Cherry pits

[Camino]

Had a guy give me a bag of cherry pits to try,,, havent burned em yet,, anybody ever try them?

 

[silverfox103]

I believe there is a member, "Snowy River", who burns nothing but cherry pits.

Tom C.

 

[smoke show]

Nah, snowy burns nut shells. I don't think anyone has burned pits on a regular basis.

Tom, your losing your memory...

 

[imacman]

A few members have tried, but I don't remember any reviews afterward. A few of us multi-fuelers can burn them, but you have to be willing to deal with much higher ash, have a corn rated exhaust system, plus the lack of availability except in the Michigan area. They are also more $$.

 

[CT Pellet]

Had a guy give me a bag of cherry pits to try,,, havent burned em yet,, anybody ever try them?

Yeah....I'm guilty. Back in 2006, I bought a 23 ton truckload thinking that I was much smarter than I really was. I heard that they were really hot and I heard that they were really low ash. So, I marketed them as being such. It was a miserable, frustrating time in business. People would buy 4 bags, and return 3. If they bought 2 bags, they would return 1. When I burned them in my XXV it looked like a freaking snow globe inside. Life this season was far from a bowl of cherries.
Never, ever ever again. Ironically, this was also the same year that I began selling Turman and Barefoot.... Hey....two out of three aint bad!
I would let OMV work overnight security detail at my warehouse before I tried selling cherry pits again.

 

[343amc]

I tried them last season. Good heat, high ash. I'm heading to Traverse City later this week and might pick up a couple bags if I come across them and the price is right. I believe one of the companies that bags them is in Kingsley. Thinking of mixing them with some of my 'not so hot' pellets and see what happens.

 

[Ironhorse74]

[quote="imacman, post: plus the lack of availability except in the Michigan area. They are also more $$.[/quote]

The Dalles, Oregon is the Maraschino Cherry capital of the world. I burn a 50/50 pellet mix when I can get pits on the cheap. They are hot and somewhat ashy.They are also hollow and bounce out of the pot when they drop.

YMMV

Brad

 

[silverfox103]

Nah, snowy burns nut shells. I don't think anyone has burned pits on a regular basis.

Tom, your losing your memory...

You won't get any argument from me about that!

Tom

What was the question again?

 

[slvrblkk]

you have no idea to the amount of trucks i have access to

Scott would be CLEANED OUT in a matter of minutes......

 

[hooter04]

The last time I burned them I got good heat,but like others have said they are ashey.Thats in a Mt.Vernon stove though.

 

[CT Pellet]

They don't burn to badly in my stove but I just can't get the feed rate up enough to get a good fire. The temp runs about 75 - 100 lower than wood.

Part of the problem is that these pits can be dried, but they cannot be compressed. Therefore, the bulk density of pits is subject to, and at the mercy of, mother nature. They are rather "light" and when you hold a 40 lb. bag of pits, it is actually about one and a half times the size of a bag of wood pellets. Pits have a bulk density of about 27-29lbs./cubic foot where pellets have a buld density rate of about 42 lbs/cubic foot. Therefore, If your feedrate for pellets is set to 3, and you keep the pits on the same feedrate, it is in essence, equal to feeding pellets at the rate of 2. As I posted above, I hate pits. That damn ash was light and fluffy, but as I said, my stove was a giant snow-globe.

 

[CT Pellet]

The ash doesn't bother me that much but the other problem I am having is the 3/8" stones

Daaaaammmmnnn....
The processing of pits for fuel is actually relatively primitive. Unlike pellet processing plants, (which use big industrial dryers to lessen the moisture content of sawdust) pits are typically sun-dried, usually spread out in asphalt parking lots until they "look dry." Understand that the plants will do their best to ensure that the pits are clean, but in some plants, inevitably there will be some pebbles like this. Because the pit fuel does not command a high dollar, there is really no room for improving quality assurance standards without losing the minimal margins that they have. Many cherry processing plants actually opt to give the pits to farmers, who in turn, just spread them in their fields and plow them into the soil. It is easier to give them away than to toil for hours for minimal return.

 

[CT Pellet]

I'm not trying to bash a product, I'm really not..... I think that we're here to share our experience so people can make an informed decision.

Oh absolutely, I'd be surprised if anybody infers that you are bashing them from your post. Pits are an optimal fuel for consumers in the midwest and Pacific Northwest, where the cherry pits originate. (especially Michigan) In the Northeast hers, you can expect to pay anywhere from $150-$180 per ton for pits. Understand that it costs about $90-$110 per ton just to truck them in from Michigan into the Northeast. In Michigan, those $150/ ton Pits would cost about $70-$80 per ton less. Now for THOSE numbers, who wouldnt burn them. Its just that here in the Northeast, the price difference isnt significant enough to justify that.