Maine wood Pellets in Athens, Maine.

I paid a premium price and burned two tons of their "junk" the first year I got my new pellet stove. I wouldn't buy another bag from them if they won the world pellet cup.

tumbles said:

Well I made the trip to the Athens Maine mill today. I was pretty impressed with the operation. I think they've finally gotten their all their ducks in a row. The people did acknowledge their previous pellets were junk and have focused their efforts on making a much better pellet. I looked at the pellets and they are much ligher in color and seem pretty consistent in size. They tell me they are testing out in the 8600 BTU range with the ash content around the super premium range. I hope they are right. I got their 1st year pellets and they were junk. I look forward to hear what others will experience this winter. I think I got the 60/40 blend. I'll let you know how I make out. Just waiting for the cold weather to start.

Click to expand...

We burned 4 tons of the "Bad" stuff. Heck of a way to start out as a new pellet stove owner.
But, our Harman did a damn good job burning them! Had to clean more often but the heat output was fine.
We burned 4 bags of the "New" stuff last April and was impressed with the change.
They were as good or better than the New England Pellets out of Jaffry N.H. that we burned 2009-2010. (IMHO)
Bought 4 tons from The Pellet Wharehouse in Jay for $199/ton delivered.
Will give reports as Winter sets in.

I'm having 7 tons delivered tomorrow, I hope they live up to their claims of now being "super premium" I'll keep everyone posted. Can't beat that deal from the Pellet Warehouse @ 199 a ton delivered, I think now he is $210 delivered, but still a good deal. Glad I ordered early.

I just stacked 3 tons in my garage, and I have to say they smell great. The pellets look great too, light in color, no dust in the bag, no long pellets, and made right here in maine. I hope they burn as good as they look... Ive heard nothing but good this year. I am going to burn a few bags, and try to get 2 more ton,
At 205 a ton I would like to say a good deal. but..... most pellets around here are 240 (like energex) and some have the nerve to want up to 285+........

are they in the black and white bag with the pellet stove on it?

rowerwet said:

are they in the black and white bag with the pellet stove on it?

Click to expand...

Not the ones I had delivered. I almost had the guy take them back, but I called the mill and gave them a code on the outside wrap of the pallet and they assured me the pellets were made in June. They said they still had a bunch of the old bags to use up and that as of a couple days ago all of their pellets were in the new bags.

Edit : green and white bag is what was delivered to me.

rowerwet said:

are they in the black and white bag with the pellet stove on it?

Click to expand...

The black and white bag was used for awhile. Not sure why. (Transition to the better pellets??)
The 4 tons we had delivered in August are in the green/white bags.

I think that we have 80/20

I got three tons of the new (v3) mix in the new bags and wasn't sure it was really them, they don't say where they were made or the mill at all, other than "made in Maine"

I don't know what mix I have, I'm a little disappointed, I wanted the new batch that I had received testing on showing 8600 + btu's and .3 % ash. apparently they have a 3 month supply at the mill because the guy I bought them from said he gets a trailer every day from the mill and mine were made or bagged back in June. Oh well the price was right and maybe it's the newest recipe.

BJN644 said:

I don't know what mix I have, I'm a little disappointed, I wanted the new batch that I had received testing on showing 8600 + btu's and .3 % ash. apparently they have a 3 month supply at the mill because the guy I bought them from said he gets a trailer every day from the mill and mine were made or bagged back in June. Oh well the price was right and maybe it's the newest recipe.

Click to expand...

Did you get yours from the dealer in Jay?
If you did, you should have received their newest product.
The 4 bags he let me try back in April were the newest and burned well.
Do not know the manufacture date of the 4 bags.

I could check out one of the bags and post a pic if you want.

lessoil said:

BJN644 said:

I don't know what mix I have, I'm a little disappointed, I wanted the new batch that I had received testing on showing 8600 + btu's and .3 % ash. apparently they have a 3 month supply at the mill because the guy I bought them from said he gets a trailer every day from the mill and mine were made or bagged back in June. Oh well the price was right and maybe it's the newest recipe.

Click to expand...

Did you get yours from the dealer in Jay?
If you did, you should have received their newest product.
The 4 bags he let me try back in April were the newest and burned well.
Do not know the manufacture date of the 4 bags.

I could check out one of the bags and post a pic if you want.

Click to expand...

Yes, they came from the guy in Jay. The only date code is on the the big white plastic bag that covers the whole pallet. It's like 10 digits long and you have to call the mill to get the actual date, I called it in and mine were bagged in the first of June. I'm telling you I almost lost it when I saw that green and white bag, for that price I was a little skeptical, and I told him I wanted new product before I bought. I think they will be fine, I just know the stuff they have been making for the past month meets "super premium" specs and that's what I wanted, and assuming a dealer was getting a 26 ton trailer load a day, I figured that's what I'd be getting, not 3 month old stuff that didn't test as well.

I ordered 3 ton of these from the guy in Jay and 2 ton of the Okies

They will be delivered on the 10th of October Hgoping for the best. Cant be much worse than the Penningtons i had last year can they lol

The pellets I picked up last week did have the newest bag. the one with the cabin and pallets of pellets next to it. I did notice the local tsc has them for 210, but the bag is more generic, with just a very small pic, and large lettering. I wonder if they are the same. The sample they had there did look like high quality. The clerk did say they had not been on the lot for more than a couple of weeks.
Also note, if you were a previous customer, they are availble for pickup in athens for 200 a ton, until sept. 30.

tumbles said:

I'll have to try to give the guy in jay. Hopefully he can put a little downward pressure on pellet prices. His web site says he stores the pellets inside. That is key IMO.

Click to expand...

Yes he does store inside for most anyway. He is housed in an old Bass shoe shop.
He did tell me that he has moved many tons. I think well over 700 last I knew.
He wants to sell good quality at a fair price.
He has spent many hours working with the folks at Athens.

Here is an email I sent/received from the owner of Athens back in March:

Hello,

Thank you for the kind response. I read your forum thread as well. Our green and white bags also have the same pellets that you tested. The black and white is more of a generic bag.
I see someone asked about new testing data. We have a lot of that. We use Twin Ports Testing for that as well as the University of Maine. I also have set up a test lab here where I test the moisture and ash a minimum of twice per day. Once per week I also test for fines, bulk density, and size. I take 2 bags from the bagger, test one, and mail the other to Twin Ports.

I've attached two Twin Ports tests (one from the summer, one recent) and the tests from the University. The school uses a different test process that they claim is more accurate. Their tests show Super Premium quality but I'm staying with the Twin Ports tests because they are used by most everyone.


Scot Linkletter
Plant Manager

[email protected]
207-654-2237
----- Original Message -----
Subject: Feedback about pellets

Scot,
I picked up 2 bags of your pellets from the Wood Pellet Warehouse in Jay.
They were in the white bag with black print.
These pellets seem to be much improved.
I put a plug in for you below at Hearth.com. I am “lessoil” on the forum.

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/53833/

We have a Harman P61 and do enjoy the heat. We have cut our oil consumption by 50%!
We are burning New England Pellets this Winter but based on the 2 bags I am
burning this weekend, will most likely get 4 tons from your plant.
I want to support a Maine business if at all possible.

We did burn 4 tons of your old product in the white/green bags. (2008-2009)
Our stove did a good job burning those. Just needed cleaning more often.
Your new pellets seem to be as good or better than the New England Pellets.

Let me know if you need any more info.