Any Western MA burners here ?

[bdaoust]

Hello all -

I'm in Western, MA (The Berkshires) and was wondering if any other users here are from the area. If so, which pellets are you burning?

I'm finding the choices around here not great:

1) Tractor Supply - there own brand but I heard they are rebagged.
2) Walmart - Maine Choice
3) CARRS - Dry Creek and Warm Fronts
4) Big Y - Infernos

Berkshire Stove use to carry Cleanfires, but they are now closed.

I'm also finding that the above brands are a lot higher than I remember last week. Thankfully, I ordered several tons of CleanFire Pacific from woodpellets.com

 

[P38X2]

So you already ordered this seasons supply?

The TS might be MWP, decent if the price is right($225-+). Warm Fronts, I believe, are NEWP, and likely out of NY and should be avoided per several comments here. The MC's are in the same league, IMO. The Infernos, however, are in a league of their own. A league you DON'T wanna be a part of.

From what I've read, you probably dun well with the Cleanfire Pacific's.

 

[bdaoust]

Hey P38X2 - thanks for the reply.

Ya CleanFire's should be good. When I bough the house, the owner left a few bags and they were nice.

I'm hoping 3 tons will be enough for my 1,200 sqft Cape. Just trying to find a source that will allow me to grabs a few bags on an as needed basis.

I just called my local Lowes (although they are 40+ miles away) and they didn't have a clue what brand they have in.

 

[Lousyweather]

lets see....the "decent" MWP has a Twin Ports analysis of .54% by weight of ash, and 8262 BTU's per pound, whereas the "should be avoided" NEWPs have a .44% ash content and 8216 BTU's per pound. So, the NEWP's are LESS ash, and 46 BTU's per pound less, and you folks make them sound like there's a night and day difference. (shrug)

 

[IHATEPROPANE]

Yep...MWP and NEWP are virtually the same in my experience. I actually like the Maines Choice better than those two....they burned hot for me. Same ash as the others IIRC

The Dry Creek seem to get pretty goos reviews...I have not burned them

 

[Lousyweather]

havent tried the Dry Creek, tho I seem to recall some folks complaining that Dry Creek took a quality hit LAST year (or was it an availability hit?)....I dunno, but I do know they lost pretty major market share last year cecause of SOME issue or another....

 

[MCPO]

The best price I could find on pellets in the Berkshires (western ma near the NY line) is RK Miles lumberyard in Williamstown ,at least in the late spring or early summer. You could call them and check. Last I knew they had Lignetics and LogiK-E (super premiums) .
Whether super premium means anything or not I`ll leave to the experts but they burned hotter and were much cleaner in my stove when I burned them last spring. I have 4 ton sitting I my garage.
Carr Hardware doesn`t normally carry the better pellets to my knowledge, but if they have Dry Creeks I`d want to check the price and try a sample bag . I burned them about 5 yrs ago and loved em. Agway used to carry them here before they (moved) or went out of business.

 

[midfielder]

Amherst/Bernardston Farmers Supply in Bernardston has a good variety if you aren't that far west in MA: http://www.amherstfarmerssupply.com/

 

[imacman]

As for the Dry Creek, I burned 4-5 bags of them (aka Timber heat) last winter and liked them. They would be a real good shoulder season pellet to back up the Cleanfire softies.

 

[P38X2]

lets see....the "decent" MWP has a Twin Ports analysis of .54% by weight of ash, and 8262 BTU's per pound, whereas the "should be avoided" NEWPs have a .44% ash content and 8216 BTU's per pound. So, the NEWP's are LESS ash, and 46 BTU's per pound less, and you folks make them sound like there's a night and day difference. (shrug)

Just my $.02 based off experience with the "better" NH NEWP vs MWP. MWP are far from low ash, but in my burnings, they were clearly lower than NEWP. I've had half a ton of NEWP sitting in my basement for 3 years. Maybe it was an exceptionally ashy batch, but in my stoves they sucked. Can't say I've heard anything positive about the NY's.

They can write whatever they want on the bags for all I care. I'm sure there's quite a BS factor in the printed "tested" numbers.

Are they night and day? Nope, but for the price differences, at least in my parts ($219 vs $250), it's an easy call to make.

 

[Lousyweather]

Just my $.02 based off experience with the "better" NH NEWP vs MWP. MWP are far from low ash, but in my burnings, they were clearly lower than NEWP. I've had half a ton of NEWP sitting in my basement for 3 years. Maybe it was an exceptionally ashy batch, but in my stoves they sucked. Can't say I've heard anything positive about the NY's.

They can write whatever they want on the bags for all I care. I'm sure there's quite a BS factor in the printed "tested" numbers.

Are they night and day? Nope, but for the price differences, at least in my parts ($219 vs $250), it's an easy call to make.

we tend to go by the Twin Ports testing data which is provided to us by the mills themselves. We don't have them tested ourselves at all, as its an expense beyond what most retailers would prefer.

 

[bdaoust]

Hey MCPO:

Carr's has the Dry Creeks - 6.99 a bag or 285 /ton. $20.00 delivery charge.