Decisions, Decisions - Help me make the pellet decision!

[npompei]

Ok, 2nd year of burning. I have a used St. Croix Greenfield multifuel stove. Last year I burnt 3 tons of American Wood Fiber (AWF) pellets and about a 1/4 ton of corn. The corn was amazing, but this year for $9 a bag, thats out of the question. I wasn't in love with the AWF's. I thought they made a lot of ash and did ok on heat. I paid $215/ton last year.

This year I have these choices, help me choose and please tell me why!

Stove Chow - $197 (delivery $75)
O'Malley's - $225 ($40)
Energex - $230 ($30)
Agway - $249 ($30)
Country Boy - $265 ($30)
Dry Creek - $269 ($30)


I have heard Agway is rebagged by Hammers? Is that true? Heard Dry Creek were good pellets as well as Country boy. So I am not sure if I should go with 2 tons of Agway/Country Boy/Dry Creek for cold months and 1.5 tons of Stove Chow for shoulder. Or maybe all Stove Chow/O'Malleys?!

Any input would be great. Thanks everyone!

 

[jtakeman]

AFAIK Yes the Agways are most likely Hamers. We had an email from a Hamer rep stated they bagged for another box store. Kind of hinted it was Agway. But there also was some rumors they could be rebagged NEWP's.

I didn't find any as my Agway has Hamer's brand. So I couldn't do a head to head(hamers vs agway) on them.

To bad the Stove Chow delivery is kind of high. Can you haul your own?

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

Country Boy is a very good pellet. I burned them for 3 or 4 years. The only issue I had was one year they had a batch of bad bags which would tear open at the seems fairly easily. This obviously made a big mess in the basement where I was storing the pellets and a pain to clean up.

I believe Country Boy is made in Gabriel, KY and they are division of a wood flooring company.

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

Forgot to mention we purchased a full truckload of American Wood Fiber pellets this spring. Unfortunately, I never got a chance to burn them as I had a major fire in my home and the pellets were destroyed.

What didn't you like about the American Wood Fiber pellets?

 

[npompei]

Thanks J-T - Yeah I can haul, but only a half ton at a time in my bed. I dont mind doing that and my home depot is literally .5 miles away! But it will just be a pain. The other stores are 10+ miles away so for their cheap delivery I figured why not. I might just go with the Agway brand then. For that price and if they are hammers, that makes sense then to everyone right?

Cincy - Sorry to hear about the fire! That is crazy - hope all is well. Honestly, like I mentioned, it was only my first time burning. So I have no comparison. However I just 'felt' like they were not the best! Ha, for whatever that means. And after going to straight corn, its like going from a beater 4cyl to a Lambo or something! haha.
And thanks for the CB info. I have read they are good too. I might just go with the $20 cheaper Agways if they are Hammers.


Anyone else have any input?

 

[imacman]

Go with the Stove Chow and haul your own....might be a PITA now, but during the winter it won't seem so bad looking back, and you'll be toasty warm.

 

[npompei]

Go with the Stove Chow and haul your own....might be a PITA now, but during the winter it won't seem so bad looking back, and you'll be toasty warm.

Hmm, so you are saying just go with the Chow huh?! For the price they are great from what I have heard. Just figured maybe get something that might run a little hotter? I certainly dont mind hauling, it will just be a pain shooting them down into the basement and running back and forth!

 

[imacman]

The Stove Chow were a good pellet last year. How many tons were you going to get? Maybe get a ton of the Chow for the fall & spring shoulder seasons, and the Hamer's for the cold weather.....that's probably what I would do.

 

[npompei]

The Stove Chow were a good pellet last year. How many tons were you going to get? Maybe get a ton of the Chow for the fall & spring shoulder seasons, and the Hamer's for the cold weather.....that's probably what I would do.

Yep tha is exactly what I was going to do! I was going to get 3, maybe 3.5 tons

 

[npompei]

Well now to throw another one into the mix:

Powerhouse Pellets - apparently rebagged Great American Wood Pellets. I have read the few links here and they appear to be a very nice pellet for the price - $225 a ton. I just might go with these and save some coin over the others and still get great heat. Anyone else using Powerhouse Pellets? Made in PA!

 

[mepellet]

Greene Team is also made in PA I believe. Any experience with those vs. Stove Chow?

 

[kinsmanstoves]

Try before you buy. Never take pellets that were stored outside.

Eric

 

[will711]

quote author="npompei" date="1316034973"]Well now to throw another one into the mix:

[Powerhouse Pellets - apparently rebagged Great American Wood Pellets. I have read the few links here and they appear to be a very nice pellet for the price - $225 a ton. I just might go with these and save some coin over the others and still get great heat. Anyone else using Powerhouse Pellets? Made in PA!]
I've burned the GAP's lots of heat ,no clinkers and Powerhouse is the same company I would give them a try. I agree with imacman I would haul some Stove Chow get some Powerhouse & the Agway brand that gives you a nice variety.

 

[jtakeman]

I have burned the GAP and liked them a whole lot. Jeff Nichols dropped off a bag of the Power House brand for me to try and a local house is carring them.

Here is a link to the review on the GAP

http://woodpelletreviews.com/Takeman-Reviews/Comong-Soon-Great-American-Wood-Pellets.html

 

[npompei]

[quote author="j-takeman" date="1316046790"]I have burned the GAP and liked them a whole lot. Jeff Nichols dropped off a bag of the Power House brand for me to try and a local house is carring them.

Here is a link to the review on the GAP

http://woodpelletreviews.com/Takeman-Reviews/Comong-Soon-Great-American-Wood-Pellets.html[/quote

Yep I read your review and I went ahead. Literally just got done moving 2 tons myself into the basement! I will do a full writeup eventually after I burn. But these pellets look amazing. Great size, very very little fines in the bag and the most impressive thing is the bag they come in. Sturdy plastic and very durable. I was so thankfu after last years American Wood fiber "plastic" bags They were horrible. you looked at them and they tore! So without any heaeting, they are +10 in my book!

I will go pick up 1/2 ton of Agways this weekend and then some others whenever. The Stove Chows are all sold out at all area Depots. Sucks.

 

[unklechuckles19]

Powerhouse IS the Great American Pellets in a different bag. Great American's are only available to "hearth professionals" and the Powerhouse will be distributed to the hardware stores and smaller pellet dealers. I did a two bag test burn to see how they performed next to Hammer's Hot Ones and found we got roughly twice the ash in the GAP than the Hammers. At the price, they're a good pellet. And yes, they are made right here in Palmerton PA. Actually a very nice facility, I took a tour before we became a dealer.

 

[npompei]

Thanks Chuck! Any temperature test when compared to the hammers? Thats a serious amount of ash! But I am really happy on the amount offines and how solid the pellets are.

Out here in bucks/montgomery co. I have no source of hammers.

 

[unklechuckles19]

I didn't take any digital temp readings when we did our test, which is something that I will have to do in the future. I totally forgot about it and it was an afterthought to be completely honest. I can tell you that from a "feels like" prospective I didn't notice a huge difference one way or another in the Hammer vs GAP. I think I have a new project for this upcoming week.

 

[doublewide]

Powerhouse / Great American Pellets / GAP $230 per ton

I couldn't find a review from J.

I already bought Stove Chow $197 and Hardwood heat $196 and was wondering if there is any more info available on the Powerhouse pellets. Has anyone used these last year? I might buy a few bags to try them out. Do you think these are worth the extra money? Is there a review for these that I am missing? They are being sold only 2 miles from my house. Thanks

 

[JBWheel]

Great American is pretty good from what I heard and that's a good price. I got a ton this year through a dealer who's price is a lot more. Where did you find the Hardwood Heat and the Great American?

 

[doublewide]

Great American is pretty good from what I heard and that's a good price. I got a ton this year through a dealer who's price is a lot more. Where did you find the Hardwood Heat and the Great American?

hardwood heat at tractor supply on 222 wescosville
Powerhouse is at Stonehaven supply on Kernsville Rd. in Orefield.

 

[npompei]

Hey doublewide - I ended up with 2 tons of Powerhouse pellets. I will let you know once I start burning them.

I ended up with:

2 tons of Powerhouse
1/2 ton of Agway brand
1/2 ton of Cheat River
1/2 ton of PrestoLogs

I figure some good shoulders and good cold weathed pellets. I also bought an infrared gun to test - im excited!

 

[JBWheel]

Thanks for the info. I will keep a lookout at my local Tractor Supply. They seem to get different brands. You have a pretty good selection. Can't hurt to try a few bags. It's going to be cold at night this week.