TreeCycle Hardwood pellets

There have been quite a few discussions of the TreeCycle pellets on the forum. They were not too good last year, but supposedly have improved quality control this year.

Do a search....you'll find info. Just as with any new pellet, buy 2-3 bags to test burn before committing to a large order.

I have a bag in the stove right now. So far they look and feel good. I'll have to see what the inside of the stove and ash look like after the bag is done.

A local shop has them for $199/ton right now, and I'm still hesitant. This is my first year burning pellets, and I'm afraid of making a rather heavy mistake. I'm considering buying top end "no one says anything bad ever" pellets just to avoid a possible poor choice... :/

I have burnt 38 bags of TC pellets. They have formed alot of clinkers in my Breckwell P23 freestanding stove. I have never had a problem with any other pellet. The issues I am having with these pellets are the following;
- Glass soots up extremely quickly
- Odd odor when burnt
- Clinkers galore
- Pellets will not burn completely
- Very High ash content
- lazy flame
Prior to the heating season I cleaned the entrie interior combution chamber. Since I started burning these pellets I have had to re clean everything as well as checke the air intake hose, adjusted the low feed rate setting (currently set on the lowest setting), added air flow, took away air flow and nothing has worked. The pellets are still burning dirty and messy. When I say messy that within 10 minutes the glass soots up and within an hour the entrie glass is black.

I have contacted Mike Zanetti at [email protected] and they seemed committed to helping me at first. Mike has mentioned that I may have gotten a “bad batchâ€. After trying to contact him numerous times he has yet to re-contact me. Obviously, they are not standing behind their product!

So I had cleaned the stove again prior to a baby sitter coming over last night (12/4/10) so that my wife and I could go out. We left at 8:30 pm and were back by 11:30. They stove had shut off due to clinker overload and the pellets “fusing togetherâ€. I cleaned out the clinkers, turned the stove on and went back to bed. The stove again was shut down by morning. I again cleaned the clinkers, and the combution chambers. I noticed that two of the chambers were full of ash (the ones on the side of the stove). I mean they were completely clogged . I re-cleaned them and restarted the stove. The stove shut down and the number 2 light flashed. Looking up the online manual for Breckwell I saw that the #2 light indicated an air flow problem. I took apart the venting (less than 3 months after cleaning the vent pipe) and there was a considerable amount of ash build up. The ashes were large (not fine) and the arrester screen was almost completely blocked.

Next, I had a friend drop off two bags of Energex pellets on 12/5/10. I re-started the stove and the flame is crisp, the glass is not sooting up and everything appears “normal†with the stoves operation. The stove has been burning the Energex pellets for 5 hours and it is great. I am going to shut down the stove, re-clean the glass and try the TC pellets one last time!

NOW, on december 17th I have still had numerous problems with the Tree Cycle LLC pellets. I again had to clean the vent pipe (twice within 12 days!) in which I measured 8 ounces of ash to come out of it. The pipe is maximum 9 feet in length with a 2 foot horizontal run. I attempted to contact Mike Zanetti again and he has not called be back nor has he emailed me. The tree cycle pellets are junk and a waste of time. I brought the remaining 62 bags that I owned back to the distributor and got other pellets that are burning fine. So it is obsiously not the stove or any of its components! Shame on tree cycle for not standing behind their product.


If anyone wants I can post pictures of all the issues I have mentined in this posting. Let me know..

I started the original post and Mike has made changes to the pellets. The 1st year they were not great. The ash actually got hard (almost like glass). This year they did make changes and I have tried two different batches that were fine for me. Some folks had sent back the batches they did not like, and maybe those went out to your dealer? I plan on purchasing another couple of tons myself next year when my stock of 2 tons is almost finished. I sent you a PM by the way.

Are the TreeCycle denser than Energex? Maybe you need to let a little more air into the pot to get a better burn.

I had to open my OAK damper a touch and now I have just fine ash. With it a touch the other way I had clinkers. Not as horrible as your situation sounds, but definitely noticeable.

I'm many dozen into my 2 tons and remain pleased. That includes burning ones that I accidentally let get wet. Scooped out what had turned to saw dust and/or frozen clumps, let them sit by the stove for a day or two. No problems burning.

I have a Whitfield pellet stove and I am burning the Tree Cycle pellets. I like them. Get good heat and low ash. Last year I burnt LG Granules. For me the Tree Cycle are better.

I did try different damper settings. It is really unfortunate. I think I got a bad batch but it really soured my experience with the TC pellets. Maybe Mr. Zanetti was on vacation this week and last and didn't have an opportunity to return a phone call or an email, but that soured me too. He did geniunely seem to be initially concerned but the lack of any positive interaction since the initial call has led me to have not satisfactory ratings. I ran out of the two bags of Energex I had but they burn't just fine in the stove. Now I am trying Lingnetics, and Pointe pellets. The lingetics seem to be burning well as well. In fact every pellet I have ever put in this stove worked well except for the Tree Cycle pellets. It has been very frustrating. Even the distributor was telling me that it was my stove and not the pellet. The proof is in the pudding though. Since I changed away from the TC pellets that I had my stove has burnt well.

MA pellet burner said:

I did try different damper settings. It is really unfortunate. I think I got a bad batch but it really soured my experience with the TC pellets. Maybe Mr. Zanetti was on vacation this week and last and didn't have an opportunity to return a phone call or an email, but that soured me too. He did geniunely seem to be initially concerned but the lack of any positive interaction since the initial call has led me to have not satisfactory ratings. I ran out of the two bags of Energex I had but they burn't just fine in the stove. Now I am trying Lingnetics, and Pointe pellets. The lingetics seem to be burning well as well. In fact every pellet I have ever put in this stove worked well except for the Tree Cycle pellets. It has been very frustrating. Even the distributor was telling me that it was my stove and not the pellet. The proof is in the pudding though. Since I changed away from the TC pellets that I had my stove has burnt well.

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Jim may have a point.
TC is a much larger company now & Mike is not the only one calling the shots.
So if someone made a bad decision it's coming back to them.

However I have found if pellets get moisture logged from improper storage.
Kind-of does the same thing.

I bought 22 tons & even sell them now.
The ones I have the ash is like baby powder.
Not even rough to the touch.

Something is afoot.
I know Mike & am sure he will be looking into it.
I will call him this week about it.

I replied to your other post..I will re-post it here.

I took possession of the pellets in Late September. The bags were tan with green writing. The only bag that I have kept has a date of 6/10. I stored them in my dry unfinished side of my basement. It is extremely dry due to the pellet stove being on the finished side. Normally about 70 degrees on the unfinished side. I got them from Pellets Direct LLC in Uxbridge, MA. They have all 62 bags. The gentlemen that took them has a Breckwell stove and was going to try them in his stove. He couldn’t believe the issues I was having. PM me if you are from the area and I can give you the name of the people whom I dealt with today who took back these pellets. I believe the Uxbridge distributor stores them outside as I saw a trailer load of them in the open air along with all their other pellets. They did not appear to be water logged or moisture rich to the eye or to the touch. I still have 1 bag left (FYI).

H advance,

TC is a much larger company now & Mike is not the only one calling the shots.
So if someone made a bad decision it’s coming back to them.

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I am not into bashing any one person or a company but I wanted to share my experience with both in this case. I am sure Mike is a nice guy and with new TC plant I am sure he is very busy/ If Mike wanted to send me a dozen bags from a "good" batch and they burned as well as you say they do i would edit and redact everything that I have previously stated. If he read this he would know who I am I am pretty sure. However, up until this point that is how those pellets have worked in my stove. I currently own a Breckwell p23 freestanding stove which is the 09 version. I am extremely fickle with how I take care of this stove and was amazed at how poorly they burned. I understand how to make a good fire and what is needed (air, combustion, heat). This is not a case of "user" error and does not appear to be "stove" error due to the other brands of pellets burning as they should. That would lead me to conclude that the Pellet was the problem.

MA pellet burner said:

I replied to your other post..I will re-post it here.

I took possession of the pellets in Late September. The bags were tan with green writing. The only bag that I have kept has a date of 6/10. I stored them in my dry unfinished side of my basement. It is extremely dry due to the pellet stove being on the finished side. Normally about 70 degrees on the unfinished side. I got them from Pellets Direct LLC in Uxbridge, MA. They have all 62 bags. The gentlemen that took them has a Breckwell stove and was going to try them in his stove. He couldn’t believe the issues I was having. PM me if you are from the area and I can give you the name of the people whom I dealt with today who took back these pellets. I believe the Uxbridge distributor stores them outside as I saw a trailer load of them in the open air along with all their other pellets. They did not appear to be water logged or moisture rich to the eye or to the touch. I still have 1 bag left (FYI).

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DITTO:

Thanks for the info.
I will PM you.

Your storage had nothing to do with it.

It’s very hard to tell if they got moisture laden from the distributor.
I had some outside under a not so good tarp all summer.
The bags on the top had similar issues.

But yours were horrible.
I don’t know of anyone that burnt even the old green/black/white bags
that were that bad.

I will get back to you by weeks end.

Pick which thread you want to mainly converse about this issue.
So we are not jumping all over...

I gotta tell you guys though this is a great forum. I have received numerous PM's giving advice and asking questions about these pellets. You guys are great!

Not all pellet stoves and pellet brands get along. I have seen clinkers this year from people burning Hamers, Somersets, Barefoots, Spruce Pointes and yes Even Okies. All excellent brands in my book. Pellet density and size has something to do with this more than we know, moisture may also be a factor, And the amount may not need to be much more than 6%. The stoves that seem to deal with this the best are the ones with feed trim adjustments or multifuel stoves and there different programs that reduce the amount of fuel to the burnpot. Seems air adjustment along just isn't always enough. Slightly reducing the feedrate seems to be the ticket along with adding more air.

J Takeman,

I also tinkered with the feed rates on the LOW heat setting as the stove is hooked up to a thermostat. If I could figure out how to post pics (meeting the site requirments) I would show you how dirty and messy these burned.

I’ve got 32 bags of TC and they ARE lousey. Everything MA pellet burner said, I see and have the same problems. The pellets in the bags look like someone beat them to death and then filled the bags!! The dust and fines are horrible. I have to sift every bit I put in the stove. The heat content suxs, flame is not what it should be. And the glass is dirty within the hour. They leave a brown soot on the glass that has to be scraped off. Ash content is as bad as the Ligs from last year. Also got quite a bit of clinkers and had to SCRAPE the burn pot out each cleaning.

I called TC and talked to the girl in the office and she was going to have Mike call me. That was a week and a half ago and I still have not heard from him.

I have since gotten TriState Biofuel pellets and am happy with them. They burn well, glass stays clean and I can go 36 hrs before I have to clean out the stove.
No clinkers and don’t have to scrape the burn pot out.

As for a date on the TC bags, there is none. The bags are the tan w/green on them. I think pelletpic54 posted 2 pics of bags and mine are the ones on the left.
I got them from my dealer and I hate to think that they got a not very good batch, but it sure looks that way.

Oh, BTW, I also checked the moisture content of these pellets (TC) and it is next to nothing. Did the microwave test. Had to really look to find any moisture on the saucer!

I also can not do the pics for the site!! Would love to post a pic of my stove!

The date on the bag is located at the top in the right hand corner just above the heat seal.. I am really curious to the date and wonder if they were the same as mine. try again mine had the number 6/10 in small writing..

Will check tomorrow. They are out in the shed and no light out there. I did look, but didn't see a date. That doesn't mean it isn't there.

I am really disappointed in them.

Mine are 7-10.

As I said, no problems.

MA pellet burner said:

J Takeman,

I also tinkered with the feed rates on the LOW heat setting as the stove is hooked up to a thermostat. If I could figure out how to post pics (meeting the site requirments) I would show you how dirty and messy these burned.

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Your stove is a Breckwell, Correct? The little bit of feed trim isn't enough to do much compareed to the newer stoves feed systems or the older analog stoves. Your Breckwell has maybe 5% feed trim adjustment and its only on the low feedrate of 1. It has no effect on the higfher feedrates. I have been seeing something more than double that to help the clinker issue with dense pellets. 10 to 20% has helped greatly.

Hey you gave it your best shot! There gone and you have no more worries.

About a month ago I stopped into a local farm that sells pellets looking to grab a couple different brands to try in my new boiler. I knew from someone that bought 2 tons there earlier in the year that they sold treecycle but when I asked what brands of pellets they had the guy only said barefoot and instant heat. I asked about treecycle and he admitted having some but he said "$3 a bag and I don't want them back". So I asked what's the deal they were supposed to have fixed the problem from last year and he said they still weren't burning good for people and weren't using quality raw materials. Needless to say I walked out with a couple bags of barefoots and instant heat but no treecycle, I wasn't willing to try them in my new boiler at that point. It sounds like from the latest testimonials on here they are still giving people issues. It's a shame too as the plant is only about 10 minutes from me and I could be supporting the local economy.

Pellet_Dog said:

About a month ago I stopped into a local farm that sells pellets looking to grab a couple different brands to try in my new boiler. I knew from someone that bought 2 tons there earlier in the year that they sold treecycle but when I asked what brands of pellets they had the guy only said barefoot and instant heat. I asked about treecycle and he admitted having some but he said "$3 a bag and I don't want them back". So I asked what's the deal they were supposed to have fixed the problem from last year and he said they still weren't burning good for people and weren't using quality raw materials. Needless to say I walked out with a couple bags of barefoots and instant heat but no treecycle, I wasn't willing to try them in my new boiler at that point. It sounds like from the latest testimonials on here they are still giving people issues. It's a shame too as the plant is only about 10 minutes from me and I could be supporting the local economy.

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I go past the TC plant every few days, and they store the raw materials in plain view. There is a wide variation in the chips. Sometimes the they appear to definitely be hardwood (darker color, smell and weight), other times they are very lightweight and whiteish-yellow in color and no odor. They have a bunch of old pallets in back that they may crunch up from time to time. Sometimes a very thick brown smoke billows out of the stack, sometimes it looks almost clean. It wouldn't surprise me if the product is inconsistent.

When you search for treecycle, the second hit is treecyclellc, and it still says they recycle stumps...

The joy of the bargain price disappears quicker than the clinkers appear... I have several tons purchased last year still in the shed ......Some I gave away with the warning that they burn poorly.... Some I have been using as mulch in my garden..... They work pretty good in that capacity ....... Fool me once, shame on you..... Fool me twice. shame on me...... Until TreeCycle has a consistently good year or so I will not use these pellets, even if they were free..... Just not worth the hassle .......