schmeg
Member
Okies are made of White Spruce, (cat spruce). Thats why to some, they smell like cat pee when you open the bag.Burn great for me.
Okanagan Question...
- Thread starter DonD
- Start date
-
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
Fish On said:
White bags?
I'm starting to think the 210 is irrelevant, second number is year and third number is week. That would make your's towards the end of Nov, 2010 and mine the first week of 2011.
Fish On
Feeling the Heat
nope clear bags. but i don't think the numbers are a born on date. these were the clear bags the new style. last year was the white
That's what I meant - clear with red/black (this years, like the picture I posted) or white (last years). Jay said his info is that the red and black bags didn't start until spring of this year so I was trying to make sense of your code and figured if the '10' was for 2010 you must have the white bags. Since yours are the new bags and you have a '10' it can't be the year. Or like you suggested - the numbers have nothing to do with the date.
warmncozy
Member
schmeg said:
I can't believe this doesn't bother anyone else. It drove us nuts last year. I had to dig out some other pellets over xmas last year because we had family over and it was embarrassing. Stunk up the whole house and all they could do was joke about it. I'll never buy Okies again. Thankfully we had only bought one ton.
I have burned Oakies only for the last 2 years. Last year white bags, this year all clear bags. I have never had an odd smell from them. They have a very nice wood odor as they should.
Evan_J
Member
I'm with everyone who believes the numbers printed on the bottom of the Okanagan bag such as "210 11 01" are not the dates. The date codes on the bags are actually not printed, rather made with what look like a series of pin pricks, and can be very tricky to spot. They are located roughly in the center of the bag, within about an inch of the bag seam and are easiest to spot when looking at the back of the bag. The numbers are in two rows, and seem fairly easy to interpret once you find them.
I picked up three 65 bag pallets of Oakies this year. Two were the new style bag, and one the old white bags. Based on the dates, the white ones had been sitting in storage somewhere.
Old Bags New Bags
0510 0527
2010 2011
I'd post a picture, but I'm having a heck of a time getting a good picture of them.
I picked up three 65 bag pallets of Oakies this year. Two were the new style bag, and one the old white bags. Based on the dates, the white ones had been sitting in storage somewhere.
Old Bags New Bags
0510 0527
2010 2011
I'd post a picture, but I'm having a heck of a time getting a good picture of them.
Evan_J said:
American Wood Fibers had there numbers "perforated" into the top of the bag, just above the seam. I had a problem last year and this is how they.checked, date and batch.
I have bought a few bags of AWF's this year and can not find them on these bags???? WTF?
343amc
Feeling the Heat
warmncozy said:
Wow. Coming on this forum and saying you don't like Okies is like going to India and trying to order a steak dinner.
I've never seen them in my area, so I have no comment. I used to get Pinnacle Pellets which were also from British Colombia, but that dealer closed up.
Evan_J said:
Where exactly are you seeing the numbers? Top seam? Above the seam or below the seam? You said on the back? I just brought in a few bag of Okies and I'm not seeing it yet.
mpcm
Member
I burned okies last year, and am likely to pickup another ton or two for the worst of the winter months coming up, though I can always buy them by the bag from my local store, and tend to do small stockup runs while I am there anyway.
I can relate to people with the smell issue, but in general you shouldn't really 'smell' your pellets beyond some minor dust coming into the air. They do have a smell that could be taken to smell like cat urine, but to me they just smell like wood, as I have 2 cats and that smell is pretty distinct. I imagine it is something more like cilantro, which always tastes like soap to me, no matter how much I try to like it.
I can relate to people with the smell issue, but in general you shouldn't really 'smell' your pellets beyond some minor dust coming into the air. They do have a smell that could be taken to smell like cat urine, but to me they just smell like wood, as I have 2 cats and that smell is pretty distinct. I imagine it is something more like cilantro, which always tastes like soap to me, no matter how much I try to like it.
Evan_J
Member
The date codes are on the back of the bag about an inch under the top seam. I've seen some right in the center of the bag, and others slightly off to one side or the other. Since they are perforated with no ink involved, they can be very trick to spot, darn near impossible without good lighting. I'll try later to see if I can get a picture to come out, but I'm not sure if it'll work.
As far as the smell comments, none of the Oakies I have purchased smell anything like cat urine to me. Smell more like lumber than anything else to my nose. They actually make my garage smell better when I stack them in there.
I used to be able to purchase them by the bag close to home as well, but unfortunately my local supplier isn't carrying them at the moment.
As far as the smell comments, none of the Oakies I have purchased smell anything like cat urine to me. Smell more like lumber than anything else to my nose. They actually make my garage smell better when I stack them in there.
I used to be able to purchase them by the bag close to home as well, but unfortunately my local supplier isn't carrying them at the moment.
Fish On
Feeling the Heat
Evan_J said:
If its Home and Hearth there not buying them anymore, from what i was told they Jacked up there price from what they were buying for.
Seems weird to me because westwood fibers are re bagged okies if I'm correct? have not seem any yet though?
Evan_J
Member
Nah, I was getting Oakies from they local Agway. They stopped carrying them in October because they were receiving too many damaged pellets every time they received a shipment. Decided they were loosing too much money dumping the damaged pellets (I can understand the decision, 18 bags were damaged on one of my pallets). They were considering carrying them again once the Oakies started getting shipped in bulk to be bagged in MA and distributed from there... Maybe the re-bagging is why the cost went up...
jtakeman
Minister of Fire
Fish On said:
Here is a quote from Mr. Warm on the Westwood/Okies thing.
He had more on the price stuff, But I might get scolded for posting it. Basically the price went up and the dealer didn't think he could sell for a reasonable profit. So they elected not to purchase Okies and went with other brands. There are many other dealers that have Okies and do sell them for reasonable prices. Maybe it was the dealer that got gready?
I am getting a Ton of Okies this week and hoping all is well with them. Im not a cat person so i hope there's no related smell. Never used them before.
Cooper
New Member
Hoot23
Minister of Fire
Hoot23
Minister of Fire
Tested 3 bags of Okies and found same results. Bags ar full of fines and very small pellets. But burned hot and clean. Very expensive, 319 a ton in my area
First year with the okies and im a very happy customer. Will buy the same next year. They are expensive and I will buy during the spring hopeing it will come down on price. But, it does burn hotter than the others I have used so it makes up for the high price as I don't have to keep the stove at higer settings.
tinkabranc
Minister of Fire
Been burning Okies the last 2 winters (not exclusively) and had no stink issues with em.
Stock was mixed with both the white bags & the clear bags.
Last season I had a few bags that were really dusty but I blame that on too much handling
before I got em.
If the price is decent, I will purchase more for next season.
Stock was mixed with both the white bags & the clear bags.
Last season I had a few bags that were really dusty but I blame that on too much handling
before I got em.
If the price is decent, I will purchase more for next season.
I don't know how close your looking for but Royal Fireside in Mendon, Ma. sells them. They also sell LeCretes. I tries them both and found the LeCretes to be a better pellet.
In response to the OP, I bought a few bags of Oakies that were exactly as you described. In my case I think it was more that they got wet before I bought them. The bottom 3rd of the bag was literally COVERED in sawdust, I never seen anything like it. I just wished I noticed before I brought them home. I bought a few bags from the same place a second time and they were fine. This probably isn't much help but that's all the advice I can give you.
I know the Oakies are a softwood pellet. It may or may not be a reason. I have tried the Country boy, Thurmans and the American pellets. None of them burned as hot as the Oakies. But the ones i mentioned are hardwood pellets and I on the other hand see more dust in general with the oakies. But that won't stop me from buying them next year also. Not that bad but a little more dust. I also see more when i clean the stove also. But again I clean it regularly so its not that bad.
jtakeman
Minister of Fire
Ejectr
Minister of Fire
My local dealer's pre buy price for Okanagan ordered in April and May with delivery within 30 days is $289/ton with 1/2 off delivery cost. That's $10 more than he was selling in the winter.
- Status
Similar threads
