Great American Pellet (how it is made)

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Jim H.

Feeling the Heat
There is a local tv show called Woodheat Workshop. It takes place in Woodheats shop with the owners and a local interviewer. They talk about the different stoves offered including gas, wood, coal and pellet. This episode featured the pellet stove and a look at the new GAP plant. I thought it was cool how they use the fines to run their dryers.....so a lot less fines in the bag! See here.

http://www.woodheat.com/workshop_4_2.php
 
I'm burning the GAP's. My stove likes them. No clinkers, not a lot of ash. They burn completely up in the burn pot.

At first I saw some "long" pellets, but as soon as you touch them they break into small sizes. It's like they were scored but didn't break all the way. Haven't run into any auger jams. The bags are nice thick heavy bags. No tearing them trying to move them around!!

All in all, I'm pleased with them
 
I got some power house coming tomorrow. Thanks for posting the vid!

Jeff dropped off a bag of power house to me a while back. Now I'll have 2 for a review and some to actually burn a nice long test.
 
I just watched those videos. I'm actually getting my Mt. Vernon from them along with either 3 or 4 tons of Great Americans, have to make that decision soon. Supporting a Pennsylvania company is another plus in my book.
 
they are in my "backyard"... like Martin Guitar this should be on our summer factory tour...maybe they will give free pallets of samples. A guy just popped up on craigslist selling Powerhouse.
 
The GAP's are my #1 pellet , just put bag # 60 in the hopper. I started burning them last March when they 1st hit the market, never once had a clinker and they burn hot. IMO they rate up with the Hammers, Barefoots & Turmans the big 3 that I've burned.
Powerhouse are re-bagged for sale in small hardware stores local lumber yards you won't find them in any Big Box stores. I don't know what they cost elsewhere but as of yesterday they were cheaper than what ever brand Lowe's had. Bottom line if you see them give them a try.
 
Pelleting In NJ said:
Do you have a list of stores that sell the Powerhouse branded pellets?
Edit: New contact info.

Send an email including your zip code to Lisa in Customer Service ( [email protected] ). She’ll get back to you with retailers in your area.


Old info
Contact Jeff Nichols at GAP. He should know of a retailer in your area.

•800-439-2116
•484-224-9052
 
You could also go to the web site www. greatamericanpellets.com there is a link to find dealers in your area.
 
krooser said:
mr coffee said:
they are in my "backyard"... like Martin Guitar this should be on our summer factory tour...maybe they will give free pallets of samples. A guy just popped up on craigslist selling Powerhouse.

I'd take a Martin D-28 instead....
http://www.musiciansbuy.com/MARTIN_D28_WITH_CASE.html

they burn to fast.....
back in the day there used to be a LOT of "back door" employee guitars (fancy inlays on bottom line guitars) but that has tightened up in the past five years.
 
Watch the video at 2:51 minutes I designed and built the gripper for the robot....It's my StackMaster II-1000 robotic bag gripper....


Thanks for the post!! Made my day seeing that....
 
turbulator said:
Watch the video at 2:51 minutes I designed and built the gripper for the robot....It's my StackMaster II-1000 robotic bag gripper....


Thanks for the post!! Made my day seeing that....

Cool!

My design idea would of been a bunch of toilet plungers. I like yours better ;-P
 
turbulator said:
Watch the video at 2:51 minutes I designed and built the gripper for the robot....It's my StackMaster II-1000 robotic bag gripper....


Thanks for the post!! Made my day seeing that....

Thats a pretty cool robot. I work for a company that bags and palletizes concrete, we have a couple plants that run them. Do you know how many bags a minute that thing will stack?
 
Thanks for all your positive comments! We are glad to hear you like our pellets.

Jay was kind enough to include an email link in his post to help you find retailers of our pellets in your area. We have made some updates to our email system and the address Jay included is not longer in use. Sorry for any inconvenience. If you are interested, please send an email including your zip code to Lisa in Customer Service ( [email protected] ). She'll get back to you with retailers in your area. We are currently serving the middle Atlantic through southern New England region.

Thanks for all your support!

Jeff Nichols
Great American Pellets
 
Hey Jeff i like the powerhouse pellets and im getting them for 200 a ton and would much rather keep my money local. But im sure i could get them cheaper if you guys could sell them in bulk with out the bags. This would also be cheaper and greener way of selling them. i could haul my dump trailer up there 20 min ride. you guys load me up with 2 ton i pay a cheaper price and head home. good idea huh!!! cheaper for me less bags and steps for the plant no plastic in land fills. win win for us all. whatcha think? seriously though why dont the pellet mills advertise this way or sell them this way it does make sense and something i would do. trailer tarped or in garage pellets stay dry. i Hate the bags and to throw the bags out but i can only reuse so many of them.
 
Personally I prefer the Taylor.
 
I am picking up a batch tomorrow, and they will be Great American. I was talked into the C&C Smith ones by the dealer and they seem ok. But, I have nothing to compare them to, so it's time to compare. The reviews indicate the GAP's are better.
 
dafollweiler said:
Hey Jeff i like the powerhouse pellets and im getting them for 200 a ton and would much rather keep my money local. But im sure i could get them cheaper if you guys could sell them in bulk with out the bags. This would also be cheaper and greener way of selling them. i could haul my dump trailer up there 20 min ride. you guys load me up with 2 ton i pay a cheaper price and head home. good idea huh!!! cheaper for me less bags and steps for the plant no plastic in land fills. win win for us all. whatcha think? seriously though why dont the pellet mills advertise this way or sell them this way it does make sense and something i would do. trailer tarped or in garage pellets stay dry. i Hate the bags and to throw the bags out but i can only reuse so many of them.


Thanks for your ideas on bulk delivery. Bulk pellet sales is one of those “Chicken and the egg†scenarios. Since most pellet burners aren’t as well equipped as you, the end user would rely on the retailer to do the delivery. Delivering pellets in bulk efficiently requires some pretty expensive equipment. Retailers aren’t ready to make the investment until they know they have enough pellet burners in their area ready to receive bulk deliveries and pellet burners aren’t going to invest in bulk storage bins until they know they can receive bulk deliveries.

I understand your interest in buying direct from the plant. Since you are local, I’m sure you recall what happened to another pellet plant in our area. They decided to sell direct to the public, their retailer network dropped them almost immediately and within a year they were out of business. We plan on being around for the long haul so I’m sure you appreciate why we sell all our pellets through our retailer partners.

Jeff Nichols
Great American Pellets
 
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