes I burned tham all!)
$230 For Cubies
$225 for Hamers
$239 for Barefoots
$210 for Juniata's(Hard to pass on these at this price!)
$240 for Spruce Pointes(forgot these!)
$250 for Okies

CWR said:

I can only compare the Cubex and the Okanagans. Both are excellent pellets. I would give the Cubex a small lead BUT, at $60 more than the Okies, I would go for the Okies without a second thought. As macman said, if prices were the same it would be a very tough decision.

I'm burning LG's right now and I am not blown away....yet.

Chan

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Didn't Jays test show Cubex above the rest in Heat???

1fireball said:

CWR said:

I can only compare the Cubex and the Okanagans. Both are excellent pellets. I would give the Cubex a small lead BUT, at $60 more than the Okies, I would go for the Okies without a second thought. As macman said, if prices were the same it would be a very tough decision.

I'm burning LG's right now and I am not blown away....yet.

Chan

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Didn't Jays test show Cubex above the rest in Heat???

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The hottest pellet I tested and one of the cleanest! Chan the Okies are more than the cubies spring buy price. Okies $250 Cubex is $230! (Sorry BTU! ;-P )

I will be getting at least 1 ton of them Cubies for me stash. I like to spread my weath so the Juniata's at $210 are going to my stash too! If I wanna glut! I will add another Hamers to what I have now! That ought to fill-er up! 3 tons for $665=Hog wild time!

Jay, my local Agway still has Cubex at $310. He told me that he won't know spring prices until May. Boy, if they are less than the Okies....I plan on buying a ton of them anyways and splitting that with my partner at work. On those really cold days they rock. He also told me that he thought the Okies would stay around $240 / $250 .

Chan

CWR said:

Jay, my local Agway still has Cubex at $310. He told me that he won't know spring prices until May. Boy, if they are less than the Okies....I plan on buying a ton of them anyways and splitting that with my partner at work. On those really cold days they rock. He also told me that he thought the Okies would stay around $240 / $250 .

Chan

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I kind of thought you were going by the higher prices near you. I hope you see them really low like we are.

SO If the Okies were $250/ton and the Cubies were $230/ton, What would you buy???? Just putting you in our shoes per say.

jtakeman said:

CWR said:

Jay, my local Agway still has Cubex at $310. He told me that he won't know spring prices until May. Boy, if they are less than the Okies....I plan on buying a ton of them anyways and splitting that with my partner at work. On those really cold days they rock. He also told me that he thought the Okies would stay around $240 / $250 .

Chan

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I kind of thought you were going by the higher prices near you. I hope you see them really low like we are.

SO If the Okies were $250/ton and the Cubies were $230/ton, What would you buy???? Just putting you in our shoes per say.

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LOL! I knew you would ask me that. The Okies were so darned consistant. I would feel I made a bad decision if I walked away from them entirely. I think I would split my order 50/50.

Chan

I've been trying to get Barefoot to give us a better deal but they won't budge, and trucking isn't getting any cheaper. It looks like it'll stay around $245/ton for me.

Okies hands down...while Cubex is the best hardwood pellet....this year I have come to love softwood pellets. Cubex cause much more buildup of in the firepot of my Accentra than any softwood pellets I have tried....Okies and Rocky Mountain.
On a side note....I recently bought 40 bags of Cubex in 20 bags loads (2 trips).....
the first 20 bags were much darker in color then I ever remember Cubex being....they burned fine and smelled like wood....
The second batch was the light color I have come to expect from Cubex.

I keep forgetting about all those picky stoves out there. My stove isn't picky at all. It takes a really really bad pellet for my stove to even think about a clinker.

I want heat and pay for the heat so, I want max BTU's from my pellets and I want them as cheap as possible. $250 isn't cheap and about the max I would spend on "any" pellet. I didn't pay more than $250 a ton last year even with the best brands at $299/ton. Call me cheap, But another reason for the multifuel stove!

If you have a picky stove you had better try before you buy. Cubies have a heavy dense ash from the Oak, So do the Turmans. Barefoots are very light and fluffy. Okies are also light and fluffy but tend to clinker in cast iron burn pots. Hamers are a light fluffy ash like the barefoot. Juniata's are somewhat ashy compared to the bigger names and may clinker in some stoves. Spruce Pointes are similar to the Okies(I forgot about them).

With this all said, We need to remember that all stoves are going to burn these differently and what works for me may not be the best for you! YMMV!!

Let us know what you decide to purchase and post what results you get. Good info for others with the same stove as you have.

Happy hunting
jay

CWR said:

jtakeman said:

CWR said:

Jay, my local Agway still has Cubex at $310. He told me that he won't know spring prices until May. Boy, if they are less than the Okies....I plan on buying a ton of them anyways and splitting that with my partner at work. On those really cold days they rock. He also told me that he thought the Okies would stay around $240 / $250 .

Chan

Click to expand...

I kind of thought you were going by the higher prices near you. I hope you see them really low like we are.

SO If the Okies were $250/ton and the Cubies were $230/ton, What would you buy???? Just putting you in our shoes per say.

Click to expand...

LOL! I knew you would ask me that. The Okies were so darned consistant. I would feel I made a bad decision if I walked away from them entirely. I think I would split my order 50/50.

Chan

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A 50/50 split is good for both manufacturer's(I like to do the same with the local pellet dealers!). Spreading the wealth as they say. Keeps them both in business. I already have some Okies in the stash. So I have to share and get some cubies.

Going to be hard to choose from all the good brands available this year. Specially when most near me are less than $250/ton.

geek said:

I am just hoping the Cubex is at that price for any "special" reason (bad production batch, or nothing like that, you know?)

I will stop by at BT today and get a couple bags to try, tomorrow will be cold........

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Geek,

I just spoke with Debi, I told her you were coming down to see them.

She confirmed its because of the savings passed on to them. Some have stood firm on there prices and some have offer a true spring buy. Some of the price also reflects the transportation cost's. What ever they sell has there full backing. She also stated if you need them now, The sale is also NOW. Just passing this along.

Keep us posted
jay

Cubex is out marketing there product to try and reach out into more areas so I wouldn't be to scared about something being wrong with them but at the same time you can always get a few bags to try before buying tons of them. I know Cubex worked out a good price for us and we can sell them for $225 till June then they will look at the market and decide on the price. From what I hear the Barefoots in my area are going for $280 still!

jtakeman said:

I keep forgetting about all those picky stoves out there. My stove isn't picky at all. It takes a really really bad pellet for my stove to even think about a clinker. ...

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I'll bet we can find just what you need to accomplish that task ;-P .

geek said:

burning the Cubex since very early this morning, very very low fines in the bag I opened.....also burning with very good heat, very hot.......

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Looks like I don't have to eat my pellets with gravy! They are the real deal. Best hardwood heat wise I have ever tried! Ash volume and weight will rival the best softwoods out there!

How do you like them so far?

I assume you are burning in the Englander. Are you going to try them in the quad as well? My older quad did ok with them. But the ash is kind of gritty. It would make the dump lever jam once in a while. Every now and then I would need to remove the bolt and clean it. I didn't mind because of the awesome heat it would throw at me. You might need to keep an Eye on it.

I have heard the Juniata's may clinker in some stoves. Just FYI!

geek said:

burning the Cubex in my Englander, ash is a bit darker than the softwood pellets as you had mentioned, can't wait to see after a few more hours.

The Greene Team was giving a very light ash so I'm hoping the Cubex won't create any clinkers and the ash would be ok to my tastings.

I have 2 more bags of cubex and want to try on the Quad but I put the Juniata in there and is burning right now......let's see.

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The Juniata's should due well in the quad. My quad actually did very well on the Energex hardwoods. But it would smile on the softwoods. For some reason the quad just did so much better with the softies.

Ladderlieu said:

Good God! If I could find all three at the same dealer I would think I'd died and gone to heaven All three praised highly on this board, so it's pretty much a toss up. I favor Okanagans myself. Price might be the deciding factor there.

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I just did here in Maine the prices aren't all that great though