New Turmans

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IHATEPROPANE

Minister of Fire
Feb 24, 2011
1,387
NoPellettons, MA
So these Turmans I have been burning gave me a golf ball sized clinker.....good heat and I have been needing to stir the pot, which is also unusual for me. Just passing along my experience.
 
Anyone know when they changed. I have 5 tons daing back as far as June-July and they are all the new labeled bags.
 
I would say this spring. Pretty sure what I saw last fall was still 100% oak, But I didn't get the dates off the bags. Hopefully some of the other Turman owners can post what they have on hand and the dates.
 
I found a few from 3-12 and they are the new bags. If anyone is looking for the date its on the top left corner of the bag.
 
Bought mine in sept, date on bag is july 12, Bag is the same as the past three years as far as I can tell.Been burning mostly stove chow and ocasionally throw a bag of the turmans in so I havent noticed any difference yet. Whats with a new bag and does it still say 100 pct, hardwood?
 
It is a bummer that one of the most consistent pellets I have seen has changed things up.
What is the change. Bag says 100 pct kiln dried appalachian hard wood. Dont remember exactly what last years bag said.
 
Someone said the other day that the bag used to say 100% Oak.
That might be right. Dont remember it saying 100 pct. appalachian hard wood.
 
What is the change. Bag says 100 pct kiln dried appalachian hard wood. Dont remember exactly what last years bag said.

Used to say 100% kiln dried appalachian Oak. Turman 1a.jpg
 
Used to say 100% kiln dried appalachian Oak.View attachment 83342
Thanks jay. Was trying to contact two neighbors that had a few bags left over from last year. Are they trying to keep up with demand or just not selling enough flooring? Ill have to call my supplier(Pellets Now) and ask what the scoop is.
 
Thanks jay. Was trying to contact two neighbors that had a few bags left over from last year. Are they trying to keep up with demand or just not selling enough flooring? Ill have to call my supplier(Pellets Now) and ask what the scoop is.

I think we'll find out the scoop is the same as what liggies went through a couple a seasons ago. Not enough fiber to keep up with demand. So they had to use other stuff to make do. Cost liggies a few dealers and some burners. The stuff they used wasn't up to what we were used to getting. Heat was OK, But way more ash content. Many returned the ligs for other pellet brands.

I hope this isn't the case with Turman. Could hurt sales some. Question is how far off are these compaired to the 100% oak stuff?

We have a few members that only burn Turmans due to the quality/consistency of the pellets. I'd like to hear what they are seeing. Member newflover comes to mind and hopefully chimes in with some comments.
 
Bought a couple bags last fall or so and those were Appalachian Hardwood....then bought a half ton in the Spring which was also the same....I wonder when the switch happened....even with this blend, the best pellet I've burned with the Somersets a very close second.....
 
I haven't noticed a difference this year at all. Went to the basement and they all say Appalachian hard wood. I have bags that say 12-10 for the date, as well as 3-12 for the date, both say Appalachian hard wood. I faintly remember the bags saying oak on them, but that could have been all the way back to 2009.
 
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Thanks newf, Seems I'm a little slow at catching on. My neighbor agrees and says its been a season of 2 now with hardwood on the bag. He's burning last seasons (11-10) and they are hardwoods not oak. He also agrees that they are burning just fine. I will get a couple of bags from his newest batch when he gets to them. Thanks for your comments! ;)

Someone needs to inform CTpellet. They still have 100% oak on the site!

http://www.ctpellet.com/products_turman_oak_wood.asp
 
As I wrote last year, the heat is great, but the ash from Turmans in my XXV is really, really hard. I've attached a pic below of an example from this week -- the Turman ash is hard enough to stretch from the burn pot all the way to the stove window (see lower right of photo). This is one week's burn -- I'm cleaning the stove tomorrow.

I don't think I'll be buying them again next year -- they make the burn pot too much of a PITA to scrape.
 

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Hey guys and gals- Long time listener- first time caller here!

Seriously though, I felt compelled to join in here and offer you some concise explanations regarding some comments here of what I feel are some of the absolute best wood pellets in North America. My name is Scott and I own and operate the largest indoor retail pellet facility here in Connecticut.

Back in 2006, I began selling Turman Wood Pellets. Long story short, these pellets were some of the best damn pellets that I had ever burned or sold. The bag back then, believe it or not, was actually labeled as 100% Appalachian Hardwood, not Oak! (Although they always have been an ALL OAK pellet) I pushed and pushed for the Turman Company to change the label on the bags to "100% oak" as opposed to just "hardwood" for no other reason than I wanted to use that as a marketing tool. In 2007, they agreed to do so. But this same year, they also went from a solid white bag to a clear bag because they wanted customers to see the low fines count that were in each bag as well. Basically, because the bags were going from solid white to clear, they decided to change and get their plastic bags from a completely different vendor. Beginning in June 2007, all of the Turman bags that I sold said "100% Appalachian Oak" and I was lovin' it! From a marketing standpoint this was great.

Fast-forward to circa 2010, and all of the sudden, the bags began saying "100% Appalachian Hardwood" instead of "Oak." So, I call Turman and got the answer. What happened was they ended up going back to their original vendor for the plastic bags and no one ever thought to mention to them that they had made this slight change to the label. By the time I had brought it to their attention, the bags were already made. So, for the past two years, all of the bags have said "hardwood" instead of "Oak." but the pellet has not changed a bit. In fact, if you have a moment, keep on reading this...it's actually pretty awesome!

Turman is a hardwood flooring manufacturer that makes pellets with their own sawdust from the flooring mill. They make three types of floors; red oak, white oak and ash. All of the white oak sawdust gets turned into pellets. All of the red oak and ash sawdust is collected and used as fuel to run the large kilns which dry all of the lumber at the flooring facility. Its a great setup....and I have actually been to Virginia to see it! But here is where it gets great. Because of the downturn in the housing market, there is not a big demand for new floors, yet the demand for their pellets is unprecedented- so here is what the Turman Company has done. They are now running the flooring facility at full speed, making as much flooring as they can. They sell off the flooring with just enough of a margin to cover the expenses of manufacturing the floors and therefore have not had to lay off any employees- Sweet! But even sweeter, there is much more of the same, high quality, kiln dried, white oak sawdust that they have always used. So there you have it...same great pellet, just a slightly different bag. Why the bag has not gone back to saying "100% oak" over the past 2 years is still a mystery, but I will have an answer for all of us by the end of Monday and I look forward to interacting with you guys an a regular basis. Stay warm!

Scott
 
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As I wrote last year, the heat is great, but the ash from Turmans in my XXV is really, really hard. I've attached a pic below of an example from this week -- the Turman ash is hard enough to stretch from the burn pot all the way to the stove window (see lower right of photo). This is one week's burn -- I'm cleaning the stove tomorrow.

I don't think I'll be buying them again next year -- they make the burn pot too much of a PITA to scrape.
Athough different stoves similar findings....the ash is heavy and I have to stir my pot which is not something I normally have to do. Good heat but not quite sure what is going in my burnpot
 
Hey Scott welcome to the forum! This is from their site:

In addition to our stock products, red and white oak, maple, hickory and cherry, Turman offers such species as Ash, Wormy Oak and Wormy Maple. For more information please contact us or the Turman Hardwood Flooring Distributor near you.

Does Turman not manufacture the maple, hickory or cherry in house? Other than the oak, I wonder if they are mixing in the other species into their pellets now if they do have the other woods in house? If were them, and the pellets are truly all oak, I would definitely be slapping that info back on the bags!
 
Athough different stoves similar findings....the ash is heavy and I have to stir my pot which is not something I normally have to do. Good heat but not quite sure what is going in my burnpot
I should also mention that even though I have to stir my pot the flame pattern never changes...always looks good so the air is still getting through.
 
I don't think those dates on the bag mean anything, case in point both okies and Trumans have JM and then a date, I've been burning Trumans and they rock with out a doubt! I like them better then the Okies right now.

Also I think there was a fire at one of the Turmans mills, but don't think it will effect us much.

I think that all those clear bags that we buy come from the same plant and who ever makes them is stamping his number on them, like if you look at a white paper bag from a store has name with date etc.

I got a bag of clean fire clear bag also same name on top left corner. I'm sure a supplier supplys all these mills with same bags different name on them.

Just my thoughts;)
 
I should also mention that even though I have to stir my pot the flame pattern never changes...always looks good so the air is still getting through.
I too have a Harman XXV. When I burn the Turman pellet, every morning when I pout a bag into the hopper, I also open the door and pull out the little "cake" that builds up in the burn pot. Takes all of about 4 seconds and my stove loves me for it!
 
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