Cab 50 install

[Jack9211]

today was the day.........3 hours from start to finish & that includes one trip to the hardware store for an adjustable stove pipe. we had to remove the wood stove and add more concrete blocks for the larger footprint. everything went together beautifully. fired the cab50 up according to first fire instructions & voilla......it works perfectly. no problems (other than the new burning off).....just me & my son in law. I have 2 tons of pellets of which I brought 16 bags for my porch. then it started snowing very hard......but I have enough on site for several days. if I still was using the woodstove I would be out in the cold & snow lugging wood. it's a nice feeling. 2 bags in the hopper now.....good to go. might have a cold one !

 

[bags]

Welcome! You will like the ease of pellets vs. wood. Many here are former wood burners and some still burn wood and pellets. I have to admit that pellets were the break I needed. Now hopefully the prices they keep bumping up per ton will level out and stay low too.

Once pellets get too highly priced I'll be back to wood but for now I have been lucky on purchase price vs. what others here have paid per ton. There are quite a few here with the Cab 50's and I almost bought one myself for my second stove, but a used Harman PC45 came along for the right price so I snagged it.

 

[Jack9211]

Welcome! You will like the ease of pellets vs. wood. Many here are former wood burners and some still burn wood and pellets. I have to admit that pellets were the break I needed. Now hopefully the prices they keep bumping up per ton will level out and stay low too.

Once pellets get too highly priced I'll be back to wood but for now I have been lucky on purchase price vs. what others here have paid per ton. There are quite a few here with the Cab 50's and I almost bought one myself for my second stove, but a used Harman PC45 came along for the right price so I snagged it.

a friend of mine up here bought a trailer load of good pellets........he is selling to his friends at 160/ton....hard to beat that

 

[alternativeheat]

today was the day.........3 hours fro m start to finish & that includes one trip to the hardware store for an adjustable stove pipe. we had to remove the wood stove and add more concrete blocks for the larger footprint. everything went together beautifully. fired the cab50 up according to first fire instructions & voilla......it works perfectly. no problems (other than the new burning off).....just me & my son in law. I have 2 tons of pellets of which I brought 16 bags for my porch. then it started snowing very hard......but I have enough on site for several days. if I still was using the woodstove I would be out in the cold & snow lugging wood. it's a nice feeling. 2 bags in the hopper now.....good to go. might have a cold one !

a friend of mine up here bought a trailer load of good pellets........he is selling to his friends at 160/ton....hard to beat that

I've been up your way many times over the years and often wondered where pellets came from up there, since you're loaded with wood. That was a bargain though ! I had ideas like you all traveled down to Skowhegan or Waterville or some such place LOL !

 

[Jack9211]

I've been up your way many times over the years and often wondered where pellets came from up there, since you're loaded with wood. That was a bargain though ! I had ideas like you all traveled down to Skowhegan or Waterville or some such place LOL !

we usually would....this worked out great......firewood is hard to come by up here, believe it or not......

 

[alternativeheat]

we usually would....this worked out great......firewood is hard to come by up here, believe it or not......

I'm not surprised actually, not much surprises me in this world anymore !!

 

[Jack9211]

I'm not surprised actually, not much surprises me in this world anymore !!

it's worth way more to haul it to the mills.....and it's tree length. no work. I have a permit to cut my own, but end up working year around for firewood.....tired of it. just retired and over it.......tending bar part time & loving life

 

[St_Earl]

my heatilator has been a champ going on 5 seasons now.
you'll get the feel for what it wants as far as feed gate.
from reading other's posts, and my own experience, the few little finicky issues usually revolve around start up.
but that is just a matter of getting and keeping it dialed in over the seasons. it's not a fault as much as just a fact of life. like what happens if you don't clean the air filter on your lawn mower, or some such thing.
helga has been extremely reliable. only one upper auger jam in 5 years. that is a stellar record for any stove out there.

if somewhere down the line you want to look at the low draft motor/kit upgrade, there are some quad owners here as well as myself who have done that.
the extra fins on the blower drew so hard that, on low, it burned the fire out before it could get hot enough to start. i went from feed gate all the way closed to having it all the way open.
i wouldn't have considered it unless my original blower motor hadn't started to lose a bit of it's umph.

the OA Kit is so expensive for these though. some folks have fabbed the little collar needed and then just used the hardware/auto store parts needed and saved a lot of cash.

if (when) the ignitor burns out, i'd go with the 300 watt replacement instead of the 380 watt one it comes with.

 

[Jack9211]

my heatilator has been a champ going on 5 seasons now.
you'll get the feel for what it wants as far as feed gate.
from reading other's posts, and my own experience, the few little finicky issues usually revolve around start up.
but that is just a matter of getting and keeping it dialed in over the seasons. it's not a fault as much as just a fact of life. like what happens if you don't clean the air filter on your lawn mower, or some such thing.
helga has been extremely reliable. only one upper auger jam in 5 years. that is a stellar record for any stove out there.

if somewhere down the line you want to look at the low draft motor/kit upgrade, there are some quad owners here as well as myself who have done that.
the extra fins on the blower drew so hard that, on low, it burned the fire out before it could get hot enough to start. i went from feed gate all the way closed to having it all the way open.
i wouldn't have considered it unless my original blower motor hadn't started to lose a bit of it's umph.

the OA Kit is so expensive for these though. some folks have fabbed the little collar needed and then just used the hardware/auto store parts needed and saved a lot of cash.

if (when) the ignitor burns out, i'd go with the 300 watt replacement instead of the 380 watt one it comes with.

great info....thank you

 

[alternativeheat]

it's worth way more to haul it to the mills.....and it's tree length. no work. I have a permit to cut my own, but end up working year around for firewood.....tired of it. just retired and over it.......tending bar part time & loving life

What ever works !!

 

[bags]

$160 per ton is AWESOME! Best price I have seen or heard of anyone getting. Great score there. IMHO that is the price a ton should be selling for. I am getting together with some guys locally and trying to work out buying semi truck loads. There are several of us so far very serious about buying that way.

I'll put it this way if your friend bought a big load and can let them go for $160 per ton then that gives a good idea what these big boxes and other stores selling pellets are likely paying per ton. Somerset is a couple of hours drive from me here in KY. Might be time to stop in personally. I've not had much luck over the phone. They will sell me a ton or more but hold the same price as the BB stores are selling for etc; as to not compete. But I also know of a small local agri-buisness selling Sets for $219 a ton. $50 bucks cheaper per ton than the crappy junk the BB stores are selling for $259 to $279 a ton. They can keep it.

However, I think buying a semi load at a time would be a game changer.

 

[Jack9211]

$160 per ton is AWESOME! Best price I have seen or heard of anyone getting. Great score there. IMHO that is the price a ton should be selling for. I am getting together with some guys locally and trying to work out buying semi truck loads. There are several of us so far very serious about buying that way.

I'll put it this way if your friend bought a big load and can let them go for $160 per ton then that gives a good idea what these big boxes and other stores selling pellets are likely paying per ton. Somerset is a couple of hours drive from me here in KY. Might be time to stop in personally. I've not had much luck over the phone. They will sell me a ton or more but hold the same price as the BB stores are selling for etc; as to not compete. But I also know of a small local agri-buisness selling Sets for $219 a ton. $50 bucks cheaper per ton than the crappy junk the BB stores are selling for $259 to $279 a ton. They can keep it.

However, I think buying a semi load at a time would be a game changer.

it sure does compete with the lower oil pries.

 

[bags]

Absolutely. It beats low oil prices depending on what type of heat you want, price oil is going for up your way, and what you have time to do for cheap heat. I am perfectly content paying $220 a ton and doing a little cleaning and pellet bag humping. I do not have the oil or propane option here.

Only wood or my central electric system which sucks for heat IMO and it is a high efficiency Carrier unit. Electric force air heat just is not warm heat IMO. Although my system is now 11 years old but has very high SEER ratings. Some of these new mini splits might not be so bad. Either way I have issues cutting checks to large wasteful energy companies. Just like I cringe every time I opened that bill. At least with pellets I know what my cost will be each month or a good ball park. Sort of the same with electric bills but I despise utility companies and the like.

Bottom line they are monopolies but government approved monopolies.